Island

Aldous Huxley · 1894–1963 · England

Why it matters

A shipwrecked journalist stumbles onto Pala, a Pacific utopia where psychedelic ritual, Eastern philosophy, and rational education have built the good life Brave New World warned against. Huxley's final novel, an old dystopian's last, hopeful counter-argument.

At a glance

Long philosophical dialogues carry the plot, demanding patience with exposition over incident.