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Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury 1953
DystopianScience fictionClassic

A novel about a fireman who burns books, and his slow discovery that the silence around him was chosen rather than imposed.

Reading Note

Fahrenheit 451 is less about censorship handed down from above than about an audience that stopped objecting. The burning is presented as a service, and by the time anyone thinks to argue, the screens have already done the quieter work.