Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

[Inkweaver]

First of all, I just want everyone to know that Ray Bradbury is by far the best author I have ever had the pleasure of reading. His prose is absolutely amazing! Every word just falls into an intricate web of ideas that blend together to create a symphony made of paper and ink. Fahrenheit 451 is the perfect example of his literary magnificence. We follow Montag, a book-burning 'fireman', through a distopian city near the end of it's lifetime. At the beginning of the book, Montag meats a girl, Clarisse, who basically represents "us". She and her family seem to be social outcasts, mostly because they have read books and are freethinkers living in a city of (with lack of a better term) dumbasses. At the end of their first encounter (they have many), she asks him a very simple yet revolutionary question:

"Are you happy?"

This seems to light a spark in Montag. When Clarrise and her entire family vanish, this spark ignites a wildfire within Montag that burns away the curtain and exposes what the world he is living in is really like. He then decides that something must be done...

Fahrenheit 451 is a true masterpiece. It is a must-have in your book collection for sure!

[Optional Toaster]

I agree with you that the book is magnificent, and I highly recommend it to all readers. The idea of our society becoming such a dystopia is haunting, but fascinating.

...because they have read books and are freethinkers living in a city of (with lack of a better term) dumbasses

The cluelessness of the seemingly brainwashed people in the rest of the community is an important contrast. Yeah, they're dumbasses, but what if our world turned out like that someday? Maybe books wouldn't be strictly prohibited, but there's always a possibility of a society in which people can't really think for themselves, or in which people feel their thoughts and words don't have any power at all. Maybe this kind of mindset already dominates certain places.

That's what's great about this book, because I think it kind of encourages people to remember that their minds and ideas belong to them.

[Inkweaver]

Yea, that's true. Probably shouldn't have said that. It was late :P