hey guys it's Jeff in this video I'm
gonna be reviewing Fahrenheit 451 by Ray
Bradbury
so this is a fiction novel that's set in
a dystopian society and if you don't
know what a dystopian society is it's
basically compared to utopian society
like a utopia is the ideal perfect world
that everyone would want to live in but
a dystopian society is mostly all the
time the government's idea of what a
perfect society should be where
something is actually wrong and all the
people know there's something wrong with
the society but the government is
telling you that this is the way that
you're supposed to live and this is what
a perfect society is supposed to look
like
so in this dystopian society books are
illegal to read and to own and our main
character Guy Montag is a fire fireman
but in this in this version
firefighters firemen actually start
fires rather than stopping them and the
reason being is they don't want people
associated with books they don't want
them reading that reading them or
thinking about them at all
so what guys are what Montag's job is to
do is when someone gets ratted out or
when people find out that someone has
books they report it to the the firemen
and Montag and his fire troop Fahrenheit
451 goes to that house with their
flamethrowers and they burn everything
down in the house except for the house
because they've made in this in this
book they've made houses completely
fireproof so everything inside of it
will burn and they don't care if people
are there like guarding their stuff if
you're there when they start the fire
too bad and the reason why this
government wanted books banned is
because they didn't find any value in
them I find value in them as as do a lot
of people but in their society they
wanted more practical jobs so instead of
people wasting their time reading and
fantasizing about mythical creatures and
you know fictitious things they wanted
people working in jobs that were
practical that were useful on a day to
day basis rather than filling their head
with a bunch of fairy tales so basically
anybody that was associated with being
an intellectual or being smart or being
well-read it became taboo and it became
a dirty word and anyone who talked about
books openly was subject to punishment
but so guy Guy Montag enjoys being a
fireman and he's been one for I remember
correctly like ten years something like
that so far and he enjoys burning he
enjoys burning things down but he feels
a little bit empty and he changes his
mind when his new neighbor Clarice she's
a 17 year old in high school they end up
walking to work and to school the same
they have the same paths so they end up
walking side-by-side to each other after
they get introduced and Clarice is very
curious about the world wondering why
things are the way that they are why
don't we like books why don't people
question things more and the fact that
she's even saying this out loud to
Montag is kind of like I guess
impressing him a little bit and making
him think he never really thought about
these things before she asks him are you
happy and oh yeah of course I'm happy
but he doesn't really believe it himself
you know and then later on that night
he's thinking to himself you know I'm
not really happy and why am I not happy
wire bucks band you know for the reasons
that I told you but really like why
don't they want us daydreaming and why
don't they want us like aspiring to be
more why can't we have this in our life
so after he's introduced to Clarice and
she starts making him think about his
world more often and you know in
different ways he has a change of heart
to the point where he every time he goes
to a house to burn all the books down
when nobody's looking he takes on
tries to hide it in his in his jacket
and eventually ends up stockpiling a
bunch of books hidden in his house up in
like a like a vent somewhere without the
without the knowledge of his wife and
ends up at whenever like Edun at every
chance that he can get opening it up and
kind of reading a little bit to to
really see what all the books what what
all the fuss is about
basically so even talking about books
and mentioning them in passing is pretty
illegal in this in this world although
and even though it's dystopian society
where they you know the government will
you know come and kill you basically if
you have these books depending on I
guess the severity of your crime I
didn't really feel the same sense of
danger in this book that I did when
reading 1984 if you've ever read it by
George Orwell
in that in that book there just seemed
to be danger at every corner where even
if you said something out loud even if
you were thinking it then they could put
you to death and that might be due to
the fact that they were literally
monitored at all times with those
telescreens that they have in their
houses this book doesn't have that but I
didn't really feel like there was a lot
of danger in this book for Montag you
know reading I feel like he could have
gotten away with it really the fault was
his when he started speaking out and he
started telling people about it when
that itself was dangerous but he I
didn't really feel a sense of danger
when he was reading a book or you know
trying to steal a book it just didn't
grab me like that and you know is it
fair for me to compare this book to 1984
no I don't I don't maybe not I wouldn't
compare every science fiction movie or
science fiction book that I read to Star
Wars or Star Trek you know because of
those those are the most popular but
it's kind of hard not to compare books
of this genre because as far as I
No there there there you know there's
there's not a lot that exists there's
not like there's a dystopian novel
section at Barnes & Noble you know or in
bookstores but it's kind of hard not to
compare them when I didn't really get
the same sense of like urgency that 1984
gave compared to this book I'm also not
really sure if I'm 100% onboard with his
writing stock with Bradbury's writing
style at times it felt like things were
rushed scenes were rushed and kind of
mushed together and there were a couple
times when all of a sudden he would
launch into this description of of you
know of war of bombs going off and
planes flying overhead and I was like
wait a minute did I miss something I
have to go back here but Montag would
all of a sudden be daydreaming about
something or you know what might happen
but if he kind of transitioned it into
in a way that felt like a little
unnatural to me I felt like if if he had
put that though like those sections in
like italics to show that there was a
different part of the story happening
rather than just like blending it into
like this stream of consciousness type
of thing from Montag I felt like I would
have recognized it a little bit better
so yeah there were certain parts where
the though though though it is a quick
read and it's great it just felt a
little jarring and a little like a
sudden the way that he would describe
things in the way that things happened
and sometimes the dialogue felt a little
strange to me like I remember thinking a
couple times like people don't really
talk like that the way that they're
they're having like a normal casual
conversation it just felt like you know
