Fahrenheit 451

It is hard to believe that this was written over 60 years ago. I am reading it for the first time in 2018, and it is rather frightening how it mirrors so much that is going on today. Although it is, as Neil Gaiman puts it: ‘a what if' story, meaning it isn't the author's exact prediction of the future, only what if this happened and how would it effect us scenario; it also happens to hit quite close to home.
It is short and succinct and even has a somewhat lyrical language in its dire warnings. I think there is a lot to glean from the story, whether it is our reliance on technology, censorship, the danger of always wanting to be ‘happy' no matter the cost, moral degradation, the importance of the knowledge books carry in them and how they can show us ourselves - the good, the bad, the ugly - and what we can learn from that. What do we lose, if we no longer care about our past, about the wisdom of those who came before us and replace that wisdom with the ‘feel good' culture instead, a culture that can be hollow and meaningless at the end of the day if we're not careful. I feel I could re-read this and get even more out of it in second and third readings. Well worth at least one read though and lots of thoughtful contemplation of where we are today in relation to Bradbury's cautionary tale.