Friday, January 25, 2008

 

"Don't Tell Me What I'm Doing; I Don't Want To Know."

I finished Fahrenheit 451 not twenty minutes ago, and I was moved to update my neglected blog. Read this book. If you do not own it, go out and buy it.
The first thing I did upon finishing it was to tell my sister to read it. It is that good. Even the notes and interview with the author were good.
The book sweats life from every pore. You could find more life in a single one of Bradbury's sentences than can be found in my entire blog. I am still in awe over the book. It is a fascinating story. It's fun and it keeps you involved.
I knew that Fahrenheit 451 was about burning books, but thats all I knew. It was my assumption that a government had banned books to keep people from thinking. That's just how gray-future books are supposed to be: Government takes over people's lives. Bradbury's plan is far more realistic and far more frightening.
It truly calls to task everyone who claims reading is boring. It shames them and shows them what life would be like without books. It assaults those who would rather stare at the TV than read. Along the way it also bashes censorship and appealing to minorities. Not that minorities our bad, it just points out that you can't please everyone, so why try. If you did come up with something to please everyone it would be vanilla. Worse than that, it would be air. Regular atmosphere that everyone is already used to.
Another thing about the book is how unintelligent it makes me feel. It never explains the '451' allusion, and I am sure there are hundreds, if not thousands, of other allusions I did not catch. It is just an excellent example of literature.
Author: Ray Bradbury
Title: Fahrenheit 451
Price: $6.99 US
You need this book far more than you need the seven bucks.

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