You’ve Got to Read the Red-Hot Novel “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury!

We got new Ray Bradbury’s books and I finally read “Fahrenheit 451,” which was published in 1953. It’s a fascinating book listing 451 ways to remember how to spell the word “Fahrenheit.” Actually, it’s a dystopian novel about society in the future which bans books which firemen burn because the government thinks it’s better for citizens to watch TV than to read.

I remember reading many of his science fiction works when I was a kid. But I never got around to reading “Fahrenheit 451.” My reaction to it was pretty much the same as I had to all of his other books—I found it difficult to put it down.

I started reading it last night. I got through Part 1 and it was late and stormy out so I decided to watch TV. Bad decision. I think the thunderstorm messed with the reception, pixelating and skipping audio along with the usual inane commercials. If I hear the joke one more time about why some snakes procreate only once a year followed by the punch line “That’s because they have e-reptile dysfunction” I’m going to throw my slipper at the screen.

Anyway, I shut the TV off and relaxed, believe it or not, to the thunder and lightening outside. That reminded me of “Fahrenheit 451” because in the novel, people have TV screens the size of the walls of their homes and they watch the same kind of garbage we do nowadays.

The main character, Guy Montag, is a fireman, which means in the dystopian future setting, he and fellow firemen burn any books people are caught hiding in their homes. Then the firemen burn the houses down. I guess that means people with books would have to doomscroll on their various other devices including the smartphones which won’t fit in any pocket of the clothes they wear.

Montag has a “eureka” moment when a 16-year-old girl named Clarisse teaches him there could be other ways to experience the world than by watching how women with swaying breasts in the Blue Chew commercials on the Weather Channel manage to make people really focus on the size of hailstones bombing Boobs Canyon in Utah.

Just like that, Montag reforms and does things that I probably shouldn’t tell you because that would be a major spoiler. Well, I guess I can give you a hint—they involve flame throwers. And have you ever wondered how your supervisor would look wearing a charcoal leisure suit?

Get this book now!