Book Review: Fahrenheit 451

by Ray Bradbury

rating: 4 of 5 stars

Aaron got me this book for our anniversary, and we read it out loud together. This is what the back of the book says:

"Nowadays firemen start fires. Fireman Guy Montag loves to rush to a fire and watch books burn up. Then he met a seventeen-year old girl who told him of a past when people were not afraid, and a professor who told him of a future where people could think. And Guy Montag knew what he had to do..."

This is definitely a thinking book, which happen to be my favorite kind, so I loved it. It reminds me a lot of Anthem by Ayn Rand, if you've ever read that. Basically what has happened in the world of this book is that the people of America are so caught up in being happy and having fun, that they dislike anything that makes them feel or do otherwise. Knowledge and thinking are examples of what they dislike. Books are banned, and fireman are set to work to burn all the books and the homes of anyone who owns them. People fill their days with loud noises, bright colors, TV shows and music that make no sense but always have a happy ending or a good feeling to them. The drive fast, work a lot, and never stop to think, or notice their surroundings, or to have conversations with each other. And this is the way everyone wants it. Everyone except a few who remember the past and have a hope for the future.

It's a cool/scary book, because it has so much application to our time, though not on as large of a scale. There is so much meaningless stuff going on in this book that people never take a chance to digest or reflect on what's happening to them or around them.

I like the style the author wrote this book in, he uses sounds in an amazing deafening way. Which I find interesting because words on a page have no sound. He doesn't describe what this world is like, but instead the way he uses words helps to portray what it would feel like to be living in this world he's created. It's really fascinating how he does it. Good writing.

There is swearing in here, just Bible ones, but there are a lot of them. And there is some violence as well, but it's not super graphic. But no sex, yay!

If you like books like Anthem, 1984, Animal Farm, or others like it, then you will like this book, and I recommend it.

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