By Ray Bradbury
Hi, everybody! I've been really busy. Yet you may ask how was I able to finish another book but not write another entry... Well, that's one of the mysteries of life. Books can be taken out during class, laps don't.
Now once again, another novel by my favorite author. Known as the poet among the science fiction writers, here comes again with a novel written in 1953 which strangely seems very alike to our own society.
¿Who has big TVs on their walls and likes to listen music all day long using headphones? ¿Who uses all their free time seeing soap operas, programs with destruction derbies, pursue criminals and the like? ¿Who likes to drive fast? ¿Who is with friends but seems to talk more with their iphone?
If you did answer "yes" to any of these questions you may need to read this book or if you don't want to then maybe seek for the movie.
Guy Montag is a fireman and what firemen do is burn books because they're a source of controversy and chaos within society. Guy really liked his job until one day he returns home and meets his neighbor, Clarisse McClellan, a cheerful 17 year old girl who is different and questions Guy if he is happy with his life. Guy brushes her off, assuring it but grows hesitant by the time he gets home.
There he finds her wife, Mildred, in the bed with the seashells (earphones) in her ears staring blankly at the ceiling. Montag doesn't find anything wrong with it as she had been like that since long time ago until he falls with an empty bottle of sleeping pills. He tries to wake her up but he can't, he calls for help and two uncaring men arrive with a machine to replace Mildred's blood and pump her stomach. The men give an insight of the numerous incidents of accidental overdoses growing over the past years before they leave Mildred in his care and frustrated by their indifferent reaction.
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| I think I've read some of those books... Cool! |
By the time Guy wakes up, Mildred is making breakfast and complaining about a stomachache. She assumes she went to a party and drank too much alcohol. Guy at first played along but finally reveals to Mildred that she had a pill overdose, which she denies. And continues her daily routine which consists in staring at soap operas and reality shows all day long.
Guy returns to work where he starts questioning the duty of firemen. But as his boss, Beatty, arguments -about how books and the duty of a fireman started since long ago being Benjamin Franklin the first fireman- the alarm rings and they head to investigate a house. Unfortunately, something went off and an old lady was still in the house. They find the books but Guy manages to hide one of them inside his jacket. The rest of the firemen start spraying the kerosene but they have problems with the old lady who refuses to leave. Guy begs her to leave with them as Beatty starts a countdown before they burn the house. The old lady insists and decides to "save them time". She takes a match out of her pocket. The firemen grow pale and run for the exit. The old lady then burns herself and the house.
Guy returns home shocked after seeing the old lady die. He returns to bed, undressing in the way and hides the book below his pillow. The next morning he asks Mildred to call Beatty for him as he feels ill but she doesn't believes him. He explains her he saw a woman die last night. Mildred acts apathetic and uninterested as she only wants to return seeing the TV. He continues to tell her how he wonders what may books contain to make her burn herself over submitting to the firemen but Mildred brushes it off as crazy. He compares her to Clarisse McClellan who was also different but asks Mildred if she hasn't seen her as he hasn't. Mildred causally answers she heard she died run over by a car. Guy frustrated asks her why didn't she told him sooner but Mildred doesn't care about her death and wants him to either decide to go to work or call Beatty himself as she's seeing the TV.
Unexpectedly, Beatty arrives to their home as he supposed he would be "ill". Guy feels the presence of the book under his pillow burn below his head. Beatty comprehends Guy about feeling bad about the old lady but that one grows used to it. It sometimes happens. It is something necessary for society as they are harmful snobs who make everybody feel bad because they're not happy with things as they are. Happiness is brought by entertainment, a busy schedule and instant actions. Thinking, which books promote, creates chaos and unhappy people.
Mildred starts fixing the bed.
He tells Guy how he was once a rebellious and read many books in his youth but all contradicted itself and didn't tell anything. Having too many options makes all hard to decide, so it's just better to show one. To avoid that kind of behaviors, luckily, children are sent to school each year smaller. Guy then tells him that he met a girl who was different and Beatty recognizes he must be referring to his neighbor, Clarisse, who was recorded in the firemens' reports. He tells him that is for the better, sometimes that kind of children appear. The teachers didn't like her for asking why instead of how. Her house was revised many times but they never found a book but probably the family was nurturing her subconsciousness. He pointed he pitied Guy for being her target as she must have made him feel unhappy.
