Fahrenheit 451

Greetings, all. I thought I'd let things settle down a little bit after my Cluetrain review, and try something slightly safer. :-) It never ceases to amaze me how, in an age where we use the phrase "that's so yesterday!" without flinching, the best lessons are those from "long ago." Book burning has been a hallmark of our century, although we certainly did not invent it. From the blatant actions of the Nazis to the self-censorship of the post-WWII age to today's filtering fights, the struggle to express ourselves has never ended. Come the middle of this century, at a time when the status quo was as strong as it has been in recent memory, a man with a story reminded us of something that Thomas Jefferson expressed two centuries before, that a little revolution now and then is a good thing. That revolution may generate some uncomfortable instability, but in the end we as a society are better for it. Fahrenheit 451 author Ray Bradbury pages 179 publisher Del Rey rating 10/10 reviewer Jason Bennett ISBN 0-345-41001-7 summary Although written in a "calmer" era, F451 still resonates with us today as uncomfortable views continue to be repressed.

The Scenario Since this is fiction, I'll keep this short to avoid giving away the story. Imagine the Jetsons in a time where owning a book is illegal, in a society dominated by mindless media. In other words, it's set in the present, as the present could be. Ok, I'm exaggerating, but not as much as I'd like to be. In this time, houses have been made completely fireproof, and therefore the firemen don't stop fires -- they start them, by burning down houses containing contraband (books). The rationale is quite simple: Books are divisive. There's always someone complaining, or feeling attacked, or generally unhappy that someone else knows something he shouldn't. But there's no need to repeat what Bradbury has so eloquently expressed.

Now let's take up the minorities in our civilization, shall we? [Giant list of every possible philosophical group] The bigger your market, Montag, the less you handle controversy, remember that! ... It didn't come from the Government down. There was no dictum, no declaration, no censorship, to start with, no! Technology, mass exploitation, and minority pressure carried the trick, thank God. [italics mine] ... Surely you remember the boy in your own school class who was exceptionally 'bright'.... And wasn't it this bright boy you selected for beatings and tortures after hours? ... And so when houses were finally fireproofed completely... [firemen] were given the new job, as custodians of our peace of mine, the focus of our understandable and rightful dread of being inferior: official censors, judges, and executors.

Jon Katz, fifty years early. Be afraid.

What's Bad? I'm supposed to tell you what's bad about a classic of science fiction written around the time of my parent's birth? Yeah, right. I gave it a zero above for a reason: there's no way to rate this. Is this a better book than, for example, Cryptonomicon? In terms of influence and longevity, certainly. Will you like it more? Go find out for yourself! It's short!

What's Good? The best books are the ones that last, the ones with the timeless lessons that speak across the ages. I felt this way with my first review for Slashdot, of The Mythical Man Month, and I feel the same now. Fahrenheit 451 expresses the issue just as well today as it did when it was written. Cyberpatrol, the CDA, and peacefire may have been decades away, but that only makes the lesson all the more poignant. In addition, there are more recent addenda in this edition written by Bradbury himself that relate some of what has happened since the original publication. All in all, a satisfying and poignant read.

So What's In It For Me?

A needle that will prick your heart, and a voice that will speak to your soul.

Purchase this book at ThinkGeek.

Table of Contents

• Part One: The Hearth and the Salamander
• Part Two: The Sieve and the Sand
• Part Three: Burning Bright
• Afterword
• Coda

Comments

dogma

[Golias]

The reason why this book continues to be venerated is because so many people consider it "important". Not for its influence on literature, but because its message that captures the attention of its audience. (Like other "great" science fiction of the 30's-60's, it uses the fictional setting to convey a warning about trends that frightened the author. Brave New World, 1984, Atlas Shrugged, etc. were all motivated by politics... The creative vision was a secondary consideration, and it shows. These books were written to make you think, not to make you dream.)

451 has an edge over these other works, in that it preaches to the choir as few works of art ever have. After all, it is a book about how important books are, so the audience (people who read novels) are more apt to be shaken up by this nightmare than the average Joe.

Bradbury claimed that once he had the idea for this book he was able to write the entire book in one sitting. Just like "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis, it is a story that almost writes itself, once the author invents the concept.

Perhaps because it was written so quickly, the narrative really flows. Reading this story makes for a great lazy summer afternoon. If you just recently finished pounding your way through the choppy prose of a William Gibson novel (say, "Virtual Light"), then F.451 is a great choice for something to clear the palate with (before moving on to "Idoru").

Re:It's scaaary :)

[Wah]

DeCSS and Napster are the books that are currently trying to be burned. And others. Metaphorical books perhaps, but nonetheless they are bits of knowledge and logic that some people don't want you to have...because it weakens their control. Same story, new century.

--

It's not about censorship though...

[dirty]

Personally I feel that many people have it wrong about Farenheit 451: the book has nothing to do with censorship. Think about it, what's the point in censoring books if you censor ALL books, not just the ones that are subversive to your cause? Farenheit 451 is a novel about what happens when people stop caring and just want their lives to be easy. People don't want to have to think about the things in life that make them upset, so they burn the books. Poetry is sad, books contain controversial ideas. Everyone has their nice TV room where they watch programs that have no plot, where nothing ever goes wrong, and where everything always turns out being happy.

The scarry thing is that present day society is heading right down this path. Look at today's society. People injur themselves due to an action that is entirely their fault, but they sue some company. Why? Because it's easier. It's easier to make company X pay you for your mistakes than it is to admit your mistakes. Parents don't want to raise their children, so they blame teachers, they blame the internet, they blame everyone but themselves.

Farenheit 451 isn't our future, it's our present. Replace book burning with law suit and it's our society.