Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to burn books, which are forbidden, being the source of all discord and unhappiness. Even so, Montag is unhappy; there is discord in his marriage. Are books hidden in his house? The Mechanical Hound of the Fire Department, armed with a lethal hypodermic, escorted by helicopters, is ready to track down those dissidents who defy society to preserve and read books.

The classic novel of a post-literate future, Fahrenheit 451 stands alongside Orwell’s 1984 and Huxley’s Brave New World as a prophetic account of Western civilization’s enslavement by the media, drugs and conformity.

Bradbury’s powerful and poetic prose combines with uncanny insight into the potential of technology to create a novel which, forty years on from first publication, still has the power to dazzle and shock. 

I purchased a copy of this book for my own reading.

Farenheit 451 is another of those iconic books that’s been on my list to read for far too long. It’s often discussed as a must read and having finally sat down to read it, I can fully appreciate why.

On the face of it, this book is about banning books to control the media that people consume. And in that respect, it certainly feels like life imitates art. After all, certain books are banned in countries all over the world for all manner of reasons. Beyond this, it’s also about the rise and rise of technology. People plug the little “seashell” devices into their ears, tuning out the world around them. The huge wall-sized video screens where people talk to/at the viewer who laps it all up. And generations of people who haven’t read a book.

It’s a damning indictment on how things might go if we aren’t careful. I listen to music and audiobooks, watch TV, play video games and read books both printed and digital. We can consume many forms of media, but we shouldn’t take them for granted and risk losing any. This was a fantastic, if troubling, read and a view of the world I hope never comes to pass.

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