Anne's Reviews > Fahrenheit 451

Oh, come on!
Who doesn't like to set shit on fire?!



But seriously.
Don't burn books. <-- that's wasteful!



Or witches. <--that's murder
Or buildings. <--that's arson
Or blue jeans. <--that's...what? no. seriously. back when I was a teenager, I remember this wacky church youth group burning all their jeans because Jesus wanted the girls to wear dresses.

You can however burn calories.



Alight, as much as I love Richard Simmons, I'm veering away from the point.
There are some books that anyone who loves to read feels like they need to get around to. And Fahrenheit 451 is one of those bucket list books that I've been meaning to tick off for years now.
And now I'm done. Ta-da!
So what does that mean? Did this book change my life?!
Short answer is no.
This is a really weird little story with an even weirder ending. <--not BAD, just weird.
Ok. Maybe it is a teensy bit bad in spots. But I think this has the same problem (for me) that most of these older dystopian novels have, in that it depicts humans as just absolutely stupid and prone to easily giving up real relationships. I think that's just dumb.
People crave people.
Now, I'm not saying that there aren't some people who get sucked into too much fake digital shit in whatever form it may take for them - porn, gaming, social media sites, and whatever else.
BUT. There have always been folks that just retreat from the real world.
Think about those weird hermits who live in some creepy cabin in the woods because they just can't deal with life and think other humans aren't a necessity.



I'm not referring to introverts or folks who are shy, because even if it's hard for them to be in crowds or to act like a social butterfly, they usually have a small group of trusted loved ones.
Point is, this book made it seem as though once people stopped reading and (basically) started watching tv they just ignored everything and everyone.



That just doesn't track.
And I say this as someone who absolutely loves books, but stories are stories.
Whether you hold a hardback, scroll through an ebook, love the visuals of comics, enjoy listening to audiobooks, or even (gasp!) watch a movie.



All of those? They're a medium that allows you to escape.
Allows you to reach out and live another life, see things through someone else's eyes, and maybe expand your mind.
Don't be a snob. There's room for it all.
And when you actually take a look at how most people watch television shows or movies, we tend to do it in a social way. I watch certain things so that I can talk to my friends about it later, or I pop some popcorn and con one of my kids to sit on the couch with me and watch something stupid together.



I'm not saying you'll be totally fine if you immerse yourself in some sort of virtual world and forget to bathe.
And I'm certainly not saying that we'll be ok if we start lighting books on fire.
What I am saying is that I thought a lot of this particular story was a product of the fears of the time.
TV will rot your brain!
And there may be the slight potential that you could be letting evil spirits into your home if you sit too close to it.



However, there are some things to take away from it that I think are important and potentially relevant still.
Censorship of any kind, written or otherwise, is dangerous.



You may hate what someone says, you may hate what they stand for, you may think their ideas are vile, but it's so very important to remind yourself that if you try to squash their ability to express those ideas with speech, you're own right to express your ideology and opinions will be the next to go. You also may want to remember that just because you've stopped someone from saying something, doesn't mean they don't still think it. And that shit will fester like a boil.
It will eventually come to a head in a very ugly way because that's how human nature works and no amount of shushing and pretending will stop it.
I would rather be awkwardly uncomfortable because someone I disagree with has a platform than watch the eruption that will happen when the entire world ignites from one side of an argument that was silenced for too long.
Dude, everyone knows that's when the machines will take over!



Ok, about that ending.
I felt the spirit of Fonzie beside them as Guy & that odd little group of hobos jumped that shark on those train tracks. Am I alone or did anyone else think that whole thing was mighty random?



You've got sleepers hidden all over who've memorized books? What? You've 'figured out' how to unlock the magic photographic memory gene?
Ok. Sure.
Why not?



I also felt like that the killer robot dog was kind of a waste of an incredible idea. It started off like it was going to be super scary and play a huge part in the story and then...yeah, a little bit at the end. But it was kind of anticlimactic. <--to me
I guess I just expected more?



At the end of the day, I'm really glad I finally got around to this. It's definitely required reading, but on the upside, it's pretty short.
AND it's not as depressing as 1984, so there's that.


Publisher: ListenUp Audiobooks
Edition: Unabridged
Tim Robbins - Narrator