Fahrenheit 451

“A book is a loaded gun in the house next door… Who knows who might be the target of the well-read man?” Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is certainly a very heavily loaded gun! This book will jolt you to your senses and cause you to question everything that you take for granted.

The protagonist of the novel, Guy Montag, is a fireman. However, in this society, a fireman’s job is to start fires. More specifically, it is to start fires in order to burn books which are forbidden. Books are deemed to be the source of all unhappiness and discord. Yet, this is a society that is deeply miserable. The novel traces the journey that Montag takes to find happiness and it is a journey filled with tension, drama and hope.

Written in 1953, Bradbury depicts a world uncannily similar to our present day society. This great writer obviously had the insight to know where society was headed as fiction has become a modern day reality with people glued to their mobile devices and obsessed with various forms of social media. Is this you? Are all your family members busy texting or checking their Facebook accounts while you are at a meal together? If it is, you MUST read this book.