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A review by beukwurm
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
Reading club read [EOTWRC]: This was re-read for me, still a favourite and possibly book of the year!
I love a classic dystopian novel, something about that 60s vibe where the threat of nuclear war still hangs over their head plus the realisation that man is implicit in his downfall. There's something about the way they're written, a poetry that defies even the most hokum of plots:
"You could feel the war getting ready in the sky that night. The way the clouds moved aside and came back, and the way the stars looked, a million of them swimming between the clouds, like the enemy discs, and the feeling that the sky might fall upon the city and turn it to chalk dust, and the moon go up in red fire, that was how the night felt."
If I was the highlighting type there's barely be a white but of page left in my copy. I wanted to take my time over every phrase, to reread, find the metaphors and bask in the imagery, catching sparks, fanning flames. But this is also a page-turner, pulling you breathless through the plot. How can Montage get away with this, when will it all crash down?
The main theme of the book is obviously censorship, the literal book-burning echoing Nazi Germany and fore-shadowing the biblioclasm that continues today. The book itself has been subjected to censorship, banning and literal burning due to offence taken.
Bradbury also has a lot to say about the effect of mass media dumbing down humanity, serving as a quick fix and driving a wedge between individuals. He has a point as "seashell ear-thimbles" are now in nearly every ear canal and our hand held devices hold our attention over the people around us.
My biggest take from this was that they can't censor your thoughts (at least not in THIS dystopian future), some version of the books will live on as long as they are remembered and passed on.
I think the most interesting character is Captain Beatty, the fire chief. He has a whole library in his head, using quotations as a weapon to beat Montag down. His hatred of the written word is absolute yet he is probably the most well-read character in the book.
I love a classic dystopian novel, something about that 60s vibe where the threat of nuclear war still hangs over their head plus the realisation that man is implicit in his downfall. There's something about the way they're written, a poetry that defies even the most hokum of plots:
"You could feel the war getting ready in the sky that night. The way the clouds moved aside and came back, and the way the stars looked, a million of them swimming between the clouds, like the enemy discs, and the feeling that the sky might fall upon the city and turn it to chalk dust, and the moon go up in red fire, that was how the night felt."
If I was the highlighting type there's barely be a white but of page left in my copy. I wanted to take my time over every phrase, to reread, find the metaphors and bask in the imagery, catching sparks, fanning flames. But this is also a page-turner, pulling you breathless through the plot. How can Montage get away with this, when will it all crash down?
The main theme of the book is obviously censorship, the literal book-burning echoing Nazi Germany and fore-shadowing the biblioclasm that continues today. The book itself has been subjected to censorship, banning and literal burning due to offence taken.
Bradbury also has a lot to say about the effect of mass media dumbing down humanity, serving as a quick fix and driving a wedge between individuals. He has a point as "seashell ear-thimbles" are now in nearly every ear canal and our hand held devices hold our attention over the people around us.
My biggest take from this was that they can't censor your thoughts (at least not in THIS dystopian future), some version of the books will live on as long as they are remembered and passed on.
I think the most interesting character is Captain Beatty, the fire chief. He has a whole library in his head, using quotations as a weapon to beat Montag down. His hatred of the written word is absolute yet he is probably the most well-read character in the book.