This book is the first Ray Bradbury book I have ever read. I had to read it for my 9th grade english class. All I have to say about this book is that it is absolutely fabulous.
This book takes place in the future where books are illegal and firemen shoot kerosene out of their hoses to burn books. Its a story which takes place in a world where the government is totalitarianistic and the society is full of nonintillectual people who are jam-packed with government progaganda. I can't even begin to explain this world in detail without having to write pages and pages, your just going to have to read it for yourself.
One reason this book really caught my attention as being top notch is Bradbury's constant use of figurative language. Almost everything in this book has a figurative meaning, from the firemens' symbol (a salamander, phoenix, and the number 451) to his reoccuring themes, which include the colors black and white, mirrors, and many other things. The salamander is a mythical lizard wich resists fire. The phoenix is a mythical bird which every so often burns itself and is reborn from the ashes (in the book bradbury compares this to mankind also). The number 451 is significant because it is the temperature at which books burn. This is just a small sample of the figurative language in this book. There are so many great parts in this that have really deep figurative meanings, probably one every few pages, maybe even less.
Another reason this book is really great is Bradbury's way of giving you a world so much like the one we live in today that its startlingly scary. The world he describes may be more advanced, but it has some of the same key elements that are happening to our society. Books are becoming less important. Media is taking over. Religion is less important. Values and morals are being forgotten. People are becoming less and less social with real people and more into watching T.V. or listening to the radio. People aren't asking "why" something happens but "how" it happens.
This book is one of the best books I have read in a long time. Even if you aren't into sci-fi you will probably like it because it relates more to real life than most other books do.
Gender:
Points: 740
Reviews: 32