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juushikaTitle: Fahrenheit 451
Author: Ray Bradbury
Published: New York: Del Rey, 1979 (1953)
Page Count: 179
Total Page Count: 16,724
Text Number: 46
Read For: My own enjoyment
Short review: A famous dystopia novel about censorship and book, Farhenheit 451 is the story of Guy Montag, a fireman. In the unspecified universe of the book, houses have been fireproofed and firemen exist to start fires: the burn books, all books, which are now banned and illegal to own. Montag is a fireman who begins to collect the books he is supposed to burn, and, after meeting a peculiar young lady, begins to read his books. As Montag reads, he changes and comes to realize the censorship and limitations of his society. He is determined to destroy the system, but doesn't know how. A book about books, and also about society, our possible failures, and our possible hope, Farenheit 451 is one of my all-time favorite novels and I recommend it highly both as a dystopic book and as a good read.
This is yet another book that I reread every few years, and I also have a good chunk of Beatty's speech about book banning memorized. I really just can't recommend this book too highly. As a novel, it is a quick and engrossing read. Bradbury writes in a clean but symbolic and visual style, making the book easy to get into. Action and philosophy/theory are well balanced. Dialog leans towards run-on paragraphs and existential topics, but Bradbury has a rhythm to his words: the use of repetition and parallel structure makes the speeches easy to read and very dramatic. As a commentary, Bradbury definitely finds his niche: his topic, that is, elective censorship and the power of books, is so true and so relevant that it even happened to this book, which had the scarce swearwords edited out for the high-school readership. Bradbury is a sci-fi author and book lover, so he knows how to imagine and construct a dystopia and understands well the importance of and power of books. In fewer words, it's a skillful book on just the right topic, and Bradbury knows what he's doing.
No matter how many times I reread this text, I get more out of it. I feel like the novel has grown with me: I read it as a freshman in high school and loved it, and I've read it at 20 years old and loved it more. Bradbury's intense love for literature becomes increasingly accessible as the audience matures and reads more—hell, some of the sections about books and their power even made me cry. Furthermore, with maturity comes a greater understanding of the very real threat that has become a status quo in the novel: elective censorship, the public-lead drive to read less, think less, and allow for less. "Bigger the population, the more minorities.... All the minor minor minorities with their navels to be kept clean," Bradbury writes. In an age of political correct speech and two political parties that say damn near the same thing, the threat of the minority to homogenize rather than diversify is very real. The more mature the reader, the more aware he is of his own social and political culture and the more the book should threaten and inform him.
I very highly recommend this text. At less than 200 pages it's not a huge investment of time, but there's a lot in it. While it may not be the most complex book/dsytopic novel/text by Bradbury, it's still a wonderful read. Book lovers in particular will get something out of this, because the love and respect that Bradbury has for books can be truly emotional. This is a book that I know I'll come back to again, and I was really happy to reread it this time.
Author: Ray Bradbury
Published: New York: Del Rey, 1979 (1953)
Page Count: 179
Total Page Count: 16,724
Text Number: 46
Read For: My own enjoyment
Short review: A famous dystopia novel about censorship and book, Farhenheit 451 is the story of Guy Montag, a fireman. In the unspecified universe of the book, houses have been fireproofed and firemen exist to start fires: the burn books, all books, which are now banned and illegal to own. Montag is a fireman who begins to collect the books he is supposed to burn, and, after meeting a peculiar young lady, begins to read his books. As Montag reads, he changes and comes to realize the censorship and limitations of his society. He is determined to destroy the system, but doesn't know how. A book about books, and also about society, our possible failures, and our possible hope, Farenheit 451 is one of my all-time favorite novels and I recommend it highly both as a dystopic book and as a good read.
This is yet another book that I reread every few years, and I also have a good chunk of Beatty's speech about book banning memorized. I really just can't recommend this book too highly. As a novel, it is a quick and engrossing read. Bradbury writes in a clean but symbolic and visual style, making the book easy to get into. Action and philosophy/theory are well balanced. Dialog leans towards run-on paragraphs and existential topics, but Bradbury has a rhythm to his words: the use of repetition and parallel structure makes the speeches easy to read and very dramatic. As a commentary, Bradbury definitely finds his niche: his topic, that is, elective censorship and the power of books, is so true and so relevant that it even happened to this book, which had the scarce swearwords edited out for the high-school readership. Bradbury is a sci-fi author and book lover, so he knows how to imagine and construct a dystopia and understands well the importance of and power of books. In fewer words, it's a skillful book on just the right topic, and Bradbury knows what he's doing.
No matter how many times I reread this text, I get more out of it. I feel like the novel has grown with me: I read it as a freshman in high school and loved it, and I've read it at 20 years old and loved it more. Bradbury's intense love for literature becomes increasingly accessible as the audience matures and reads more—hell, some of the sections about books and their power even made me cry. Furthermore, with maturity comes a greater understanding of the very real threat that has become a status quo in the novel: elective censorship, the public-lead drive to read less, think less, and allow for less. "Bigger the population, the more minorities.... All the minor minor minorities with their navels to be kept clean," Bradbury writes. In an age of political correct speech and two political parties that say damn near the same thing, the threat of the minority to homogenize rather than diversify is very real. The more mature the reader, the more aware he is of his own social and political culture and the more the book should threaten and inform him.
I very highly recommend this text. At less than 200 pages it's not a huge investment of time, but there's a lot in it. While it may not be the most complex book/dsytopic novel/text by Bradbury, it's still a wonderful read. Book lovers in particular will get something out of this, because the love and respect that Bradbury has for books can be truly emotional. This is a book that I know I'll come back to again, and I was really happy to reread it this time.
