Padfoot - Fifth Review - Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451
Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury scored with the writing of his well-known novel Fahrenheit 451. Although I was scared to read it at first (people burn books in it!), I decided to step up and be a man. Surprisingly, everything turned out fine and I did not weep uncontrollably.

Fahrenheit 451 is a story set in the future (think Anthem or Brave New World) where firemen start fires rather than putting them out. Their reason for starting the fires is to burn books; books are illegal in this world and anyone found with the possession of them had their books and house burnt to the ground. There is even one instance where an old woman refused to leave her books, and ended up burning with them. In her last breath, she recites words from a classic book. If it were me, I would be screaming "To die will be an awfully big adventure!"

The story begins with the line "It was a pleasure to burn." We are introduced to Montag, a fireman who thoroughly enjoys his "duty" of bringing books to this awful fate. Once he meets a young girl named Clarisse, he begins to question his whole life. The story then goes on to tell of his struggles with the norms of the present society.

"We have everything we need to be happy, but we aren't happy. Something's missing. I looked around. The only thing I positively knew was gone was the books I'd burned in ten or twelve years. So I thought books might help."

After realizing that books may be a productive asset to society, he befriends an old man, Faber, who is a retired English teacher. Together they devise a plan in order to be free from the fiery bonds of this Hitler-esque society:

"The things you're looking for, Montag, are in the world, but the only way the average chap will ever see ninety-nine per cent of them is in a book. Don't ask for guarantees. And don't look to be saved in any one thing, person, machine, or library. Do your own bit of saving, and if you drown, at least die knowing you
were headed for shore."

This is a very short but extremely satisfying read. The ending was not exactly what I had expected, however it took me a whopping 2 hours to get through and I can understand why it is now labeled a classic. I recommend it to anyone and everyone who knows how to read.

Also, if you are interested in the abundance of amazing quotes from this book, click on our quotes blog on the right-hand side.

One last time, thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway! There will be many more to come!

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