I have always had a thing for dystopian fiction, dating back to middle school when we had to read Animal Farm by George Orwell (8th Grade honors English - Mr. Borman!). I make no bones about it - The Handmaid's Tale by Atwood is one of my favorite books of all time. These dark books always fascinated me in some deep way. I remember reading Farenheit 451 as well but thought that it warranted a re-read, particularly in the troubling times that we currently live in, so I picked it up again.
For those of you that don't know, Ray Bradbury wrote and had this book published in 1953. Bradbury is writing about a society that looks to be American at some point in the near future. In this society, books are outlawed and firemen are the people that go out and burn the books that are found in the hopes that society will eradicate them. The protagonist is Guy Montag, a fireman who becomes severely disillusioned with his role of burning books and with the banning of books to begin with.
I can see why people love this book: it takes on themes of voyeurism, censorship and what it means to be a "true believer" in a job. It also takes on themes of government thought control and groupthink at its worst. In the period when it was written - right after the Nazis and World War II - I think that these things were very much on people's minds in a different context then they are now. I think that then, Americans were likely to read the book and apply it to the people "over there" in Europe, across the ocean, who had let themselves be swayed by Mussolini or Hitler, whereas I think today people may read this book and internalize it to America more.
The measure of a brilliant book, in my mind, is a book that you can read at different points in your life but which is still relevant today and which you can read and re-read at various points in your life, yet still take something away. Farenheit 451 is one of those books. In 1953 when it came out, it acted as a tool in which to discuss the political occurrences and a terrible war that occurred overseas. And yet, it is still as relevant today as it was back then. It is a brilliant tool with which to discuss the themes and challenges that we have on both macro and micro levels of our own society. And that is why it such an important and magnificent work.
Kudos Mr. Bradbury. May your book be read continuously by future generations.
For those of you that don't know, Ray Bradbury wrote and had this book published in 1953. Bradbury is writing about a society that looks to be American at some point in the near future. In this society, books are outlawed and firemen are the people that go out and burn the books that are found in the hopes that society will eradicate them. The protagonist is Guy Montag, a fireman who becomes severely disillusioned with his role of burning books and with the banning of books to begin with.
I can see why people love this book: it takes on themes of voyeurism, censorship and what it means to be a "true believer" in a job. It also takes on themes of government thought control and groupthink at its worst. In the period when it was written - right after the Nazis and World War II - I think that these things were very much on people's minds in a different context then they are now. I think that then, Americans were likely to read the book and apply it to the people "over there" in Europe, across the ocean, who had let themselves be swayed by Mussolini or Hitler, whereas I think today people may read this book and internalize it to America more.
The measure of a brilliant book, in my mind, is a book that you can read at different points in your life but which is still relevant today and which you can read and re-read at various points in your life, yet still take something away. Farenheit 451 is one of those books. In 1953 when it came out, it acted as a tool in which to discuss the political occurrences and a terrible war that occurred overseas. And yet, it is still as relevant today as it was back then. It is a brilliant tool with which to discuss the themes and challenges that we have on both macro and micro levels of our own society. And that is why it such an important and magnificent work.
Kudos Mr. Bradbury. May your book be read continuously by future generations.
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