Favorite Book Number One

Choosing a favorite book out of the thousands read in a lifetime, is a daunting task.  And yet, giving it some thought, I believed that no novel could make it all the way to the top, as no matter how clever, the plot or atmosphere it was only fiction.  And yet, this book although fiction is so stunning that it almost elevates above the genre.  I first became aware of "1984" in my mid teens when a production starring Peter Cushing and Andre Morell, was shown on BBC TV.  It was an electric event.  In those days, the BBC was so bereft of material that Sunday night plays were repeated on Thursday nights as well. "1984" had such a dramatic effect on the populace - and me too - that the audience on Thursday was huge.  Those that hadn't seen it heard about it, and those that had seen it wanted to see it again, it was so magnetic. The book became an immediate best seller as well.
I have read the novel perhaps four times, once in my teens, then again in my twenties, and a few times since.  Each time it has illustrated the horror of totalitarianism, and cemented my fear of it.  Mankind is quite capable of the extremes illustrated in the book; if you don't believe that look at N. Korea, or Nazi Germany, or the Soviet regime.
Several studies have been done to see how far along the path we have traveled that George Orwell predicted.  In some cases we have come very far.  Think of Political Correctness and how it stifles thought and expression.  Are we far from the Thought Police and group Hate Sessions?
Orwell wrote his book in 1948 and it was published a year later.  He reversed the last two digits in the date to come up with 1984, believing it was so far ahead to be effective.  Today that fictitious year is long gone, but the menace of such a world is still a frightening prospect.  Each step we take to have government take away our freedom with the excuse of protecting us leads us further down the road.  Beware!