Book Review: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 451
By: Ray Bradbury
Publication date: 1953

Goodreads Summary:The system was simple. Everyone understood it. Books were for burning, along with the houses in which they were hidden. Guy Montag was a fireman whose job it was to start fires. And he enjoyed his job. He had been a fireman for ten years, and he had never questioned the pleasure of the midnight runs or the joy of watching pages consumed by flames, never questioned anything until he met a seventeen-year-old girl who told him of a past when people were not afraid. Then Guy met a professor who told him of a future in which people could think. And Guy Montag suddenly realized what he had to do...

So it's been awhile, and here I thought summer vacation would be less busy, ah well. So I read and finished Fahrenheit 451 which brings me closer to my goal of reading 35 books in 2011 yay ^_^ I had to read the short story "The Veldt" by Ray Bradbury for my college English class and thought it was brilliant. Recently a couple of friends and I decided to start a book club and when it was my turn to pick the book I chose Fahrenheit 451. It's Bradbury's most popular work and is a required read for many high school students so I figured it would be a good choice. I was not at all disappointed. Fahrenheit 451 is geniusly written with incredible insight about how technology can be detrimental to a society.

Interestingly enough, this book was first published in the 50s but some of the things mentioned are all to familar to someone of modern times. For instance, Guy Montag's wife Mildred often has "seashells" in her ears, listening to music or various soothing sounds while being unaware of reality. This reminded me of a lot of college where students everywhere robotically walk from one class to another while listening to their ipods, purposely cutting themselves off socially. I'm not saying that ipods are bad, but sometimes people become more connected with their technological devices than their surroundings which yes, I would say isn't a good thing. There are other familiar technological "advances" mentioned to make one reconsider if some technologies are more harmful than helpful which is exactly what Bradbury wants the reader to do. The only issue I had with the novel was the language. Taking God's name in vain was pretty common throughout the story although ironically, there were many Biblical references, go figure. Overall however I very much enjoyed reading Fahrenheit 451 and strongly recommend it.

Final Rating: 4/5