#44 Fahrenheit 451

I finally read this book, and it was about more than the burning of books.  It is about a dystopic future where the burning of books is not only mandated by the state, but the vast populace could care less about the destruction of human knowledge.  The world is a place where TV and radio turn the people into empty mindless drones who do not seek to understand their existence or question authority, or really anything.  TV has destroyed the minds of the majority of people, making them think they are happy without consulting philosophers and poets, and it works in this dreary future.  The problem is that as a society we started to tune into TV and forgot everything else, and this allowed the beginning of the firemen and the revision of history to suit the propaganda of the state.

This isn't nearly as scary and 1984, and not quite as amazing, but as a SF book it was top-notch.  I enjoyed it, thought about what it had to say, and felt it was prescient, especially as it was written in the 50s, before reality TV shows and countless channels of distraction.  Like 1984 this too seems a possible future, maybe more in line with Huxley than Orwell.