A review by mynameisvesper
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

dark hopeful reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I’d say 3.5. This book in theory should tick all the boxes for me as a dystopia featuring the dawn of society which has ceased to read. 
While the Polish school system compulsory reading list doesn’t feature Fahrenheit, Im certain that if I’d read it at school, it would resonate stronger, cause there is a lot in this book that you can only discover properly, when you spend due time discussing possible interpretations. I did try to let it sink and/or rip but still.. some parts fell short. And I know it’s a short novel but it does feel like some characters were deliberately introduced only briefly (vide Clarice for instance). I think what I didn’t like the most was how Montag’s development was shown. From him internal struggles but also externally. It felt oversimplified. Maybe the book also felt dated in its view on technology…
I did like plenty of things though: the Phoenix metaphor at the end, the tiny details that made me chuckle over the book like the advertisements, the scene in the subway, the grotesque tirades of the Firefighters chief and Millie’s character (not character per se but rather that she was depicted in the book).