Let me ditto Derb’s comment about Brave New World. The relevance of most books diminishes over time. The relevance of BNW, however, has done nothing but grow, especially in the aftermath of the Cold War (during which it was often seen as good but inferior to 1984). Literary snobs have been slow to accept it, but this will change. When we’re nearer to its 175th anniversary, it will be seen as a masterpiece of prophecy. I hope it will be interpreted as the portrait of a future we avoided rather than the one we unwittingly embraced.
A few weeks ago, I wrote an article for the WSJ on We, a novel by Yevgeny Zamyatin that is a forerunner to both BNW and 1984.