FLASH book REVIEW: FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Full of challenge n verve n spunk n chutz and love of literature's potential to slap life in the face and rose up those cheeks and keep the peeps from darkness and tyranny and the death of the imagination and debate. Ray makes visceral the dire consequences of a seemingly sanguine society running within the dodgy rails of censorship and conformity and fed an endless diet of nauseating media banality. Ray's 24/7 4-wall parlours sure resonate from his then 1953 when TV and post-WW2 whitegood materialism and ideas of techopia were taking off to today's massive multi-player social media miasma/simulacra (aka shitstorm).

Going into this, and having never read any Ray, I had the feeling F451 would be one of those somewhat didactic Orwellian tomes, led by its noble and progressive ideas, but it wasn't so much that, more just well-drawn characters in the midst of a great story with a backdrop of powerful ideas about state power and social control and the limits and responsibilities of personal freedom. I'll be seeking out more of Raymond's sci-fi treasure for sure.


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