Thursday, October 13, 2011

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

I recently read this novel for the Read Your Own Books Read-A-Thon. Although I have read several short stories by Bradbury, I had never read this novel. It was a quick read and very enjoyable! Before reading the novel, I knew the basic story line, but never thought I would enjoy it as much as I did!

Fahrenheit 451 is a futuristic dystopian novel in which people are no longer allowed to read books. Guy Montag, the protagonist, is a firefighter, which means that he burns books. Rather than reading, people live a scripted lifestyle that is closely monitored and fulfilled through interacting with their tv families.

However, people are not  satisfied living this sort of life. Suicide became so prevalent that doctors did not even have to see the patients; instead, teams traveled from home to home pumping stomachs of those who had overdosed.

With a little prompting from Clarisse, Montag's rebellious neighbor, he too begins the realize the crime he is committing by burning books and the importance of slowing down to observe nature. I will let you read the novel for yourself because, if you haven't read the novel yet, you are probably aching to know what happens to Clarisse and Montag, aren't you?!

Also, if you enjoy short stories, I highly recommend Bradbury's "The Pedestrian." I actually read this story about a year ago, but as I was reading Fahrenheit 451 I immediately saw the connection between the two and had to reread it!

4 comments:

  1. This sounds like a such a fantastic book - I can't believe it's taken me so long to add it to my TBR shelf. Great review!

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  2. Thanks Trish! This was one of those books that I thought I knew so much about that it would be a boring read. . .Oh was I wrong!

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  3. I've just recently got into Ray Bradbury's writing but, like you, I've only read his short stories so far. I can't wait to read this!

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  4. Sophia, I hope you enjoy this novel as much as I did. . .If you like his short stories, I think you will like it! Can't wait to see what you think after reading it!

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