it just felt like it was like it was
forced like almost like I'm like movie
dialogue or something and it just felt a
little strange to me I also felt like
the war aspect of the book felt a little
just like thrown in at the last second
or it was tried to add tried it he tried
to add a
like an extra element to it that really
didn't play that important of a role I
don't feel like the war was that
important throughout this book because
every once in a while he'd mentioned
effects of the war kind you know very
small portions but you know he'd always
reference like jet planes flying
overhead but even and even at the very
end of the book when there is some like
side effect of the war for people who
have read it when when Montag is walking
with a group of people that he meets up
with even then I didn't really feel like
the war had that much of an impact on
the story even even now I don't even
really know what this I guess this
country was at war at with who or who
they were even at war with like in 1984
they used war as you know another layer
of control where the bordering countries
would at least at least Oceania would
would say we're at war with this country
no no we're not at war with this country
anymore we've always been at war with
this person so to keep the people
confused
this one was felt more like a real war
but I don't feel like it added that much
substance to the story but you know I I
don't know I just right now I don't know
which which book was was published first
off the top of my head so you know
whether whether Bradbury wanted to
imitate that or if Orwell imitated the
war you know based on this book I don't
know which one came first whether they
had any knowledge of each other's books
who knows but the war in this book felt
a little underwhelming at times so
mostly throughout this review I feel
like I've been kind of picking at the
negative things of the book but this
really is a fantastic book it's a very
quick read it's only about 160 pages
long there's some other things in here
like interviewing the author like a an
afterword and then there's like a they
call it a coda
and where they're interviewing the
author and just
of elaborating on things how it how it
gained its success because mine was the
50th anniversary edition and I think
that was back in 2000 so there are 2003
something like that so it's I've seen a
60th anniversary edition and I'm sure
I'm sure a 70th is coming up so this
book has been around for a really long
time and it deserves to be so because
with every dystopian novel just comes
like a unique perspective on how bad
society could get and we don't want to
be there because we want people to be
you know free thinking and you know not
just you know like smothered by other
people and in this book people are
definitely smothered by the government
saying you can't have books we don't
want you daydreaming you know if you
want to you know if you want to go off
in your fairy tale land we'll send you
there and we'll kill you on the way so
this this book really is really
fantastic really unique and after I
score it which is coming up next I'm
gonna elaborate that on that a little
bit there's a book there's a part that
towards the end of the book where it
like literally gave me chills in a good
way and that doesn't really happen a lot
when I'm reading so I knew that was
something special so with all that being
said I'm gonna give this book a 4 out of
5 it's really unique twist on you know
what society could be like a few
negatives like I mentioned before but
overall really enjoyable read and
actually this book I don't normally read
more than one book at a time I'm in the
middle of another one right now and I
picked this one up and I started just
reading a couple pages and it made me
put that book down for a week or two or
however long it I don't think it took me
longer than two weeks three this may be
like a week and a half and it made me
put that book down I'll because I was so
entranced by what this story had to
offer so yeah it made me quit another
book for the time
being just just to read this one so
that's a big of an impact it can have on
you
so yeah four out of five stick around
for in a couple you know thirty seconds
or so to hear what I had to say about
the the part that gave me chills because
I don't want to spoil it for anybody who
who didn't read the book see I'll let
you pause the video if you don't want to
hear the spoiler part okay so spoiler
part the part at the end when Montague
is walking with the group of people that
he he meets where everybody has
memorized the part of a book are the
main of the people who live on the
outskirts of society in the wilderness
that value books as much as he does now
the part when I forget the guys name but
I just want to read a little bit of here
a little bit of it here Montague for it
for people who were sticking around
Montague tried to memorize as much of
the Bible as he could so that even if
his books got confiscated or lost he
would still remember some of it and ends
up finding a group of people who are
basically doing the same thing people
who value books but memorize them so
that they're not actually read caught
red-handed with books but they still
retain all that knowledge and in the
future they're talking several
generations down the line when people
are have had enough and they're saying
alright well we need to change something
about this society that we live in
because books are valuable it shows us
you know it has a rich history to it and
it shows us where we came from and all
the you know the greatest minds that
have put their thoughts down on paper we
value that and we want to share that
with people
so what gave me what gave me chills is
this part here where this guy goes would
you like some day Montague to read Plato's
Republic of course I am Plato's Republic
like to read Marcus Aurelius
mr. Simmons is Marcus how do you do says
mr. Simmons hello says Montag I want you
to meet Jonathan Swift the author that
of that evil political book Gulliver's
Travels and this other fellow is Charles
Darwin and this one is Schopenhauer and
this one is Einstein and this one here
at my elbow is mr. Albert Schweitzer a
very kind philosopher indeed here we are
here we all are Montag Aristophanes and
Mahatma Gandhi and Gotama Buddha and
Confucius and Tomislav peacock and
Thomas Jefferson and mr. Lincoln if you
please we are also Matthew Mark Luke and
John and oh I just got chills reading
that because it was just really profound
for me to say just the way that Bradbury
wrote that that that's just like what
let's like a half a page worth of
writing here and just reading the way
that he describes it and I'm I'm Plato
nice to meet you
this over here is Jonathan Swift that
guy over there he's Marcus Aurelius just
the way that he was introducing all
those other people as the authors of the
books because you know those original
books don't exist anymore that gave me
chills and I still got goosebumps right
now talking about it so that alone
hopefully would make you give you chills
like like I got to want to read this
book so thanks for watching four out of
five please subscribe to my channel and
like this video share it wherever you
can and I'll see you guys on the next
book review take care
you
