It’s not often I review an “adult” book in this space, but as it’s assigned in a 6th grade curriculum I’ve been reviewing through, here we are. Relatedly, I don’t usually count all the bad words for teen/adult books, but for consistency’s sake, that is included in the below bullet points.
- dystopian depiction of the ultimate “erasure of the individual” by making unlawful anything which encourages thinking (namely, in this case, books)
- originally published in 1953 but eerily relevant to today
- convo: smoking & drinking occasionally throughout, a woman overdoses on sleeping pills (medical workers impersonally save her and move on to the next one, implying it’s a common occurrence in this unhappy society), a man slaps a woman 2 different times, deaths include a suicide and a few murders, mentions “three-dimensional sex magazines” (no description), “sex and heroine” mentioned in a list of pleasures (neither are actually present in this story), mentions bullying a boy, mentions how Christ has been reduced to one of their saccharine tv show characters that promotes products, mentions the “dozen abortions” one woman had, the word “rape” is used as an analogy for bad writers, war and bombings mentioned occasionally
- language: damn x40, hell/heck x16, idiot x4, stupid x3, Lord’s name in vain x50, bastards x1, shut up x6, ass x2
Type: dystopian novel
Ages: 15+
Author: Ray Bradbury
The classic of banned classics, Fahrenheit 451 succinctly captures so many things headed in the wrong direction within our society. Bradbury was incredibly ahead of his time as he envisioned screens replacing real human relationships, people living with earbuds in their ears, and the masses only seeking pleasures rather than doing anything uncomfortable such as sitting in silence for a few minutes…because that would allow minds to do some thinking, which is dangerous.
Anything that causes discomfort must and will be burned.
Enter the firemen. Their hoses are no longer filled with water but, rather, with kerosene. Their job is to take care of situations by eliminating them. If a book is found, for example, they are called as quickly as we would call for an emergency in our own day and age.
The decade before this book was published, censorship had begun to be a worldwide concern and had shown up in various ways in various countries. Those are rabbit holes you can go down without me.
Readers experience an “awakening” of sorts as the main character begins to think for himself, consciously seeing reality for the first time in years which leads to his questioning everything. We see how no one is actually happy, though all are constantly entertained. We see the speed at which people live, the distractions, the superficiality.
Interestingly, for a book about banning books, there are dozens of literary references. From the Bible to Gulliver’s Travels to Plato, some are directly named while others are only quoted from. The more well-read you are, the stronger you will grasp the irony being portrayed.
The relevance of this book to just about any reader old enough might astound you. It’s intense, it’s unsettling, and it’s not perfect by any means. But the story has endured these many decades for a reason. If you feel your child is old enough for these types of conversations and can overlook the irreverence for our Creator’s name, I recommend it. The book is short, but the potential discussions are endless–perhaps even more so by Christians.
We who follow Christ are called to use our minds, to grow in knowledge of God and His world. Are we seeking clear thinking or are our lives saturated with distractions? Furthermore, all humans, whether believers or not, are made in the image of God. There is a sanctity of life that is bypassed in Fahrenheit 451 a number of different ways. The goal of erasing the individual–what is that doing to the soul?
Oh, don’t get me going. I think you get the gist. I personally would never have assigned it to 6th graders, but there are perhaps some children well-trained and brought up in the admonition of the Lord who can handle the content. Parents should monitor this more closely than other books, ideally reading it themselves.
Hope this helps!