Helpful Score: 1
I originally read this back in the early 1970s and after rereading, I'm surprised at how well this holds up and how relevant it is today. As most people know, the book is about a future dystopian society that makes it a crime to read books. Its fire department is used to burn books and of course Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature at which books burn. The society the novel portrays is very close to the society of today where endless hours are spent viewing meaningless TV programs on room size monitors and the rest of the time listening to "earshell" radio. The society has itself to blame for the ban on books because of its disinterest in reading and learning. Bradbury was very prophetic in this where today people use their earbuds to listen to their iPods and view meaningless reality programs on widescreen television. The protagonist of the novel, Montag, starts out as one of the book-burning firemen but comes to realize the importance of books and of remembering the past. I also remember seeing the movie version of this when it first came out in the 1960s.. The movie was directed by François Truffaut and was a very good adaptation of the novel. I'll be looking out for it to see how it holds up. Overall, a high recommendation for this one.
