Scan barcode
A review by logarithms
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
3.0
* Need to update review for coherence, and add more notes!!!
Unsure whether to bump up to 4 stars - the book was gripping, and had a digestible writing style (something I really enjoy, especially in classics ahaha. For someone reading a book that emphasizes the importance of being literate and not watering things down I'm really lazy when it comes to writing styles)
At first I was behind the message! I thought the message was 'while the media and literature you consume shape your intelligence and knowledge base, meaningful connections and relationships with other people and the planet are what make life worth living'. The classic sci-fi theme of 'technology is fantastic, but humans need to be intrinsically connected to reality to be fulfilled, and one of technology's dangers is that it makes it easy to disconnect'. Alongside the whole 'knowing the truth might not make us happy, but it will make us real'.
Upon further reading, I found that Ray Bradbury's message was 'TV creates mindless drones hurrdurr technology is evil'. Can't agree! It all depends on the content you're watching, just like how books aren't always good and interesting and soul expanding (and this is brought up as a negative of books, but never a positive of TV!) (but I guess the most soul-expanding thing I've seen on TV (David Attenboroughs Planet Earth 1&2 and Blue Planet 1&2) did not exist in the 50s so maybe that's where I'm wrong)
Please give a RIP for the treatment of female characters and the 'minorities are so sensitive we can't even be openly racist anymore' backstory. Stories on controversial themes do upset people, yes - but people don't want to eliminate the book or stop reading because of that - they just ask that you consume media critically and thoughtfully, and are sensitive of the issues surrounding it. 'Burn it' - a.k.a basically ignore the issue completely is never the desired outcome!
Back to female characters. Mildred. Poor sad empty Mildred. She and all women in this story are so hooked on TV they don't have real thoughts. Because according to this book only women are silly and fickle and watch dramas and become drones (seriously! It's never mentioned that a man should be addicted - the men in the cast are either the firemen, or progressive book readers). Clarisse is like...the one girl...she's not like other girls. I kinda liked her for being kind of an oblivious bitch to Guy. Like 'You're not in love....how sad...well I'm off! Stay mad about it!'. But then she just...disappears? Never to be seen again? She was only really there to be the catalyst for MCs journey. We never find out anything about her...
I LOVE THE HOUND. Look. Bits with the hound were so gripping. A massive dog-spider machine that can kill you in seconds tracking your every move. That's raw terror, very much into that. The early foreshadowing that the hound was ready to track and that Beatty knew everything... *ok emoji*.
Written in the 50s, but it's kinda funny to see it being called sci-fi now - not much of what's there is fiction now. We have massive flat screen TVs. We have siri/alexa/google home (reminiscent of the parlour to me - talking to a member of the 'family'). We have Boston Dynamics building their robot dogs who seem amazing until you realize they are being funded by and developed for the military, and suddenly this is pretty much a hound prototype...
Unsure whether to bump up to 4 stars - the book was gripping, and had a digestible writing style (something I really enjoy, especially in classics ahaha. For someone reading a book that emphasizes the importance of being literate and not watering things down I'm really lazy when it comes to writing styles)
At first I was behind the message! I thought the message was 'while the media and literature you consume shape your intelligence and knowledge base, meaningful connections and relationships with other people and the planet are what make life worth living'. The classic sci-fi theme of 'technology is fantastic, but humans need to be intrinsically connected to reality to be fulfilled, and one of technology's dangers is that it makes it easy to disconnect'. Alongside the whole 'knowing the truth might not make us happy, but it will make us real'.
Upon further reading, I found that Ray Bradbury's message was 'TV creates mindless drones hurrdurr technology is evil'. Can't agree! It all depends on the content you're watching, just like how books aren't always good and interesting and soul expanding (and this is brought up as a negative of books, but never a positive of TV!) (but I guess the most soul-expanding thing I've seen on TV (David Attenboroughs Planet Earth 1&2 and Blue Planet 1&2) did not exist in the 50s so maybe that's where I'm wrong)
Please give a RIP for the treatment of female characters and the 'minorities are so sensitive we can't even be openly racist anymore' backstory. Stories on controversial themes do upset people, yes - but people don't want to eliminate the book or stop reading because of that - they just ask that you consume media critically and thoughtfully, and are sensitive of the issues surrounding it. 'Burn it' - a.k.a basically ignore the issue completely is never the desired outcome!
Back to female characters. Mildred. Poor sad empty Mildred. She and all women in this story are so hooked on TV they don't have real thoughts. Because according to this book only women are silly and fickle and watch dramas and become drones (seriously! It's never mentioned that a man should be addicted - the men in the cast are either the firemen, or progressive book readers). Clarisse is like...the one girl...she's not like other girls. I kinda liked her for being kind of an oblivious bitch to Guy. Like 'You're not in love....how sad...well I'm off! Stay mad about it!'. But then she just...disappears? Never to be seen again? She was only really there to be the catalyst for MCs journey. We never find out anything about her...
I LOVE THE HOUND. Look. Bits with the hound were so gripping. A massive dog-spider machine that can kill you in seconds tracking your every move. That's raw terror, very much into that. The early foreshadowing that the hound was ready to track and that Beatty knew everything... *ok emoji*.
Written in the 50s, but it's kinda funny to see it being called sci-fi now - not much of what's there is fiction now. We have massive flat screen TVs. We have siri/alexa/google home (reminiscent of the parlour to me - talking to a member of the 'family'). We have Boston Dynamics building their robot dogs who seem amazing until you realize they are being funded by and developed for the military, and suddenly this is pretty much a hound prototype...