*spoiler review
This book is...
I have mixed feelings about this book. I was borderline annoyed with the first half of it, fascinated with the second half, and found myself stroking my chin and scratching my forehead after reading it. It doesn't help that I took some time off between reading the two halves.
In short, I like the book, but many things are going through my mind, hoping that I understand this book the way it is meant to be understood.
There is a perfect quote that I think is fitting to what this book is about. I have seen this quote more and more often lately, said to be falsely attributed as Fyodor Dostoyevsky's.
Tolerance will reach such a level that intelligent people will be banned from thinking so as not to offend the imbeciles.
Fahrenheit 451 is set in the future where books have been banned, and whoever hoards them will be punished and burnt. This is, of course, a nightmare for authors and readers, and of course, I personally take offense to this regulation. Apparently, it is one of the ways to suppress people's intellectual thinking, to keep the citizen under the rock, brainwashing, and books are deemed to be something stupid, evil, misleading and damaging (they should look into social media for that, shouldn't they?)
The story follows a fireman (now they have a more relevant job with the name and actually burning things instead of saving them) who is being shown as open-minded enough to have an understanding relationship with other like-minded. The revelation that Montag has been hoarding books for some time is a good touch instead of making sharp character turns. Even though he is dull sometimes, there is a constant drive in him that it's believable enough for doing something drastic and on impulse. I like his frustration with Mildred, and if I have to repeat, I hate that character. And that is good (I think) because she is shown as someone I hope I would never be in such a situation. Her reactions, ways of thinking, actions, and everything she says make me want to walk into the wall and keep bumping it with my forehead. Sadly, this is actually a very realistic character, together with her equally annoying friends.
There are things that I think are implied but not confirmed, more on that later. And Mildred is one of them, imho. There is something very suspicious about her and Montag not remembering things and subtle indications that she is not the same. What is the blood washing or blood replacement procedure? Are they slowly drained into becoming a mere shell of their formal self? Montag doesn't seem to love her, but at the same time, he thinks about her almost endearingly sometimes. My theory is, Mildred is not what she used to be, it's either she changes because of the level of brainwashing that she receives, or there is something that alters her in the shape of chemicals? Treatment?
Another thing that is implied is the war. What war is it? From the level of their surveillance, manipulation, and capability to track down Montag, it looks too easy to annihilate them. Could it be rebels? Intellectual uprising? Insider uprising?
The other fiction the book reminds me of: I am a fan of the TV Series Black Mirror, it is a very intriguing series, and if you like speculative fiction, it's worth checking out. What makes it fascinating is that it's very realistic, some have even become realities. This book reminds me of the episode named 'Fifteen Million Merits' and 'Metalhead'. The parlor wall is Fifteen Million Merit. The Hound is Metalhead, and Metalhead already exists in Singapore and China during Covid lockdown.
Although I think this book can be downright confusing and frustrating in the first half (%#@%& Denham Dentifrice!) I like the overall content and conclusion. Not everything is explained, but it's implied quite clearly (unlike another book I reviewed earlier - The Giver) and whatever that is known is enough to form a complete story. After all, we are in Montag's shoes, and we are not always privileged to have answers for everything, just like real life.
I am very sure I will like this one much better on the second read sometime in the future, and please, if anybody knows a way to unlock my photographic memory...
4 Dunham Dentrifices out of 5 Burning Libraries
