''Mortal Coils'' is a collection of five short fictional pieces written by
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems.
Born into the prominent Huxle ...
in 1921.
The title uses a phrase from ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'', Act 3, Scene 1:
: ... To die, to sleep,
:To sleep, perchance to dream; aye, there's the rub,
:For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,
:When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
:Must give us pause ...
The stories all concern themselves with some sort of trouble, normally of an amorous nature, and often ending with disappointment.
The stories
*"The
Gioconda Smile" is a mixture of social satire and murder story, which Huxley later adapted into a film called ''
A Woman's Vengeance'' (1948).
*"Permutations Among the Nightingales" is a play concerning the amorous problems encountered by various patrons of a hotel.
*"The Tillotson Banquet" tells of an old artist who was thought to be dead, and is "rediscovered"; a not entirely successful honorary dinner is organised for him.
*"Green Tunnels" is about the boredom of a young girl on holiday with her family. She develops a romantic fantasy, and is ultimately disillusioned.
*"Nuns at Luncheon" is a second-hand story told of a nun falling in love. The story mocks the writer's process, a concept
Huxley used in his novel ''
Crome Yellow''.
References
External links
*
1922 short story collections
Short story collections by Aldous Huxley
Chatto & Windus books
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