Fahrenheit 451 Part 3/Ending Thoughts

I really loved reading this book. I'm kind of shocked I haven't read it before now. Part Three was exciting, but I have to say that Part Two was my favorite. Part Three had a lot of action, but to me the plot just kind of fizzled out when Guy ran away and joined the men on the train tracks. It bothers me that the men don't seem all that concerned with the books getting changed as they pass them down through storytelling. Things change drastically that way. The books and words that they love so much and fought so hard for will change until they're barely recognizable anymore. I don't see how they can stand that. Their plan just seems like a messy solution to me.

I was completely shocked when Montag killed Beatty. I didn't think he had it in him. Then to find out that the fire chief wanted to die. That really surprised me. He must have felt the same way that Mildred did, happy during the day while they were distracted, but so unhappy they couldn't stand it deep down inside them.

Part Three seemed to be one surprise after the other. I was only partly correct in my prediction last post about who would turn Montag in. Apparently one of his wife's "friends" did call him in, but, soon after that, Mildred called him in herself. I never would have thought she would have given up her parlor so easily, to say nothing of her husband. Guess that shows that you never know people as well as you think you do.

One of the reasons I liked this book so much was the author's use of imagery. I've mentioned before that I admire Ray Bradbury's way with words, and that statement still holds true. One image that really stayed with me was when he compared the lights of the landing helicopters to the first snowflakes of winter. The use of similes like that really helped me to understand the story better.

I'm really glad I picked this book.

Fahrenheit 451 Part 2

This section of the book is called "The Sieve and the Sand" referring to a memory from Guy's childhood. His cousin said he'd pay Guy a dime if he could get the sieve full of sand. Needless to say, Guy failed miserably. This section of the book is appropriately named. Like the sand in the sieve, Guy realises that his happiness along with the rest of his world's has been slipping away despite the world trying to fill everyone with happiness.

I find it kind of silly that Montag was worried about understanding the meaning of the words in the books, especially the poetry. Even if you don't understand what was written, you should still be able to appreciate the rhythm and sound of the words as you read them. Good writers know that it's more than what you're trying to say that matters. It's how you say it. It's good that he wants to learn, but he shouldn't worry too much about it yet. If he can just enjoy it, the understanding will come later.

I felt really bad for the old man that Montag meets with. He was alive when they started to burn the books and morph society. He lost his job because only one student signed up for his class on plays. I can't even imagine that- only one student. I also can't believe that he didn't speak up when all those events were just starting. Maybe if he had had the courage to say something, he would have inspired others and they could have fought against what was happening. So I'm also a little angry with him and think he deserves what he got.

I loved the end of this section. "Why," Montag said slowly, "we've stopped in front of my house." Awesome. One of the ladies his wife had over must have sold him out. A really great twist would be if the old man had reported Montag. I doubt the wife would have turned her husband in because she wouldn't want the firemen to burn down her parlor with its TV walls. I wonder if they'll find the books now that Montag stashed them outside. Lucky he moved them earlier before going to work.

Fahrenheit 451 pgs. 40-68

Part one certainly ends with a bang. It is revealed that Guy Montag, loyal firefighter extraordinaire, had been hoarding books for a while now. It does not sound like he has actually read any of them yet, but just the fact that he has them is cause enough for burning. I guess it really should not have come as such a surprise, given the previous allusions to something hidden in the heating vent, but I was only expecting him to have one or two books hidden there- not twenty. And what really surprises me is that the fire chief Beatty never noticed him stealing the books in the first place. I can see how one might have slipped under the radar, but twenty? The fire chief really needs to get his head in the game.

The history of their world sounds like absolute crap to me. They got rid of books so people would not think anymore and could be happy? What about all the people whose whole life revolves around books? What about the librarians? A librarian's happiness comes from sharing loved books with people in the hopes they can make them happy as well. It sounds to me like the people of that world just got lazy and stupid. What really struck me was the wife and her TV walls. She made her husband spend all that money just so she could "talk" to her relatives. The sad thing is, she does not even know who they are or why they are fighting and angry at each other. It seems that they don't know that themselves. And the wife doesn't see a problem with this. She doesn't even realise that deep down, she's so unhappy that she would take her own life.

