Fahrenheit 451

by Ray Bradbury

---

In a word: phoenix

In a sentence: Montag was content burning books for a living until a conversation with his neighbor got him thinking for the first time.

Synopsis: Firemen start fires. Reading is forbidden. Civilization is set to forget. Montag was okay with that until Clarisse encouraged him to examine the world around him.

Reactions: While I was reading this book, I already wanted to read it again. I’ve felt this way before reading a few things for the first time: Crime and Punishment, A Clockwork Orange, As I Lay Dying, and now Fahrenheit 451. All books to sink into, concentrating, to draw out as much essence as you can. Bradbury’s writing is beautiful, luring the reader into his superficial, censored world.

Fahrenheit 451 is a love letter to literature. Books are the salvation. Books are our only hope. Bradbury’s delicious prose bring books to life, give them breath, heartbeat, and transform them into white winged angels in death, sighing into flame. Bradbury teaches Montag to see again through books. Interestingly enough, actually reading these books does very little for Montag since literature goes right over his head. More important is the curiosity they awaken in him to see things, taste them, feel, think, explore, question. We don't even know for sure whether Clarisse read or not, but we know that she was killed because of her curiosity. Through this questioning, Montag comes full circle and determines that books alone must hold the answers. Only then is he able to free himself of his dystopian lifestyle, inadvertently saving himself from destruction.

In the back of my particular copy of Fahrenheit 451, the 50th Anniversary Edition, there is an interview of Ray Bradbury. He seemed a forceful character. He adored literature and abhorred television. He probably would have gotten on well with J.D. Salinger who shared these sentiments. Interestingly, Bradbury contrasted this work with Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, another of the most esteemed dystopias of all time. While Orwell focused his critique on governmental and political dangers, Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 as a critique on the most worrisome dangers of society as a whole through his eyes. I would certainly be curious to hear his critique on social media if he were still alive today. I am eager to read more of his works, which are abundant.

Read if: you crave a wonderful dystopia or simply love literature.