Book Review: Fahrenheit 451

I had nothing at all clever about the title that included enough about the book to make sense. Oh well. It’s that time again.

Another book review! Five more to go after this. I think next week will be comprised entirely of book reviews. Sorry. Then I’ll be back to normal blogging. Anyway, Fahrenheit 451 was a book I’d been wanting to read for a long while and I’m glad I finally did. I choose this for the book that won an award category because it won a few awards. Namely the Hugo Award for Best Novel,  Prometheus Hall of Fame Award, and  National Book Award for Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

It opens up with an introduction to a strange world that could be the future of us. It’s a world where firemen don’t put out fires, they start fires and they start fires with books. No one is to read, no one is to better themselves. All they must do is work to earn money to buy a bigger better television. If you’re rich and lucky enough you’ll have four walls of television, interactive television.

The main characters name is Guy. People make a big deal of him meeting with Clarisse, a young lady that makes him question his happiness, but I thought she was inconsequential. I think that what happened would have happened eventually without her, she was just an interesting add-on to the story. Therefore I won’t talk about her, I’ll summarize the rest of the book.

Guy is married to a woman named Mildred and right at the beginning it is clear that she has attempted suicide. Guy calls these people and they pump her out and say that it’s kind of a common thing. Mildred doesn’t remember it in the morning. She’s too empty, too shallow, too involved in the television to feel much and know why (or that she even did) attempt suicide)

Then Guy decides to like books. It’s climatic because he’s a fireman and he’s supposed to burn books, not read them. Well he does and badum! I won’t tell you the rest.

I guess it’s obvious that I really liked this book. This is my book review from Goodreads because it’s simpler that way:

“This book was beautifully written. The words were elegant and descriptive. I loved the rhythm which carried throughout the whole book. The main character was developed wonderfully through the story, at first he is a destructive, numb copy of all the other firemen but when he meets a young girl he changes. He becomes aware that there is more besides himself and the fire in which he burns books.

I loved how people had become so numb because they had everything to be happy that is was negative. The only way people could escape was suicide which was a common happening in the time period the story is written in.

The story is eloquently told about a future that is not entirely impossible.”

I guess at the beginning I did indeed like Clarisse and felt she did something. Maybe I just forgot her as time passed but I still think that she was just the push. She left shortly after and was only to get Guy to think at the beginning. But I think he was the type of person that would have thought eventually, just maybe to late.

So there’s that. Read this book if you like books at all, it’s fantastic. Plus it’s kind of short so it’s not going to take all day to read.

~Faith

P.S. It’s the end of the world today! You might as well spend your last few hours reading a great book. You’re welcome. Don’t let the zombies get you.