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A review by nothingforpomegranted
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
3.25
I didn't love this, but I definitely appreciated it, and I am glad that I finally, finally can cross this off my TBR. I have been intending to start this book during Banned Books Week in September for the past five years and somehow, despite the best of intentions and the short page count, it just hasn't been happening. I have to say, I loved the afterwords--there were three in the edition I read: one original, one written with a reprint (after 32 years), and an interview with the author. Bradbury's arrogance made me laugh out loud, and I found myself rolling my eyes with a smile each time he said that something came to him from his subconscious. Of course, it's possible that it's true, but it was still entertaining.
As for the book itself, I was struck by the complex philosophy and social analysis that Bradbury managed to pack into such a short novel. I was particularly affected by the emphasis that book burning started with the people themselves, who simply stopped reading, stopped appreciating literature, and allowed the television mass media to overtake their lives. Bradbury acknowledged the role of minorities in deciding what was worth being read and the social impact of deciding whose stories get to be told.
Guy Montag is a Fireman who begins the book reflecting on the pleasure of burning. Quickly, he encounters Clarisse, a teenage whose family is strange, resistant to the social norm of going to school to listen to the screen for a few hours a day before going to destroy things for fun. Clarisse makes Montag begin to think and to realize that he is unhappy, a fact that only continues to intensify after he takes part in burning a woman alive with her books. Disturbed and suddenly questioning his life's mission, Montag meets Faber, a former professor, and the two create a plan to save Montag and the books that he has been secretly collecting. As it turns out, Montag's boss, Beatty, is aware of far more than he lets on. Beatty himself is intelligent and well-read, an active participant in the suppression of literature, and he is the true villain of the book. Unfortunately, though, Montag's escape and subsequent saving by the Book People is where the book lost me a bit. There were certainly some powerful lines and scenes, particularly about the constant state of war and population's denial of it, but otherwise, I didn't feel so engaged in the plot for this second half of the book.
I am certain that I will eventually pick this up again and I suspect I will appreciate it even more upon rereading.
As for the book itself, I was struck by the complex philosophy and social analysis that Bradbury managed to pack into such a short novel. I was particularly affected by the emphasis that book burning started with the people themselves, who simply stopped reading, stopped appreciating literature, and allowed the television mass media to overtake their lives. Bradbury acknowledged the role of minorities in deciding what was worth being read and the social impact of deciding whose stories get to be told.
Guy Montag is a Fireman who begins the book reflecting on the pleasure of burning. Quickly, he encounters Clarisse, a teenage whose family is strange, resistant to the social norm of going to school to listen to the screen for a few hours a day before going to destroy things for fun. Clarisse makes Montag begin to think and to realize that he is unhappy, a fact that only continues to intensify after he takes part in burning a woman alive with her books. Disturbed and suddenly questioning his life's mission, Montag meets Faber, a former professor, and the two create a plan to save Montag and the books that he has been secretly collecting. As it turns out, Montag's boss, Beatty, is aware of far more than he lets on. Beatty himself is intelligent and well-read, an active participant in the suppression of literature, and he is the true villain of the book. Unfortunately, though, Montag's escape and subsequent saving by the Book People is where the book lost me a bit. There were certainly some powerful lines and scenes, particularly about the constant state of war and population's denial of it, but otherwise, I didn't feel so engaged in the plot for this second half of the book.
I am certain that I will eventually pick this up again and I suspect I will appreciate it even more upon rereading.