Did you really think I wouldn’t pick up the classic book about books and media literacy? How could I pass up Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 when the opportunity to read scholarly classic academic literature arose? It it true I hadn’t read Fahrenheit 451 before now, and I have more than a few things to say about it now that I have.

Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television ‘family’. But then he meets an eccentric young neighbour, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people did not live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television. When Mildred attempts suicide and Clarisse suddenly disappears, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known.

While this blurb is not the blurb found on the back of the copy I read, I feel it brings many keen comparisons and ideas to the forefront of the discussion. I want to iterate clearly that this review is not going to be conducive to any book report or essay for high school English class, so don’t bother scrolling through in the hopes I give things like theme explanations, character analyses, and symbolism chats. For my normal readers, don’t expect that from this review either. I am talking about something else in this review, but I will leave you to work out what that is. First and foremost, there is a trigger warning to consider when picking up Fahrenheit 451, so let me make it clear for anyone reading this post:

Content/Trigger Warning: contains mention of character suicides and drug overdoses. If you are sensitive to these topics, reconsider reading this novel.

This storyworld is bleak and frankly terrifying, and not just in a jokey way regarding books not being read. It is a very real concern that is magnified, drawing on the horrors of expunging printed texts, criminalising those in possession of books, and contributing to a society run on mindless television. Not only does it make my skin crawl just thinking about lack of original thought, curiosity, and imagination being demonised, but being so blind to the impact of written text and stories is wild. Living in a world where experiencing feelings, having deep thoughts, developing questions, and pondering the answers regarding life, history, and art is forbidden is not living at all. I think that is clear by how some of these characters act and, for lack of a better term, give up on life. There is no life to live without books.

This critical thinking and media literacy – or perhaps a better way to phrase it is lack of critical thinking and media illiteracy – is a scary cousin to the current state of things in areas of the world. I don’t just mean in terms of school age kids not knowing how to develop critique for their novel essays, but many adult too. There are so many people who do not understand how to infer information from a text, how to experience something from someone else’s perspective, how to examine themes and concepts and apply them to everyday life, or how to draw parallels between fiction and real life. Literary analysis is becoming lesser practiced, or worse, a dying art form, and it is made evident in the fact that Fahrenheit 451 rings true to how many behave and act in the world of social media today.

This isn’t to say you have to critically analyse every single book you read, and in fact I feel that is in part what Fahrenheit 451 is pointing out too. Even enjoying books is not just taboo, but it goes against the law. Understanding why you enjoy the books you read is integral to the continuation of fiction books being released, because the more you appreciate the books you read and promote them, share them with friends, recommend them, etc. the more buzz for the books there will be.

I feel like there should be a term like ‘literary analysis’ for books we like because it is a good book. Whether it is something like ‘literary vibe checks’ or ‘reader analysis’, it exists and it is as much a part of the reader experience as literary analysis and critical media skills are. Fahrenheit 451 is a poignant reminder that those skills are necessary for a vibrant, free, welcoming, and fulfilling life, and I hope we don’t forget the joys that reading brings to everyday life.