Mildred then tries to fix his pillow but Guy struggles until Mildred realizes the thing below. She rapidly changes the subject and acts as if nothing. Beatty follows the flow of the conversation and tells them that luckily one day firemen won't be necessary as over time people will become totally uninterested of the content of books. But every time now and then a fireman will grow curious. Guy asks what would happen if one took a book from a house. Beatty tells him that it's okay to fulfill curiosity to see how harmful they are and then burn it by the time he returns to work the next day. Guy asks what if not. Before leaving, Beatty then tells him that his house would be burned and him arrested.
Guy explains to Mildred how he feels unhappy and wants to see if he can find why in the books. Mildred replays proudly she is happy but Guy tells him that's not true as she almost died from pill overdose. He then reasoning its fair that she knows, shows her his hideout where he hides some of the books he had been taking from the houses he is sent to burn. Mildred grows hysterical and tries to burn them but Guy forces her to read the books along with him to find out if what they say may tell them why they feel and act like that but at the first phone call Mildred dashes and makes plans to see TV in her friend's house.
He then remembers an old english teacher he met at the park long time ago who had a book and had given him his phone number as Guy had shown interest even while being a fireman. He calls but the man, Faber, believes he wants to trick him into revealing he has books so Guy goes to his house almost getting caught in the subway with the book.
Faber seeing he is honestly interested lets him pass inside. Where he tells Guy that the book he brought is indeed the New Testament. He asks Faber to help him understand what he reads as it's too complicated for him and that he wants to make a copy of it as his boss will arrest him if he doesn't burn it. Faber tells him it's too dangerous to do that and nobody in his mind would dare take a copy of a book. Even so he's too old and it's too late to fight back. He resents not doing anything when everybody started censoring books. Guy then starts ripping the New Testament and desperately Faber complies to help him. Guy insists that maybe if they stop the firemen they may be able to do something and devises a plan where he plants books in their houses so that there will be discord within the system. Faber decides to aid Guy and gives him a "green bullet" (transmitter) as he knows he will have to face Betty next night and will try to destroy all his confidence in books.
Guy returns home and feels safer while knowing Faber is in the other side of the line. When he returns home he finds Mildred and his two friends, Mrs. Phelps and Mrs. Bowles, seeing TV. Montag turns off the TV and tries to strike deep conversation with the women. He asks them about their children and Mrs. Phelps replies she doesn't have children as they only serve to ruin one's life. Mrs. Bowles disagrees as she thinks is nice and easy, as they are only home three times a month and the only thing you have to so is turn on the TV like a washing machine. Mildred notices that Guy doesn't participate in the conversation and starts approaching politics to please Guy. The women start talking how it was obvious that the handsome candidate Noble would win over his other competitor who was ugly, small and had a horrible last name.
He then asks them about Mrs. Phelps's husband. She nonchalantly tells them his husband was sent to war and demonstrates she had had a divorce and that his second husband committed suicide but that she doesn't worry at all.
Guy angrily heads to the bedroom and comes back with a poetry book. The women are surprised but Mildred lies that it's permitted for firemen to bring a book back home once a year to remember how harmful they are while looking coldly at him. Faber begs him to stop but Guy ignores him. He reads Dover Beach and by the time he finishes Mrs. Phelps busted in tears making Mrs. Bowles to get angry at him and deem books as filthy. They leave while Guy demands them to reflect about their empty lives.
The next day, Guy returns work and brings along one of the books which he throws in the incinerator in front of his fellow firemen. Beatty then assures he knew he could return to the herd but mentions he had a dream where they argued using quotes to torment Guy into giving up into books as they only contradict each other. The fire alarm rings; Beatty answers the phone and writes down the address and offers Guy to finish blackjack which Guy refuses. Then they head to the truck and drive following the address Beatty wrote down only to arrive to Guy's house. Astonished, he asks who was the one who called. Mildred leaves the house in a hurry and into a cab disappearing from Guy's life. Beatty permits him redemption by burning his house himself and Guy do as he's ask as he has no other escape. When he finally exits, Beatty manages to find out about the transmitter in his ear and takes it from Guy. He menaces with tracking the line and arresting his companion when Guy faces the flamethrower against him. Beatty dares him to do it and so does Guy. Beatty is engulfed in flames. The Mechanical Hound then attacks Guy and manages to inject him barely in the leg but Guy burns him with the flamethrower. He returns to his yard where they were still some books and makes a run to Faber's house.
