A review by outsmartyourshelf
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Guy Montag is a fireman, but in his world, firemen start fires rather than extinguish them. His job is to rid the world of the last vestiges of literature by burning the houses of people found to possess the contraband items. His wife, Mildred (Millie), is obsessed with TV programmes & listening to never-ending noise on her earbuds, but doesn't want to question why this makes her unhappy. Montag also doesn't question what he does or how they live until he meets, Clarisse (early Manic Pixie Dream Girl alert!!), a young teenage neighbour who talks about things that Montag never really thought about before. When Clarisse disappears, Montag spirals into behaviour that will ultimately threaten his marriage, his job, & even his life.

Finally got around to reading this one folks, & it's...OK. I wasn't blown away by it as I found the characters all a bit hard to like or empathise with. The female characters especially are very thinly drawn, with Clarisse & Millie nowhere near being fully fleshed characters who the reader can care about. There's quite a bit of casual cruelty (treatment of animals, & the car full of young people who try to run Montag over just for fun), especially the killing of an innocent man just for ratings. To me, the author is trying to say a lot about censorship, apathy, & the dumbing down of standards, but it gets lost in the overly florid writing style. 2.5 stars (rounded up to 3 on sites which don't allow half star ratings). 
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