Fahrenheit 451: A Novel

Fahrenheit 451 is an exhilarating dystopian novel that describes firefighters not as heroes who extinguish flames that are threatening the lives of citizens, but they are considered as man start the flames. The book displayed how books and novels were discriminated, which meant if citizens were caught hiding books and novels in thier houses or caught reading them, they would be burned alive with their books. The story was interesting, because who would have thought that Non-Fiction and Fiction novels would become inferior to the human race, but some can argue that politician are the ones who enforce that law on society. Either way the novel was amazing and enjoyable to read and I recommended to everyone.

2.5 stars

I can only come up with a summary because I saw the movie a few years ago. Montag is a fireman, but in this time/place, firemen aren't there to put out fires; they are there to start them, specifically to start a fire to burn books. Reading is illegal. One day, Montag meets a teenager and, in talking to her, he begins to question what he's doing.

I listened to the audio, and that may - at least partially - be why I didn't like it. It was read by Bradbury himself, and unfortunately, he seems to mumble a bit. I don't think that was entirely why I wasn't interested, but it didn't help. I did find myself paying more attention to the parts in the book I remember from the movie, mostly the beginning and the end. But, I was kind of bored by most of it, and got distracted easily. I wasn't interested enough to back up and listen again for what I'd missed.

The bonus to the audio, though, was the interview with Bradbury at the end. The book (at least the audio), I'd give only 2 stars, but I did find the interview quite interesting and I enjoyed that. I would have given that part 3.5 stars. However, weighing the two together along with the fact that the book, of course, comprised much more of the content than the interview, I can only give this 2.5 stars.

Ray Bradbury is extremely imaginative and creative in Fahrenheit 451. The preface (afterword in some versions), which introduces the author and touches upon how and why he wrote the book, gets the reader salivating for the novel's first words. The dystopic society he depicts is eerily accurate to today's world. His characters are interesting, his descriptions captivating and humourous.

*Slight spoiler alert*
Bradbury takes us through the tale of Montag, a confused fireman, in a twisted future where the fire department burned books instead of putting out fires. Fire is regarded as the clean and efficient tool used to not only set books on fire, but to put out society's freedom of expression. Books are replaced by TV's, freedom of thought with conformity and distraction, in the midst of war. Montag, with his rebelling conscience, becomes an island in a sea of humans reduced to zombies, and is looking to escape and restore the power of books.

Imagine yourself sitting in your living room, having a cup of tea and reading a harmless object called a book, when suddenly your front door is broken down and a bunch of men come running through the door with blowtorches and begin to torch your house. Now your house, all your belongings, and most important of all, your memories are being burnt down. And it all happened just because you had a book. Why would anybody do such a horrible thing? Well, because in the book Fahrenheit 451, books are dreaded and feared by the common folk, and it's up to the "firemen" to help them out by burning all books in the world. Throughout the book the main charachter begins to realize what books really were made for. THey begin to understand the value of these little rectangular object that burn beautifully when set on fire, the objects that light up the night sky when they burn and "die" off. By the end of the novel he is trying to save books instead of burning them to hot smoldering ashes.