Everyone's supposed to have read this book already, but I hadn't. I knew very little about it, other than I'd written it down on a list to read after someone mentioned it in a throwaway comment - "you know, like Brave New World".

The obvious comparison is to George Orwell's 1984, though Huxley is much darker. Orwell brings lots of interesting detail in terms of his vision of the future; Huxley's future is less focused: we learn about recreation, but very little about living quarters, or food, or much else. A television is mentioned at one point; but at one moment of action, someone scrabbles to look up a telephone number, an action that seems quaint and old-fashioned.

Like Orwell, Huxley makes you think. His vision is just as sinister, but both more joyous and more controlling. It's an interesting thought: and I wonder whether all our politicians have read this book and have honed policies around it. Stranger things have happened...