Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

Criticism:

This book is a science fiction classic that I recommend everyone to read at least once in their lives, although not before being twelve years old. It is a story whose very argument is a critic to society  and a reflection about human nature with which I, personally, agree. It is a book made of action and reflection, which uses a very original fantasy story as an example of our destructive nature, but which at the same time is very optimistic. It is a touching book, neither hard nor sad, nor happy, but it is one of the books that can fill the heart of the person who listens to what they tell, although at the beginning it may not seem so.

It is written in a beautiful way. It describes perfectly and using endless similes and metaphors not only what the main character sees, but also the way in which he sees it and how what his eyes pass on to him reaches his mind. Moreover, this is transmitted in the most exact, most pretty, and least elaborate way possible. Sometimes it is quite difficult to concentrate in what is told, and it is necessary to read it twice, but this happens because the text is very deep. In the other hand, all the characters talk exactly in the same way, using the same rhythms and style etc, and the same way of thinking. I think that this may be the reason why the reader feels sympathy and affinity to the main character, but isn't overwhelmed in the story by this sensation of empathy. It is not dominant in the reading. Furthermore, I find the story quite sexist, as in it only men are capable of thinking for themselves from time to time; and despite this all the women are empty-headed. They are all completely superficial and easily influenced, and loud, and they represent the part of society that destroys the world.

 

Author's official web page: http://www.raybradbury.com/