Book List : "Fahrenheit 451"

I just finished Fahrenheit 451 this afternoon, and I have to say– it was brilliant!

Although Ray Bradbury used a lot of flowery, distracting metaphors and imagery, he still accomplished what he wanted: a meaningful story. The novel is set in a dystopian, futuristic society where technology has stolen the will to think from the human race. Firemen burn books instead of preventing fires, and the oncoming war does very little to worry the endlessly entertained population. Guy Montague, a fireman who doesn't understand why he steals books, meets an abnormal teenager and an unemployed professor, and the terror of the society finally dawns on him through these outstanding people. His suicidal wife turns him in for owning books, then promptly leaves him, while his fire-chief taunts him into committing murder. Guy finally runs away, meeting a group of renegade scholars who keep copies of all the burned books in their minds, hoping to one day pass on the texts to future generations.



The book has many layers, but from a broad overview, it is simply a giant example of what could happen if the human race stopped caring. Technology can create mindless drones out of humanity if we're not careful– the message was not at all subtle. Books, stories, history, imagination, and remembering people are vital to us, and it would be heartbreaking to replace all of that for shallow fun. F. 451 does a great job of getting the warning across, and waking up a reader.

Although the message and theme of the book was glaringly obvious on every page, Bradbury worked a mountain of poetry into every sentence. He weaves the words across the page like a true author, and if you're not careful, it's easy to get lost in all the detail. His writing style and tone have thousands of metaphors knotted in with dialogue and action. I sincerely admire how much thought went into every sentence of the book. Even though it was distracting at points, I think that  it was more than worth it to wade through the words and find the story.

I suppose F. 451 gives every reader something to think about, because it is a timeless book. Bradbury commented that the book wasn't about politics, with periods that come and go, it was about culture. It was about the habits of humanity, and traits that, like it or not, we all share. That's why this book is so timeless. I really did enjoy this book, and I definitely recommend it to others!