Released: 19th October 1953 (Original Publish Date)
Genre: Dystopia, Sci-Fi
Number of Pages: 200
Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is a book that many consider years ahead of its time; it certainly has many intriguing ideas to share, but in terms of offering a definitive, engaging tale of dystopia it leaves quite a bit to be desired.
In the future, books have been entirely outlawed by the government and in a twist of Orwellian-style double-speak, fireman are no longer tasked with putting fires out but starting in order to burn any pieces of literature. One of these fire-wielding folks is Guy Montag; after putting countless paperbacks and houses to the flames, Montag comes to an epiphany on meeting the young Clarisse McClellan by chance in the street. Unhappy with his life and marriage to his wife Mildred, he learns of a time unconstrained by control and censorship and slowly begins to rebel against the system, all the while being watched by the powers that be. Divided across three main parts, the story unfolds entirely from his perspective as we spend many pages reading his thoughts and position against the system that envelopes the world. It’s a very contained tale that makes use of a small selection of characters and locations but this where the novel falls down a bit. There’s not a whole lot of development for either of these elements and as a result, it’s difficult to get fully immersed in the narrative.
Instead the author sees fit to make use of mostly metaphorical elements and extended dialogue sentences. This approach isn’t without merit; my favourite elements in the novel are the discussions surrounding the setting’s society at large, especially the moment where Montag’s boss Captain Beatty; you see how firmly consumed he is by his role and control over information and thought and grow to dislike the man. These moments are intriguing by sadly they don’t translate into fleshing out the setting, which as far as the reader is aware, is simply an unnamed city in an undisclosed time period with a ruthless police force watching over it. Fahrenheit 451 is a book that makes its themes and ideas clearly known in many ways, these really can apply to today’s society; censorship is central to its story in that it removes freedom of thought and keeps the populous pacified. With today’s gargantuan volumes of information, particularly on the internet, many questions are raised over who controls what we read and experience. The notion of social control is arguably more relevant today than any other point in history.
Recommended?
MAYBE: While the ideas behind Fahrenheit 451 have resonated greatly since it was first written, the central narrative was rather shallow for me. We get a peek inside Montag’s mind throughout the plot but the world him and the other characters inhabit are rarely elaborated on. I wanted to learn more about this dystopia, to understand how books were labelled the enemy of society and the subsequent suppression of other freedoms, but Bradbury doesn’t offer many morsels to dive into.
The version of the book I bought has a forward and afterword from the author containing further details on how and why he wrote the book. It offers some unique insights, even if it doesn’t contribute additional detail to the story itself.
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