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I did order a copy from an online shop but the order failed to arrive and I couldn’t easily find the book locally. So I downloaded it for my Kindle. And what an interesting - and somewhat prophetic - book it turned out to be.
Guy Montag is the main protagonist, known mostly by his surname. He’s employed as a ‘fireman’, but in this world - written in 1953, set in the future - firemen don’t prevent fires. They initiate them, when anyone reports a library or hoard of books. Buildings are all fireproof, but when burning books, the rest of the contents of the house is burned too.
It’s an unthinking kind of job, one which Montag seems always to have done. He follows the same route each day, hangs out with the same guys, goes home to his wife Mildred, and goes to sleep (in a separate bed). He and Mildred appear to have almost no communication; she spends her days watching her three ‘walls’ where she watches people she cares about - today we would think of this as wall-sized flat-screen TVs, showing endless soaps. This is rather a remarkable prediction of future life for a novel written in the early days of TV when the appliances were bulky with tiny screens, and colour technology was only just beginning in the US.
But two things happen: Montag meets a young woman who has recently moved to the neighbourhood, and she asks some pointed questions. And his wife, he discovers, has taken too many sleeping pills. In the course of calling emergency medical support he starts to question his existence, the society he lives in, and why books are considered so dangerous.
That’s just the start of a story which is fast-paced, exciting, and somewhat scary. That’s not so much in the events themselves, although towards the end there’s a tense and lengthy chase that could end badly. It’s more in the author’s observations, and the idea that technology will cause people not just to ignore books, but to distrust them, and to outlaw anyone who likes to read or quote from books. The point is made that it’s not just books that have value - music, or even old films are seen as positive. But the possibility that endless, mindless entertainment could take over people’s lives is a reality in much of the west today.
Another concern that runs through the book is the threat of war. There’s no indication as to who the aggressors might be, or what form the war might take. I assume that was deliberate. We don’t hear anything about the world outside of the United States, or whether book-burning is the norm everywhere. Nor do we learn why there might be a war. But, again, it’s all too real in a world where war can erupt with very little warning, and where the threat of a nuclear holocaust is still a horrible possibility.
I’m glad I read the book. Although I doubt if I’ll read it again, I liked it rather more than the (two or three) other classic dystopian books I have read - such as ‘1984’ which I thought was very unpleasant. But despite the uncannily accurate predictions about some of today’s technology, there’s much that’s dated including inherent sexism: it’s all men who work as firemen, women who stay at home watching their wall-sized TVs and gossipping. And there’s really no character development, other than in Montag himself.
A lot of questions are left unanswered at the ending. It’s dramatic and conclusive, although it’s evidently meant to be positive, in a ‘remnant’ kind of way.More than once, the style and the thought-provoking questions raised reminded me of the very different dystopian book, published only a couple of years ago and written by my father, ‘The Finneal Solution’.
I don’t suppose I’ll read this book again, but I’m glad it was allocated to the book group, and look forward to the discussion. I thought the pace excellent, the writing good, and the concept intriguing. As a book-lover (and hoarder) myself, I was certainly in sympathy with the idea of books - or, at least, their contents - having immense importance. Definitely worth reading once.
Review copyright 2022 Sue's Book Reviews
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