While he runs is easy to understand he is paranoid about the police. Yet albeit his murder, what the news tell is only the official start of the war. When he arrives, Faber lets him in and lets him explain what happened. When they see the TV they find that they're making his persecution a hunt to entertain the city. They see how from a helicopter a new Mechanical Hound arrives, how they make him get the scent from the flamethrower and how he starts to track Guy. They become conscious of the trail that he has left over the city until Faber's house. They rapidly organize. Faber lends Guy a case with his dirty clothes and suggests him to run to the wilderness and seek for the vagabonds living there. Guy tells him to activate the sprayers in the garden, clean with alcohol the doorknobs and many things to try to get rid of his odor. They say good-bye to each other. Faber hopes he may see him in the city where he is going to try to make a retired newspaper owner help him print the books.
Guy makes a run for it. He gazes through the windows where all the people are seeing TV his own hunt. He stops when he sees the Mechanical Hound is approaching Faber's house. It stops suddenly and wavers next to the house but ignores it and continues seeking his trail. Guy returns to running and hears the advances of the Mechanical Hound through his earphones. Little by little, he runs by the streets Guy ran through but at a faster pace. When Guy sees the last row of houses, the news announce they want the cooperation of the people. They ask them that at the count of three everybody looks through their doors and windows, and report the whereabouts of the criminal. Guy tries to run faster and faster as the countdown goes to zero. When the citizens gaze through their doors and windows, Guy had arrived to the river where he has undressed and wore Faber's clothes. He lets himself be dragged by the current. By the time the Mechanical Hound and the police has arrived to the river, Guy had escaped and it had lost its track. They start looking elsewhere in the city.
Guy escapes to the wilderness and finds himself astounded by nature which is unknown. He travels along the wilderness feeling a new sense of freedom and finally meets with the vagabonds. All of them are exiled of society and wait until they can return. They give Guy food and make him drink a substance which will change his odor. They have a small TV and show Guy how to please the public they have killed another man, such as Clarisse McClellan, and lied about him being Guy.
They reveal to him they have books. That they are the books. Each of them has memorized a book and will wait till society collapse to be able to bring books back.
Soon enough, an enemy bomber flies above the city and in an instant destroys it. Guy realizes Faber had escaped because he was in his way to another city but he knows Mildred didn't. The leader of the exiled soon compares humanity with the phoenix. It burns itself and revives but there's a difference: it can remember its past errors.
Guy returns to work where he starts questioning the duty of firemen. But as his boss, Beatty, arguments -about how books and the duty of a fireman started since long ago being Benjamin Franklin the first fireman- the alarm rings and they head to investigate a house. Unfortunately, something went off and an old lady was still in the house. They find the books but Guy manages to hide one of them inside his jacket. The rest of the firemen start spraying the kerosene but they have problems with the old lady who refuses to leave. Guy begs her to leave with them as Beatty starts a countdown before they burn the house. The old lady insists and decides to "save them time". She takes a match out of her pocket. The firemen grow pale and run for the exit. The old lady then burns herself and the house.
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| Looks like a grandma who's seriously lost or dancing. |
Guy returns home shocked after seeing the old lady die. He returns to bed, undressing in the way and hides the book below his pillow. The next morning he asks Mildred to call Beatty for him as he feels ill but she doesn't believes him. He explains her he saw a woman die last night. Mildred acts apathetic and uninterested as she only wants to return seeing the TV. He continues to tell her how he wonders what may books contain to make her burn herself over submitting to the firemen but Mildred brushes it off as crazy. He compares her to Clarisse McClellan who was also different but asks Mildred if she hasn't seen her as he hasn't. Mildred causally answers she heard she died run over by a car. Guy frustrated asks her why didn't she told him sooner but Mildred doesn't care about her death and wants him to either decide to go to work or call Beatty himself as she's seeing the TV.
Unexpectedly, Beatty arrives to their home as he supposed he would be "ill". Guy feels the presence of the book under his pillow burn below his head. Beatty comprehends Guy about feeling bad about the old lady but that one grows used to it. It sometimes happens. It is something necessary for society as they are harmful snobs who make everybody feel bad because they're not happy with things as they are. Happiness is brought by entertainment, a busy schedule and instant actions. Thinking, which books promote, creates chaos and unhappy people.
Mildred starts fixing the bed.
He tells Guy how he was once a rebellious and read many books in his youth but all contradicted itself and didn't tell anything. Having too many options makes all hard to decide, so it's just better to show one. To avoid that kind of behaviors, luckily, children are sent to school each year smaller. Guy then tells him that he met a girl who was different and Beatty recognizes he must be referring to his neighbor, Clarisse, who was recorded in the firemens' reports. He tells him that is for the better, sometimes that kind of children appear. The teachers didn't like her for asking why instead of how. Her house was revised many times but they never found a book but probably the family was nurturing her subconsciousness. He pointed he pitied Guy for being her target as she must have made him feel unhappy.
 |
| Definition of a snob |
Guy explains to Mildred how he feels unhappy and wants to see if he can find why in the books. Mildred replays proudly she is happy but Guy tells him that's not true as she almost died from pill overdose. He then reasoning its fair that she knows, shows her his hideout where he hides some of the books he had been taking from the houses he is sent to burn. Mildred grows hysterical and tries to burn them but Guy forces her to read the books along with him to find out if what they say may tell them why they feel and act like that but at the first phone call Mildred dashes and makes plans to see TV in her friend's house.
He then remembers an old english teacher he met at the park long time ago who had a book and had given him his phone number as Guy had shown interest even while being a fireman. He calls but the man, Faber, believes he wants to trick him into revealing he has books so Guy goes to his house almost getting caught in the subway with the book.
Faber seeing he is honestly interested lets him pass inside. Where he tells Guy that the book he brought is indeed the New Testament. He asks Faber to help him understand what he reads as it's too complicated for him and that he wants to make a copy of it as his boss will arrest him if he doesn't burn it. Faber tells him it's too dangerous to do that and nobody in his mind would dare take a copy of a book. Even so he's too old and it's too late to fight back. He resents not doing anything when everybody started censoring books. Guy then starts ripping the New Testament and desperately Faber complies to help him. Guy insists that maybe if they stop the firemen they may be able to do something and devises a plan where he plants books in their houses so that there will be discord within the system. Faber decides to aid Guy and gives him a "green bullet" (transmitter) as he knows he will have to face Betty next night and will try to destroy all his confidence in books.
 |
| ...Faber, how do I read this? |
He then asks them about Mrs. Phelps's husband. She nonchalantly tells them his husband was sent to war and demonstrates she had had a divorce and that his second husband committed suicide but that she doesn't worry at all.
Guy angrily heads to the bedroom and comes back with a poetry book. The women are surprised but Mildred lies that it's permitted for firemen to bring a book back home once a year to remember how harmful they are while looking coldly at him. Faber begs him to stop but Guy ignores him. He reads Dover Beach and by the time he finishes Mrs. Phelps busted in tears making Mrs. Bowles to get angry at him and deem books as filthy. They leave while Guy demands them to reflect about their empty lives.
 |
| Montag made true the dream of every salaryman who hates his boss. |
While he runs is easy to understand he is paranoid about the police. Yet albeit his murder, what the news tell is only the official start of the war. When he arrives, Faber lets him in and lets him explain what happened. When they see the TV they find that they're making his persecution a hunt to entertain the city. They see how from a helicopter a new Mechanical Hound arrives, how they make him get the scent from the flamethrower and how he starts to track Guy. They become conscious of the trail that he has left over the city until Faber's house. They rapidly organize. Faber lends Guy a case with his dirty clothes and suggests him to run to the wilderness and seek for the vagabonds living there. Guy tells him to activate the sprayers in the garden, clean with alcohol the doorknobs and many things to try to get rid of his odor. They say good-bye to each other. Faber hopes he may see him in the city where he is going to try to make a retired newspaper owner help him print the books.
Guy makes a run for it. He gazes through the windows where all the people are seeing TV his own hunt. He stops when he sees the Mechanical Hound is approaching Faber's house. It stops suddenly and wavers next to the house but ignores it and continues seeking his trail. Guy returns to running and hears the advances of the Mechanical Hound through his earphones. Little by little, he runs by the streets Guy ran through but at a faster pace. When Guy sees the last row of houses, the news announce they want the cooperation of the people. They ask them that at the count of three everybody looks through their doors and windows, and report the whereabouts of the criminal. Guy tries to run faster and faster as the countdown goes to zero. When the citizens gaze through their doors and windows, Guy had arrived to the river where he has undressed and wore Faber's clothes. He lets himself be dragged by the current. By the time the Mechanical Hound and the police has arrived to the river, Guy had escaped and it had lost its track. They start looking elsewhere in the city.
 |
| A simplistic representation of Montag and the Mechanical Hound. Use your imagination. |
They reveal to him they have books. That they are the books. Each of them has memorized a book and will wait till society collapse to be able to bring books back.
Soon enough, an enemy bomber flies above the city and in an instant destroys it. Guy realizes Faber had escaped because he was in his way to another city but he knows Mildred didn't. The leader of the exiled soon compares humanity with the phoenix. It burns itself and revives but there's a difference: it can remember its past errors.
