A review by joshkiba13
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

dark reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I decided to reread this since my first go around with it was at 13 or 14 years old. It's even quite possible that in middle school I was given one of those censored school versions Mr. Bradbury despised so. This time around I was floored by a lot of his prose; reading the narration felt akin to reading poetry. He masterfully utilized defamiliarizarion to bring the reader's understanding to light in fresh and unique ways. 
I found this not to just be a fictional commentary on the censorship of books, but it was also a warning about the influence of technology and media. Bradbury feared a time when people sat together, unaware of each other's existence because of the "Seashell radios" in their ears, or the parlor TV walls yelling nonsense at them. Not too far off from today. 
The version I checked out from the library also had some really interesting background and afterwords from Mr. Bradbury, which was really interesting to read. He included a scene or two from the play of the same name, giving a bit more background on the characters of Beatty and Clarisse.
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