BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley.
Written in 1932, Huxley's novel is as timely today as then. A cautionary tale of a genetically driven society, Brave New World provides an examination of human emotions and ethics under strict control of government/scientific authorities. Constantly asking the question, "How far do we go into the world of mechanization and biological manipulation?", the novel is both a mirror into and a reversal of our society. The seemingly innocuous planetary motto, "Community, Identity, Stability," is transmogrified into a hell, where the usual sense of "community" as love and support becomes a prison of social acceptance, where one's "identity" is forever fixed by genetic tampering, and where "stability" points to the inherent lifelessness of this society. Huxley is exploring the boundaries of what constitutes humanity, even conjecturing that, in some ways, we have crossed the line into inhumanity. A wonderful source of discussion and reflection for high-school or community-college students. By Natosi, high school/college English instructor.