Fahrenheit 451

I rarely read fiction, but I'm glad I read this book! It's the work of a man who truly loves books. He brings to light people who are willing to die for the right to read. Because this is a scholarly classic, much as been said about the mechanical dog, the smokers who show up to do a blood transfusion, and the job of firemen morphing into setting fires rather than extinguishing them. All of these are elements that make the book quite intriguing. I was both troubled and relieved when Montag set Beatty afire. It seems that it was the best thing to do at the time. One reason I avoid fiction is that I don't like to go through such slaughters, but it's all just an illusion. And it was an appropriate way to take out a bully. Decades ago Bradbury was able to foresee that many would steer away from reading, instead choosing the easier path of sitting back and watching big TV screens allowing anything to take over their thinking. It's disturbing to see the scholars who walk the outskirts of the cities, homeless because the authorities have banished the readers. Those devoted to exercising their freedom, and helping others to learn the skill of freedom of thought are outcast. One of the most interesting aspects of this novel is its author, Ray Bradbury, who received his education in the libraries. He loved hanging out in the library. It was a safe-haven for him in a time of economic depression in the country. This is where he got his education, among the stacks and in the pages of the books. This says a lot for how one can get an education. The library is one big school that any literate person can dive into, assuming he has one he can access. This book is definitely a demonstration of the power of libraries. The word "library" is only mentioned a few times in the book, and each time it's in reference to personal libraries in people's homes. We can assume all the public libraries had already been destroyed by the time we show up in the sidelines of this story. It's useful to go through this exercise of what it might be like in a country where reading is banned and the government controls the minds of the people and watches out for their activities. Look around. Today, men like Snowden are helping us keep an eye on the activities of the fire department. We all need to closely watch as we decide what to do with our time each day. The classics do us no good until they're read. If people are so distracted with the little seashells and thimbles in their ear, with their TVs and their cell phones, getting lost in the media, then they lose sight of their own life. They get sucked up into entertainment, programming them with violent action and sitcom-style messages of what to drink and eat, and how to behave. In one of his own commentaries on his book, Ray Bradbury mentions that he wrote the original version of this novella straight through in about 9 days. He estimated that it cost him $9.80 in dimes that he put into the typewriter at the UCLA library. He needed to write in the library to avoid distraction from his children at home. And he needed to write quickly in the library so as not to burn up too many dimes. This is clear evidence that writing without thinking too much about it can produce powerful messages. This was a culmination of ideas that had been stirring up in his mind after he wrote The Pedestrian. This book is an important read for anyone who wants to keep her mind free from the media. It's a vivid warning that we need to stand guard. We are responsible for cultivating our egos and our minds. It's up to us to stop authoritarian thugs before their control goes from a spark to an out-of-control fire.

This book is set in a future society (through the lens of the American 1950’s) where a fireman’s job is not to stop fires, but to start them. We follow our protagonist, Guy Montag, as he contentedly goes to work everyday and burns books. Sometimes, if there are many books, he and his fellow fireman burn the entire house down, and they do it without question. One day, that question is posed by an eccentric young girl named Clarisse, who challenges Guy’s notions of why he lives the way that he does. He begins to realize that everything in his life is censored to keep him from thinking. The reasoning is ostensibly that hard and difficult thoughts and ideas (like those held in books) make people unhappy, as it forces them to think. As an added example, his wife spends all day at home with her “family,” which is really just a wall of televisions that keep her entertained and thus unthinking. I found it poignant that even in the early 50’s, television had been identified as a tool for media barons to spread mass influence, especially when you consider the addiction that television and media has become in today’s age. So, Guy pushes back against the system in control (by reading a book) and he is subsequently pursued as an outsider. His life is turned upside down, he flees, and by the end of our story, he finds himself amongst the rebels. These “rebels” are former college professors and intellectual thinkers who have been cast out of the system and now live in the forest as homeless men. Their mission in life, and how they show their resistance, is by remembering. They remember the knowledge of old, things that used to be held in books, and their hope is to someday bring humanity’s collective intelligence back to the forefront of society. What I really liked about this book was the thought put into the characters. Sure, Guy is your average guy, as his name suggests, and his wife is cast as the sucker of the system, refusing to be enlightened and instead choosing to live in blissful ignorance (at one point in the book, Guy is raising his concerns about not being happy in their shallow lives, and his wife responds “I’m tired of listening to this junk” and promptly turns from Guy back to her television program.) But I found it impressively accurate that the initial crack in the facade came from youth. At a certain age, people seem to come to a form of societal acceptance, and I loved that it was essentially a child who came along and finally asked the all important question: “Why?” It made me wonder, what do we adults lose by forgoing our ability to continually ask this question, both of ourselves and the world around us? Another character I liked was the fire captain Beatty. Every dystopian novel needs an antagonist and this is Beatty’s role. However, while it makes sense that the haggard professors comprise the resistance, Beatty is also an educated man having read many pieces of literature and views the information in books in an opposing light. He has found them to be endlessly contradictory, and thusly tools of unhappiness, and has found comfort in his mission to destroy them. I found it fascinating that the author showed learned characters who, when presented with the same world-choices, made opposing decisions. I think it really goes to show the differing wisdoms of individual people. Two people can read the same book, and while one can love it and the other hate it, both can be correct, because it is (in most cases) a subjective medium. Now, framed as the antagonist, some might say that Beatty took the ‘easy’ way out. But would it also be appropriate to suggest that in a world overflowing with chaos, he accepted the path of least resistance? Would there be merit in a condemnation of his choice, or should we opt for mercy? Or neither, and should we, as both readers of fiction and also members of our current society, accept his decision and the reasons behind it? I don’t have answers to these questions, and I think it wise not to try and decide. Instead, I think we should all periodically ponder them, especially as we find ourselves making similar decisions in our own lives, and watch others close to us do the same. Society doesn’t move forward when we force our opinions onto other. True merit is born of the perpetual quest for understanding and always asking why?

Everyone who loves books should read this book. Every civilization's, every society's downfall is rooted in silencing critical thinking. One which develops only through reading and imbibing different ideas from books. History is a testament to this fact. Any dissent suppressed will only grow wilder and more intense which will eventually wreck havoc in its wake and perhaps the new society born out of it might be better. Not pure and perfect but better as long as we remember what caused it in the first place. "The good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones rape and leave her for the flies." The author Ray Bradbury, rightfully belongs to the good writers category. ❤️

Amazing read!

Ray Bradbury'nin yakın gelecekteki korkulara ilişkin kaleme aldığı baş yapıtı.

Quick delivery, well packed, products as displayed, very pleased!😁

książka klejona, dość szybko złamał mi się grzbiet; sama treść nie zachwyca, ale nie jest też tragiczna