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A review by michaelapr
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I feel kind of bad because I know I should love this book. I have to teach it and other people think it's absolutely wonderful. But here's the thing: The concept is good, the execution leaves something to be desired - at least for me. The conversations that can come, have come, from this book are great and that's what makes the book a classic and a staple of speculative fiction.
Reading this book was, at times, like a fever dream. One minute I knew what was happening and moving a long, the next I was thrown into some kind of fever dream like state of confusion having to figure out what the heck was going on. In some cases I'm sure this was on purpose, others I felt like Bradbury himself got lost in his own language and writing. This is made even more believable knowing from the beginning how much Bradbury loves cramming as many similes as he can on a page. Montag himself, and everyone he met after Clarisse, didn't make much sense half the time. This could be because half of them were stupid from watching plotless television (Bradbury did that on purpose I'm sure) or they talked in circles around the point (I'm starting to think this is just the way Bradbury talks/writes).
As I said though, this book can bring up a lot of good conversations, not just about book censorship but other topics as well - although it's important to point out that this book is more about the anxieties of technologies like TV and the Cold War than book burning. I hesitate to make too many comparisons between our world and Montag's world, however. Because we are not living in Fahrenheit 451. Speculative fiction should not be used in this way - I get sick and tired of people saying "We're living in 1984, We're living in Fahrenheit 451." This is a warning to people in 1951. This is an airing of anxiety based in a time we are not in. Use this book as a way to connect to problems we see now, that's the point of speculative fiction, don't use it as a way to show how awful the world has become.
Anyway, I do wish I liked this book more. I'm hoping that as I teach it, the experience will make the book better. Sometimes it's better to experience a book collectively rather than alone.
Reading this book was, at times, like a fever dream. One minute I knew what was happening and moving a long, the next I was thrown into some kind of fever dream like state of confusion having to figure out what the heck was going on. In some cases I'm sure this was on purpose, others I felt like Bradbury himself got lost in his own language and writing. This is made even more believable knowing from the beginning how much Bradbury loves cramming as many similes as he can on a page. Montag himself, and everyone he met after Clarisse, didn't make much sense half the time. This could be because half of them were stupid from watching plotless television (Bradbury did that on purpose I'm sure) or they talked in circles around the point (I'm starting to think this is just the way Bradbury talks/writes).
As I said though, this book can bring up a lot of good conversations, not just about book censorship but other topics as well - although it's important to point out that this book is more about the anxieties of technologies like TV and the Cold War than book burning. I hesitate to make too many comparisons between our world and Montag's world, however. Because we are not living in Fahrenheit 451. Speculative fiction should not be used in this way - I get sick and tired of people saying "We're living in 1984, We're living in Fahrenheit 451." This is a warning to people in 1951. This is an airing of anxiety based in a time we are not in. Use this book as a way to connect to problems we see now, that's the point of speculative fiction, don't use it as a way to show how awful the world has become.
Anyway, I do wish I liked this book more. I'm hoping that as I teach it, the experience will make the book better. Sometimes it's better to experience a book collectively rather than alone.