'Fahrenheit 451' by Ray Bradbury

FTC disclaimer: I was not sent this product. I am not affiliated with the companies mentioned. All opinions are my own.

Overall Rating: 3.5 / 5

My Plot Intro:

In this world, firemen start fires, because all books must be burnt. Family is someone you meet in a screen, and joy is driving at 120 miles per hour. Happiness guaranteed.

Except for all the jets and the suicides and the houses going up in flames.

Guy Montag is just doing his job. Until suddenly he isn’t anymore.

Bradbury’s core concept here is so memorable because it actually has happened. Books were burnt under Nazi rule in Germany, and in the 21st century, people are living their entire lives on screens. But ‘Fahrenheit 451’ takes those concepts and creates an entire chilling society around them (find out more about the author here: https://rayBradbury.com)

The writing in itself didn’t hook me totally, and I could could say the same about the characters (other than Clarisse -a minor one). Our protagonist does fill the ‘’dystopian hero” mould, but contributed little else for me. The world building really stole the show!

The core issues raised in the novel are so relevant today: we should question what we are told more, we should soak in the world around us, we should look for joy worth more than a quick high. I was very much affected by the novel; it made me look inwards. Which was why I enjoyed it -as well as the fact that the ending had notes of optimism that are usually absent in dystopian fiction!

My Fave Quotation :)

“The men lay gasping like fish laid out on the grass. They held to the earth as children hold to familiar things, no matter how cold or dead, no matter what has happened or will happen”

Review written on 24/09/2021