{read} Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

"So now do you see what books are hated and feared? They show the pores in the face of life. The comfortable people only want wax moon faces, poreless, hairless, expressionless. We are living in a time when flowers are trying to live on flowers, instead of growing on good rain and black loam. Even fireworks, for all their prettiness, come from the chemistry of the earth. Yet somehow we think we can grow, feeding on flowers and fireworks, without completing the cycle back to reality."



One of the reasons I love being in a book club its that I am encouraged to read outside my preferences. While not the memoir or nonfiction that I tend to read, this book had me nodding, underlining and exclaiming to those around me, "you can't believe this! this book was written like 60 years ago! it could have been written now!"

A dystopian warning where people are scared of books and talking and thinking, residents spend their free time watching wall sized TVs with programs that they can never quite remember (even though the actors are called their "family"). Constant bombardment of noises, shocks, and fear keep people "happily" isolated in their cocoons of comfort.

Protagonist, Guy Montag, a fire fighter charged with burning books and the homes that try to hide them, meets a girl who pulls back the curtain and makes him question what is really happening around him.

This book is the tale of his unravelling.

Highly recommended and a great book to discuss with a group. I can not wait to share this one with my kids when they are teens.