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craiglils 's review for:
Fahrenheit 451
by Ray Bradbury
I am very sceptical of The Classics™️ in general, but this really does live up to the hype. More similes and metaphors than you could possibly imagine and yet somehow it works. It manages to toe the line between message and plot very precisely, especially for a book with such a rich meaning. And I think this length of book is my favourite.
I do have a couple of qualms though. Firstly, I do think the characters were the weakest part of the book. Montag seems to be quite changeable depending on the scene and it was hard not to see anything in Mildred other than being a complete doormat. I understand their role in the book but I could used some more consistent characterisation and depth. Beaty is an absolute standout character though. Secondly, I thought the bombing of the city at the end was very abrupt. I see the vision of burning something down to build it anew, but the war subplot felt a bit at odds with the rest of it.
I still have to give this a 5 stars though, because very rarely have I taken so many different layers of meaning from a book, while still being engrossed in the story. And it remains as poignant as ever, if not more, decades after its release.
I do have a couple of qualms though. Firstly, I do think the characters were the weakest part of the book. Montag seems to be quite changeable depending on the scene and it was hard not to see anything in Mildred other than being a complete doormat. I understand their role in the book but I could used some more consistent characterisation and depth. Beaty is an absolute standout character though. Secondly, I thought the bombing of the city at the end was very abrupt. I see the vision of burning something down to build it anew, but the war subplot felt a bit at odds with the rest of it.
I still have to give this a 5 stars though, because very rarely have I taken so many different layers of meaning from a book, while still being engrossed in the story. And it remains as poignant as ever, if not more, decades after its release.