Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

There is very little I can say that will ever do this book justice.

Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to set fires - to set fire to books. In this world, books are banned. They are dangerous things. They could potentially make people unhappy. And happiness is the only thing that counts.

“With school turning out more runners, jumpers, racers, tinkerers, grabbers, snatchers, fliers, and swimmers instead of examiners, critics, knowers, and imaginative creators, the word 'intellectual,' of course, became the swear word it deserved to be.”

― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

Before I get into anything else, I have to discuss the energy in the writing in this book. It was mind-blowing. It was powerful. Not a word was unnecessary, and I speedily turned the pages, half horrified at what this world would mean to my library, half captivated at what would happen next. I think the writing itself added to everything that I felt while reading this. Detailed descriptions were used for fire, books burning. My nightmare had come true! I was horrified, intrigued and caught in this ride from minute I opened to the first page.

“The magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us.”

― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

There are other things that are scary in this book too. How close Bradbury came to envisioning our world, for starters.  How we would have massive, wall-sized television sets. How it would be people who chose not to read first - not governments. (Teach English for a few days, and you will see what I mean.) How the relevance of the superficial emotion, happiness, becomes all important; and things one has to work through and put effort into become sidelined. It does not seem a stretch to believe that intelligence could become feared and then hated. And then the thought of being prosecuted for owning books. After all, it has happened in the past...

“A book is a loaded gun in the house next door...Who knows who might be the target of the well-read man?”

― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

I would put this in the category of must-reads for books lovers. Guard your libraries, protect your books, bask in the knowledge that you can read whatever you can get your hands on. Promote books!

It is the 68th book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.

I gave this 5 stars on Goodreads, because they don't allow you to give it 10.

PS: Once you have finished this, read Neil Gaiman's short story, The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury. Another exceptional piece of writing.