It was a pleasure to burn. It was a
special pleasure to see things eaten. To
see things blacken and change with the
brass nozzle in his fist with this great
pythons spitting its venomous kerosene
upon the world,
the blood pounded in his head, and his
hands with a hands of some amazing
conductor playing all the symphonies of
blazing and burning to bring down the
tatters in charcoal ruins of history.
With his symbolic helmet numbered 451 on
his stolid head, and his eyes all
orange flame with a thought of what
came next, he flicked the igniter and the
house jumped up in a gorging fire that
burned the evening sky red and yellow
and black. He strode in a swarm of
fireflies. He wanted above all, like the
old joke, to shove a marshmallow on a
stick in the furnace, while the flapping
pigeon wing books died on the porch and
lawn of the house. While the books went
up in sparkling whirls and blew away on
a wind turned dark with burning.
Montag grinned a fierce grin of all men
singed and driven back by flame. He knew
that when he returned to the firehouse
he might wink in his self, a minstrel man,
burnt corked in the mirror. Later, going
to sleep, he would feel the fiery smile
still gripped by his face muscles, in the
dark. It never went away that smile, it
never ever went away, as long as he
remembered.
Hello Internet and welcome to Bookworm
Reviews. I'm your host, The Bookworm, and
if you're having guests, I. Love. Books.
Exploring worlds beyond our imagination
discovering the human condition, and most
importantly giving us great
entertainment. Yet there aren't many
shows about books. Sure we have them for
movies, video games, anime, comics, food... No
books. Which is why I'm tipping my hat
into the game as we explore the good, the
bad, and the ugly. So sit back and relax
as we dive into our inaugural review of
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
In 21st
century, books are the greatest evil you
could have. If you find one burn it
and if you expect someone to be holding
them, call your neighborhood fireman and
they will burn the problem away. One of
those firemen is Guy Montag and he loves
his job. He burns with a smile on his
face.
Until one day while walking home he
meets a 17 year old girl named Clarissa.
She begins to ask Montag questions
about himself, about firemen in the past,
and if he is happy? Those questions begin
to make Montag think and he discovers
that he is not. His wife, Mildred, watches
TV walls taking sleeping pills again and
again. He begins to question his work
after one burns herself with her books.
And for some reason the firehouses
mechanical hound may be stalking Montag
back home
Montag begins to question himself and
starts to look for the answers in books
Thus begins Fahrenheit 451 and I love
this book I'm a big fan of science
fiction and fantasy and Ray Bradbury is
one of my favorite authors. This book is
extremely well written and explores its
world that fascinates and terrifies you
the book builds this world using a
lot of metaphors. Taking things that are
natural and describing how unnatural
they really are: Like the programs on TV
being called families, and the firehouse
dog being a mechanical hound. Giving the eerie
unnatural feel what is considered normal
to this world. The characters are easy to
identify with Montag being our
protagonist shows the journey of a man
looking for answers as to why his life
has gotten so pointless. Seeing his
journey showcases how he wants something
more than just the mundane. His wife
Mildred showcases that. She doesn't see
anything wrong with the world or their
life as she watches her families and
takes her sleeping pills. Clarissa is
Montag his call to action and has a
warming light and is curious about the
world. She wishes to learn more by
talking to people, she takes a liking to
Montag because he is the first person
outside of her family that has an
interests in her. The last one I want to
talk about is Captain Betty, Montag's Boss.
I don't want to say much but he's the
closest we get to have a villain and
when you discover why he became a
fireman is at one point sympathetic and
terrifying at the same time. Now some of
you may think that this book is about
how people should read more instead
of watching TV. I agree on three points
One: Ray Bradbury loves books. His
passion for the medium is limitless. The
man in this career has written over 600
short stories 27 novels
several essays and screenplays including
an anthology series called Ray Bradbury
theatre. The man loves to write and is
recognized as one of science fiction's
greatest writers. TWO: the book was
published in 1953 during the McCarthy
era of paranoia. Book burning was used as a
scare tactic and scapegoat to make
people think that they were ridding the
world of communism as propaganda. At the
time, you really felt that that future in
his mine might become a reality
it hadn't thank God but Bradbury has
stated that he wanted to write a book as
a warning to showcase what could have
been. Three: the story itself isn't just
about books, but the idea what books can
provide. When people think of censorship
I bet most of you think of the
government trying to manipulate people's
minds. Big brother is watching and all that.
When in the book it was people just
regular people who didn't like how hard
life could be. The people wanted nothing
to do with the drama, fear, or sadness
that life had. They abandoned the books
cuz that's what made people think those
feelings the most. To get away from the
world they went into their houses to
watch the families on the parlor walls
Enjoying simple programs that only
brought empty joy but joy that people
attach themselves to. Leave into a world
no bigger than a house where
they matter only about themselves
and the government just went with what
the people wanted. That is what makes
Fahrenheit 451 terrifying. When people
try to teach about the importance of
reading they most of the time missed the
point. You look at the book itself but
the most useless part of the book is the
book. The book is as useless as a dvd/cd
comic book or anime. On the surface. What
does count is what is inside.
We don't go to these different mediums
because of what they are, but the ideas
they provide. That make us think and come
up with our own opinions on what we take
from it or relive memories of the past
or confront a demon you've been hiding.
Whether it be a song, anime, movie, TV show
and of course books. As to the other
meaning of comments I can't fully say
what Ray's view of other media were
there is an anti TV message but youth
when you think about what was popular on
early 50s TV you can understand there is
also a line where he talks about comics
that can be seen as offensive to the
media but this was around the tail end
of the Golden Age and those stories
weren't quite as good which is funny
since this book did did adapted into a
graphic novel and approved by Bradbury
himself in 2009 moreover the messes was
on quality how people were looking two
simple stories that were as thin as the
paper they were written on these mediums
have grown for the better and sometimes
things stay the same then again books
don't have the cleanest record either
now comes the time from our reading of
the book but this isn't just a single
rating no on this show we have three.
First up is the genre review showcasing
how well the book stands in its genre
and for Fahrenheit 451 science fiction
I give it a 9 out of 10 this is a
classic of the genre made by one of the
true greats. I know some of you aren't
interested in sci-fi but this is a great
gateway drug if you want to look into
why people like me come to this genre
again and again. Second is the personal
review while it is true all reviews are
subjective, this part is taking me as a
person over the other two which are more
me trying to be objective and I give it
a 9 point 5 out of 10
like I said this is one of my favorite
books that I could read again and again
and enjoy it just as much as the first.
It has shaped my worldview and
reinforced my love for books. It's a
personal favorite what can I say? Finally
the overall review how does this compare
to the public and the grand scheme of
things? Will people not common to
science fiction and enjoy it
I give Fahrenheit 451 and 8.5 out of 10
well I have raved about the writing
world building, and characters being well
developed, and it being a classic on the
genre, and myself, I know this book can be
a bit of hard to read. Some of the
metaphors can can be confusing sometimes
and some may find several parts that
drag thus giving this review a lesser
score of the others but it gets a must
read it is a short book that you can
read over the weekend if you have
nothing else to do or finish in about a
week if you are busy. You can buy the
book at any retailer or your local
library. Well that ends the review but before
we leave let's take a look at what's to
come for next week
I quit
