I read this book earlier this year and I find myself looking back on it and thinking about it often. I have read several dystopian fiction novels, but none are as striking as this one. I found myself writing down many quotes from the book in my journal and reflecting on the book means to me personally. I am interested in learning what others think of this book.

My own take is that it it is a rather morbid tale about how humanity can change so much as a result of new technologies. Technology doesn't just make life easier and more fun; it creates an entirely new type of human. It makes it easier to pursue certain paths in life, and it subsequently affects the life of the mind as well as the body. When technology of this type is normalized, it also becomes invisible, and you struggle to envision a world without its presence. The best example is the parlor where Mildred watches television. When this type of entertainment is readily available, it is very easy to become immersed in it all the time, to always be "plugged in". The form and content of entertainment also evolves (or rather, devolves) so that it is more easily consumable.

The most interesting character for me though is Beatty. He makes a decent anti-book argument. The ironic thing is that he wouldn't have been able to do this if he wasn't so learned. You can tell through his speeches that he is very knowledgeable. He chooses to abandon the life of the intellectual, which introduces confusion and disagreement, forces you to grapple with uncomfortable ideas, and gives rise to more questions than it can answer. I like this particular quote from him:

"Don’t give them any slippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things up with. That way lies melancholy. Any man who can take a TV wall apart and put it back together again, and most men can nowadays, is happier than any man who tries to slide-rule, measure, and equate the universe, which just won’t be measured or equated without making man feel bestial and lonely "