Fahrenheit 451 in Overdue Podcast

Jul 03, 2020 Rachel | reads_with_rach rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, dystopian, sci-fi

This novel makes me want to hold onto my books a little tighter! Really enjoyed this, can’t believe it took me this long to get around to reading it.

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Feb 15, 2017 Chandler rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: hall-of-fame, 5-star, 300-or-less-pgs, books-for-boys, books-i-own, sci-fi, classics, top-ten-books-2017, standalone-fiction, hugo-award

You know, there is something to be said for the short novel. For all the books out there that are 300 or even 1,000 pages long, I think it is actually harder to write with a small page count in mind. Every word has to have meaning, and no line must be wasted. In the case of Fahrenheit 451, this is doubly true. For many different people, this is one of the quintessential books on the banning of books, as well as the ideas in them, and they would be right. I cannot to this day think of a novel tha You know, there is something to be said for the short novel. For all the books out there that are 300 or even 1,000 pages long, I think it is actually harder to write with a small page count in mind. Every word has to have meaning, and no line must be wasted. In the case of Fahrenheit 451, this is doubly true. For many different people, this is one of the quintessential books on the banning of books, as well as the ideas in them, and they would be right. I cannot to this day think of a novel that so smartly manages to work through the ideas of banning fiction in such a way as to not hit you over the head with the theme, as some other novels might do today. This book manages to work in many different elements of a story to make us see, in a brief 170 pages, that we cannot lose hope in the words humanity taught us, or we may lose humanity in ourselves.

This novel manages to draw on the idea of banning fiction through the character of Guy Montag. He is a man who is perfectly content at his job, burning books, never questioning why he does it, or how it came to be. The reader then discovers, through his interactions with friends and family, that Guy is unhappy with his life. His wife, Mildred, is also vapid and boring most of the time, as she stares at the parlor walls watching TV shows that have so little plot, it would make Twilight angry. Through Guy, the reader learns how anything that could have been considered remotely offensive, even for the slightest of reasons, was destroyed. One of the most ‘offensive’ things in this future society was books, and that caused them to be banned and burned, in this dystopian future.

Obviously, one of the most talked about aspects is how the Politically Correct culture has, essentially taken over the world, and now asks that any type of art that even causes the slightest reaction to the audience is done away with, leading to the burning of books. For better or worse, I do not think that this will happen anytime soon, because of the equil parts PC culture, and the push back on PC culture. For everyone saying that they should be treated with respect, and have their feelings acknowledged, there are just as many people saying that there are some things that you will find offensive in life, and what we should really study is why that offends you, and how to deal with it. This novel takes the idea of PC culture to the extreme and shows what can happen when all emotional ties to art is severed and how the loss in humanity that can be the result.

One of the more refreshing things about the short page count of this book, is the care that is taken when Bradbury selects his language that he uses. This man manages to paint a picture or deliver excellent exposition in just a few lines. Often, his prose had me stopping and thinking about what was just said every few paragraphs or so, which is something, considering that I can’t say that I’ve had the same effect with other writers. In the end, it is this that makes me want to rate this book what I must. This was, technically, a re-read for me, as I had rea this in high school. Now almost a decade later, this novel still holds weight for me that makes me want to read it over again, and perhaps buy another edition that I can give to a friend that might enjoy it as much as I did. I give it a five out of five. I highly recommend it. ...more

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Jun 28, 2019 Lore rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Why didn't I read this before?!
This dystopian novel was wrtitten in 1953, and is still very relevant and disturbing.
I really enjoyed it. Such beautiful writing. ...more

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