Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. Simon & Schuster, New York 2003 (first edition 1953) (Pages 190, Hardback)

Rating: 6/10

“It was a pleasure to burn.”

Ray Bradbury’s first line sets the tone of the novel whose theme is book-burning.  The intriguing title is actually the temperature at which paper burns.

I had no idea of the genre. I picked it up from the American library, because Bradbury died recently. When I began reading it, it strongly reminded me of Orwell’s nineteen eighty-four. The first few pages of Fahrenheit 451 are equally dystopian and disturbing. The concept of a society which wants to become completely book-less by burning every book found (and its possessors) is certainly disquieting.

As Bradbury wrote somewhere the book is not about censorship as is generally understood, but about the possible demise of literature with the advent of visual media. From this viewpoint, the book is fantastically prophetic. Though written in 1953, it underline the concern about today’s world in which social networks, video and internet games are replacing literature and reading for the children.

Clarisse McClellan, a girl who talks to Guy Montag, the fireman and the protagonist of the novel, is a wonderful character. Some of her thoughts and lines are beautiful metaphors and allegories. Sadly, she dies at the beginning of the book never to return. This fault was repaired by Truffaut in his 1966 film, and by Bradbury himself when he wrote a play and opera based on the novel.

After about fifty pages, the book drags. The story has ended, the brilliant concept has been introduced. Bradbury should not have expanded the original story he wrote. Well, but the book and he became famous because of the expansion. In the 1950s, there must have been something in the padded version to appeal to the readers.

Books stored in the heads cannot be destroyed. In the ancient times, all Hindu literature in Sanskrit was passed on from one generation to another orally. The kings recruited specialises who could memorise text by hearing it once, twice, thrice. And those specialists would keep hundreds of books in their heads so as to transfer that library to the next bunch of memorising specialists. To revert to that ancient tradition due to a book burning society is an interesting concept in the book.

Verdict:

A short classic, worth investing time in. But if you could find the 1966 Truffaut film (starring Julie Christie and Oscar Werner) of the same name, that may be better. I am told it doesn’t suffer from the shortcomings of this novel.

But then, by suggesting you see the film rather than the novel, am I joining the book burning society myself?