Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

I am ashamed to say that until now I have read nothing by Ray Bradbury. But I am proud to say this was my first Bradbury novel.

I read Fahrenheit 451 in two sittings, one small burst and one long one. Both times I had to take a nap. I don't know if the napping is related, but the book does have a heaviness to it. A lingering panic that creeps around the edges of the plot and exhausts you. I was happy to have finished the book but I was not happy because of the book. In fact this novel left me feeling quite depressed. I was depressed because so many elements of Bradbury's world mirror our own, because even though this cautionary tale is over 60 years old I see a similar pattern, and most of all I was depressed because no one had ever made me read this book. And yet I felt like this should be required reading. (I know in most places it is but it never was for me, sadly).

The main character of Guy Montag is not exactly likeable. I am still not sure whether Bradbury intended for the reader to like Montag or not or if it even mattered. What mattered was that Montag moved the plot along wonderfully.  This is not a novel you read for the characters, although the characters are necessary, this is a novel you read for the society. And if you pay close attention to every element Bradbury paints into the background, you will see the world is our world. Maybe not now, but definitely in the future. It is a world where people self medicate so regularly they unintentionally commit suicide. Where they are so far in doubt about their unhappiness that they believe life is perfect, so long as the entertainment stays on. A world where entertainment via all immersive television is the main source of pleasure and time spent. Books are not only burned but their initial existence questioned because they don't have to do with real people. And yet, these people do not care about the others around them. Death is nothing, a shrug of the shoulders. No one discusses ideas or thinks anymore because all of their time is spent having ideas and opinions shoved into their head by entertainment.

All of this so deeply echos of this information age. The iPhone era. Social media and all that jazz has more often hindered interaction than helped it. Bookstores are closing. Two hour Amazon delivery exists. Are we heading into our own version of Fahrenheit 451? Only reading the novel, will ironically and appropriately, help you form your own opinion on that matter. There are few books I think should be required reading, but this is one of them.