I can't belive that Clarisse died. That just seemed so sudden and cruel on the author's part. She was the one who opened Montag's eyes to the way the world should be, and she won't even be around to see what happens because of that.

Book Lady (Fahrenheit 451)

The firefighters in Fahrenheit 451 are practically the reverse of our society's firefighters. Instead of actually fighting the fire and trying to put it out, they start fires on purpose. The men (who, Montag notes with surprise, all look vaguely similar) are usually at the firestation at night when they get the most calls. While waiting for a call, they play cards, smoke cheap cigars, and occasionally bait their mechanical hound just so they can watch it kill something. When a call comes in, a piece of paper shoots from a slot in the wall. Adress, informer's initials, and charge are all listed. The firemen suit up and drive off. When they get to the house suspected of hiding books, they charge in and search the premises. If they do find the books, they start a fire and burn the books. Usually, the police arrive before them and have already taken away the residents and cordoned off the area with the books. This time, however, the police are not there and the resident is. The lady who lives in the house sees them and just seems to give in like she knew this would happen eventually. Her expressions and mannerisms make Montag feel strange. For the first itme in his life, Montag is questioning the way he lives. The firefighters soak the place in kerosene and try to get the woman out of her house. She insists instead that she will stay. She pulls out a match, lights it, and throws it on the books just as the fire cheif lights his own flame. Montag watches as the woman burns with her books. This part and its final image really struck me. I can't even imagine how that woman must have been feeling and the bravery it took to do what she did. I think this will be a turning point in the story where Montag really begins to question and look closely at the world he lives in.

Fahrenheit 451 pgs. 1-40

I am loving this book so far. Even though it is still the exposition, I am already hooked. Guy is a believable main character who you can actually picture walking down the street at night on his way home from work. Clarisse is pretty crazy, though in that teenager-y way and not actually insane like everyone else seems to think.

Even though this book takes place in the future, it really sounds like it is describing our society today without the actual book burning. Clarisse points out to Guy that no one has time for anyone else. This is true in today's society, though maybe not as much as it is in theirs. Almost everyone nowadays prefers to communcate through text or facebook or something like that instead of either calling the person or communicating face to face. We are so wrapped up in our own lives that we fail to notice anyone else.

Not only do I love the content of this book, I love Ray Bradbury's writing style as well. He has such a great way of writing his words so there is no confusion about what he is trying to convey to the reader. His phrases are also very poetic. In the beginning of the book he could have said, "The men smoking thier cigarettes wtih cold eyes took up their load of machinery and bag of used blood and left." Instead he said," And the men with the cigarettes in their straight-lined mouths, the men with the eyes of puff adders, took up their load of machinery and tube, their case of liquid melancholy and the slow dark sludge of nameless stuff, and strolled out the door." Liquid Melancholy, folks. You do not find many instances where an author can make the blood of a failed suicide attempt sound beautiful. To me, it seems like Ray Bradbury can make anything sound amazing. I am really looking forward to finishing this book.

Fahrenheit 451 Beginning Thoughts

For once in my life, I find I am actually excited to read one the books required at school. I have been wanting to read Fahrenheit 451 for a very long time, but I never really got around to it. I have read other stories by Ray bradbury and really enjoyed them. I think he has a firm grasp of what life is really like for the average person, and he has a beautiful way of communicating that.

Despite being excited to read this book, I'm also apprehensive. I haven't had the best of luck with the required reading before this point because I never enjoy reading them. I really hope that changes now.

I'm so glad this book is science-fiction and not about events that have already happened. If we had firemen today who burned books, I might just die. I'd probably be one of the people who secreted the illegal books away in a hole in the wall, only able to read in the dead of night when everyone else was asleep. It wouldn't last long though because I'm one of those people that can't keep a good book to herself. I would talk to people about the books I read and firemen like Guy Montag would come and burn my house down, books and all. I'd be locked up in prison without anything to read until I died from the sheer boredom of it all.

I think the thing that would scare me the most to live in a place like that would be that most of the people wouldn't know any better or different. Like in 1984, people would be rasied in an enviroinment where people didn't read books, they only burned them. They wouldn't even think to question it. It makes me wonder how corrupt their government would have to be in order to censor the poeple so much, and how blind the poeple would have to be to go along with it.