I'm with Bradbury on screens turning us into zombies, but this book was a letdown for me

Hello everyone!

I'm excited to share my thoughts on a book that's been on my radar since I was a teenager: 451 Degrees Fahrenheit by Ray Bradbury. As a fan of science fiction and dystopian novels, I was eager to dive into this classic.

Book Details

I have the Pocket book edition from publisher «Э», which is a super lightweight edition with a soft cover - perfect for reading on the go. The cover art is gorgeous, but unfortunately, it didn't add any extra meaning to the story for me.

Genre

This book falls under the genres of scientific fiction and dystopian novel. I wasn't a fan of the book description at first, but I was wrong...

Main Characters

The central character, Guy Montag, is a firefighter who's more interested in burning books than putting out fires. He's just going through the motions until he meets a weird girl and has some marital issues. What I liked about Montag is that he's not some special, chosen hero like you often see in classic sci-fi. He's blind, dumb, and just as brainwashed as the rest of society. Even after he wakes up, he's still clueless about what to do next.

He just stumbles around, making huge mistakes, and hoping someone will guide him. It's like he's flailing around like a fish out of water. It reminded me a bit of myself, to be honest.

Clarisse is that weird girl who sparks Montag's long-forgotten feelings with her talk about moonlight and flowers. She just shows up out of nowhere, does her thing, and then disappears. Her character is underdeveloped, and I found her annoying.

Mildred is Montag's wife - a perfect example of the brainwashed masses. She's got no ambition, spends her days watching TV, and takes sleeping pills by the handful. She's a total zombie, and Montag has to save her from herself.

Beatty is Montag's boss - a smart, level-headed guy who knows what's going on. He's way more perceptive than Montag, and I found him interesting. I still didn't get it, but I understand his role. He's basically explaining to the main character why books are banned. He also explains the mission of the firefighters: not letting minorities riot, not disturbing normal citizens from having fun and being happy.

Faber - an old and frail professor who hides in his little room. He's afraid of the authorities and doesn't see himself as capable of making any changes, but he still has some connections. He tries to guide the main character, but he takes no responsibility for himself. He represents a forgotten past with his books and unnecessary sciences for modern society.

The Mechanical Hound

The Mechanical Hound is a surveillance and hunting device for nonconformists, set to detect the chemical composition of its target - a clone of the Hound of the Baskervilles, as the author admits in the afterword. To me, it's more like a plagiarism.

My Impressions of Reading

I didn't stop reading the book immediately because it's relatively easy to read. The book has only 250 pages, so I wanted to finish it quickly just for the sake of saying I did. At times, the pages flew by one after another, but if the author gets carried away with metaphors or descriptions of nature, it becomes difficult to navigate through the hidden meanings, and I had to re-read the paragraph several times before giving up and moving on. Maybe it's just the translation, but the sentences are a bit overloaded.

What's more, I know it's a science fiction novel, so I need details about how the city of the future is organized, the technological capabilities of the characters. Instead, I get confusing metaphors, descriptions of blood flowing through the body, and so on. And then it all falls into place, but at the beginning, I had no idea what was real and what was fictional.

Here, I found a contradiction: firefighters in the classical sense aren't needed because the houses are fireproof, but if a book appears in a house, it gets burned down, and the fireproof house catches fire. How does that work?

Yes, the book becomes prophetic in many ways. Written in 1953, when television was just starting to emerge. The author couldn't have imagined that it would all be turned upside down and reduced to a small smartphone screen, but he was absolutely right in the essence.

Three huge walls in a living room and small earpieces replace Mildred's family, satisfying all her other needs. Although she even has friends who come to visit her, but only to watch TV together. The heroines can't even hold a conversation, they suffer from memory loss and lack of attention, they're terrible about children and husbands. In essence, they don't care about anything except the next dumb show. Pure content consumption.

I have to say, the way kids are raised in this society is really disturbing. They're basically ripped away from their parents and raised in special internment camps where they're constantly entertained, but education is basically an afterthought and books are forbidden. They love the thrill rides and speeding around, and if someone dies, oh well, who cares?

One thing that really threw me off was trying to understand what the war was even about. There are bombers flying around, but the city's residents don't seem to care, and they're not really interested in politics.

The point of this war for the canvas is pretty clear, but in my opinion, it would've been better if it was a natural disaster like a tsunami or earthquake.

I'm still confused about who's fighting who, why they're fighting, and how the opposing side is living. If there's conflict, it means they're living differently from our utopian city.

The whole purpose of our main character's struggle against the system loses its meaning. He's trying to save books, but then it turns out that the other side doesn't have any issues with books either.

There are just too many questions and not enough answers.

I will say that the author does touch on the theme of societal self-destruction and rebirth, and how knowledge is passed down through generations. But again, what does this have to do with books?

It's clear that Bradbury didn't have a clear plan for the narrative. He threw in a bunch of metaphors and half-baked ideas about societal development, focusing on his profession as a writer and the pain of censorship.

The value of this work in the world of literature is, in my opinion, overhyped.

My Final Thoughts

I wouldn't say this book lives up to the hype. I'd be okay with watching a short film with a similar concept, where you don't have to delve too deep into character development and the world they live in.

The characters are underdeveloped, the society is only described from the outside, and we don't know who's running the show or who's waging war against whom.

It's just one big mess, with old folks and their books, but no symbol of hope for the future because, let's face it, there are no kids in this story – who's going to inherit their knowledge and experience?

One thing that did resonate with me was how the author predicted our current obsession with screens, entertainment, and consuming content.

When describing minority groups, it's clear that Bradbury had no idea how far things would go in his own country.

Of course, I do feel sorry for the main character – he's lost and confused, but he's not giving up, and he's got a clear goal in sight.

I'd recommend reading 451 Degrees Fahrenheit by Ray Bradbury, especially if you're a fan of reading everything straight through – it's a page-turner, even if you don't focus on the overly metaphorical paragraphs.

However, for me, this book didn't offer any food for thought or answers to life's big questions. There's no catharsis at the end.

The book is dull, shapeless, and fails to engage.

The point of it all is clear, but it could've been condensed into a short story or article.

And here's a famous quote that came to mind: