I actually had the audio book for this story and I feel like that may have affected my perception of it a little but I don’t think it made too much of a big impact so it should be okay.
This book is about a fireman named Guy Montag who lives in a society where books are banned. Guy’s job is to burn all books and homes containing libraries that they are notified of. None of this has ever been a problem for him; in fact, he ENJOYS his job, enjoys the burning and the flames. But that all changes one day on his walk home from work when he meets Clarisse McClellan, the 17 year old girl who just moved in with her family into Guy’s neighborhood. From the get go, Guy can tell she is different. She doesn’t think like others and she her views and observations are so peculiar and interesting that Guy can’t help but be sucked into her world. As he spends more time talking to this girl, Guy finds his own views of his life changing and starts to doubt the meaning behind his job. What is the point of his job? What is so bad about books? And what would happen if he read one of them?
This book is one of the early dystopian novels of its time and it’s a good one albeit a bit dry at some parts. There is a lot of description in it, some interesting and some a bit much. There are interesting ideas here and its focus on literature goes much deeper than that and reveals a lot about society itself. But I find that most dystopian novels do that and in comparison to other books in this genre, it fell slightly short of the mark. Nevertheless, it is a classic and many people seem to like it so give it a go.
Happy reading ~
