2017 Reading Challenge discussion

I have been on this earth for 23 years and somehow had never crossed paths with this beautiful book! Ray Bradbury immediately threw himself into my favorite authors list with Fahrenheit 451.

It was interesting exploring a more classic example of dystopian fiction, after reading recent examples like The Giver, Divergent and The Hunger Games. I felt like Bradbury predicted the future almost with pinpoint accuracy, in the way many of us consume so much shallow entertainment today.. It makes me thankful that unlike the nightmare of a society in the story, I feel like we have more freedom today than we ever have, regarding what we choose as entertainment.

There are of course reports of banned books and book burnings even today, but information spreads so quickly and easily with the tools that we have, the notion of eradicating any valuable information entirely is nearly laughable. Yet, the book’s warning against conformity and censorship are as strong today as they were 60 years ago.

In the edition that I read, Neil Gainman wrote an incredible introduction with brilliant commentary on this work of fiction. I recommend anyone who is interested to seek it out, whether in the book or online.

I am absolutely in love with Bradbury's writing, and some day I will definitely re-read this book in English, as I have only read the Lithuanian translation when I was a teenager.