In a genetically engineered World State kept docile with soma and conditioning, an outsider and a young man raised on Shakespeare and pueblo ritual collide with a regime built on comfort at the cost of freedom, art, and God.
Books mentioned in Brave New World (9)
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare: “Upstairs in his room the Savage was reading Romeo and Juliet.”
Othello by William Shakespeare: “he took out his mouse-nibbled volume... and began to read Othello.”
King Lear by William Shakespeare: “"Do you remember that bit in King Lear?" said the Savage.”
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare: “"What's in those" (remembering The Merchant of Venice) "those caskets?"”
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare: “the book was called The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (the volume John finds at Malpais).”
The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis: “"Nor this." ... "The Imitation of Christ," pulled from Mustapha Mond's forbidden-books safe.”
Pensées by Blaise Pascal: “"whisk, whisk, King Lear and the Thoughts of Pascal" — Mustapha Mond's history lecture.”
My Life and Work by Henry Ford: “"MY LIFE AND WORK, BY OUR FORD" — the massive volume in the Controller's study, treated as the World State's sacred text.”
Books that mention Brave New World (8)
The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson: “Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, published in 1932, describes a similarly dystopian future in which genetic modification produces an elite class of leaders with enhanced intellectual and physical traits.”
Among Others by Jo Walton: “You’d have to start with babies, like Brave New World, which I see now is influenced by Plato.”
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino: “Already the Great Khan was leafing through his atlas, over the maps of the cities that menace in nightmares and maledictions: Enoch, Babylon, Yahooland, Butua, Brave New World.”
21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari: “Huxley addresses this question directly in the novel's climactic moment: the dialogue between Mustapha Mond...and John the Savage.”
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson: “Huxley...used his ideas on genetic manipulation of humans as the basis for the plot of Brave New World.”
The Charioteer by Mary Renault: “I was just carrying out an experiment in sleep-suggestion. They do it in Brave New World, with tiny little radios under the pillows.”
Words Are My Matter by Ursula K. Le Guin: “Huxley's Bad Trip: An introduction to the Folio Society edition of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, 2013.”