A classic, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is also one of my banned books. So I finally read the book for my book discussion group. It actually is a great book, but I probably would not have appreciated it in High School so I am glad I read it now.
451 degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature at which paper burns. Those small tidbits and how the book was written add to the enjoyment of the actual story in the novel. This is a science fiction, dystopian novel that is usually not my favorite genre but this plot is incredible.
Ever since houses were built so they could not burn, the firefighters have been engaged to burn books. They now sit in the fire house and wait for someone to discover a house hiding books. They then go and burn the books and the house. The occupants are arrested. it supposed to be the future, which Bradbury writing in 1953 thought would be 1994. People are supposed to be happier if they have no stress and no individual thoughts of their own. Everyone the same. There are receivers in your ear with someone telling you what to do, there are large screens in walls of your home with "friends" talking to you all day.
You should not read and think individual thoughts. When Montage a fireman starts to think on his own and question the system things go awry. Bradbury wrote and reworked this incredible book in a few weeks on a rented typewriter in a library. The narrative is so well written you just want to quote so many of his thoughts. He was tremendously incitful about how people think. Definitely a classic and should be read by everyone. It is also especially relevant once again in today's political environment.
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