Burning up.
11 August 2008 @ 18:46 ; 0 CommentsBurning up.
I have been on a quest lately- that is, I am trying to expand my reading list by gunning for the more impressive, literary classics type of books. In essence, I am extremely excited and pleased that I have somewhat attained some sort of goal, like an ambition, a resolution, towards being more well-read. Fluff reads are fun and all, but it's of a greater advantage (I believe) to read those heavyweight, substantial tomes. NOT for showing off (per se), but just to add variety to what you have read. Yes? YES.
So anyways, previously I read The Great Gatsby (and bitched about it to Queen Bee and here and some bookstore personnel). I am finally done with Fahrenheit 451 and it took me two days to get it over and done with. I don't know what's wrong with me lately; normally I'm a fast reader, and I had aimed to complete it within a day... sigh.
Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, tells of a universe in which reading is completely looked down upon by everyone, and firemen, instead of extinguishing fires, are ordered to burn down books and any places that contain them. Guy Montag, our protagonist, goes through a change of heart, a calling you might say, as he tries to understand to the would-bes that got implanted into his mind after one night. From then on, the story goes along with Montag's adventure.
The premise of the book intrigued me. I mean, people burning books! That is somewhat considered blasphemous to me. I grew up reading and loving the activity. When I was a kid (of course, I still am- not childish okay! Child like. Child like.) my mom would bring my sister and I to the library, and we would pick out a lot of books, and then have to weed out the ones we really wanted to borrow. Of course, most of the time I didn't really remember finishing them, haha! By secondary school, I tried to limit my reading, seeing that I often thought I'll be busy with schoolwork and such (that's for another post). I think I stopped reading in polytechnic? I don't quite remember visiting the library often. Not totally stopped, though. At least I didn't think so. Actually, I didn't visit the library often since late primary school, if I'm not mistaken. I lost a library book and duh, it's still lost! The board has probably given up hope on me ever returning that darn book. Ermmmm. I should pay that fine now so I can borrow more.
Oh yes! okay. So the premise of the book, was what really got me to want to borrow it (that, and the fact that I couldn't find Zoey Dean's How To Teach Filthy Rich Girls- is that under young adult fiction, or just plain ol' fiction? Damn library system). I applaud the book for posing such a dark, disturbing theme and turning it into the book. The irony of it all! A book about people opposing books and burning them. It kinda makes you think, doesn't it? What if this world has no books? What if the television is heavily relied upon as entertainment? (But superyan, aren't televisions already being relied upon as entertainment today?) Yes it is; it's but one of the few options available for man. We also have the radio, Internet, movies, concerts, clubs, books... lots of other forms. But in this instant, Fahrenheit 451 specifically highlighted television as the ultimate medium.
Despite the book being published in 1953, it has stood the test of time and, in some sense, is applicable to our world today. Throughout, it presented a lot of situations and scenarios. Not only about books per se, but also about how dysfunctional society is today and how greatly they rely upon the goggle box. Has television, and other following forms of medium, suppressed our thoughts and destroys the interest of reading books? Is that the particular reason why we have to have reading campaigns in Singapore? To encourage reading? What would life be like if everyone did nothing but sit in front of their televisions the majority of their time? Hmmm.
One of the gripes I have about the book is specifically the style that it was written. The characters spout off sentences that reads like monologues instead of how proper human being speak. Bradbury did state towards the end of the book that he didn't particularly like it if books shorten dialogues and such, believing them to be stunting the actual meaning of how the story was meant to convey. But seriously now- it's not that believable when characters blabber and meander a lot. Another problem that I would also like to highlight is the ending. It felt too abrupt. Like, I felt that there were a few missing strings, some plot holes, that were left in the dark when Bradbury did the ending. Questions still linger.
It's a good book, I'll give you that. Kinda makes you imagine what dystopia would be like if it were to descend on us some day. One day. Even if it did, I would just beg of you, don't burn books! Or I'll personally hunt you down and burn you.
