Book #5 Week #5, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

This week's book was Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. At 165 pages it was more like a short story than anything else which worked out okay since I was pretty sick all week.

This story was written in 1953 and takes place "in the future" but we are never told exactly when that means. The story centers on a firefighter named Guy Montag. In a world when homes are fireproof it is the firefighters job to start fires. What?? Yes, books are illegal in this future and when a tip comes in that some citizen is breaking the law the firefighters swoop in, in the middle of the night and burn the books, building and all. Little do the other firefighters know that Montag has been saving books from the fire and hiding them at home, in fact Montag himself doesn't know what is compelling him to do this.

In this world people are destined to be the same as everyone else, independent thought and questioning is a thing of the past. The people seem vacant and uncaring under a mask of complacence and happiness. However there is a lot of violence, especially among the young people, televisions now take up entire walls and are interactive, drivers reach extreme speeds on the street looking to feel something.

Guy Montag is very much complacent just like everyone else until he meets seventeen year old Clarisse McClellan. Clarisse is unlike anyone he has ever met, she is full of life, wonder and questions, lots of questions. Suddenly the veil begins to lift from Montag's eyes and he finds himself in a very strange world and in a heap of trouble.

In the end I really liked the premise of Fahrenheit 451 but I found it a little difficult to read at times. I am not sure if it was the writing style at the time or if this was Ray Bradbury's own style of writing but the detail in such simple moments was a little hmm much maybe? I found this book very thought provoking, can the government ever succeeded in controlling the masses so well? Will individuals every give up free thought? All in all it was a good quick read if you have only a little time to spare.

One of my favorite quotes from Fahrenheit 451 "Let you alone! That's all very well, but how can I leave myself alone? We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?".