Silence is...

Where do you go when all around is burning or yelling?

This post is being posted in the wake of me finishing the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

I am at a slight loss of what to say. What is to be said about a book that should be called perfect but you can not quite say so.

Not that it was bad. On the most drastic contrary possible, that book was stunning! It so engrossed me that I felt submerged while reading the dry pages. It was thick, full of deep thoughts. But it was frightening to read.

Fahrenheit 451 was published in 1953. Fifty-eight years old, this book has a stark resemblance to our society and culture today but to the extreme. I freaked out just a bit when that fact hit me.

Set in a utopia-gone-wrong society. it is about Guy Montag who is a fireman. But a firemen of a special kind. These firemen do not come to rescue you from an inferno, they come to start one. They burn books.

Every night they ride out into the city and burn houses containing books. Books are bad, burn them.

The government has made every attempt to discourage free thinking. They drown out silence with radios or TVs or music or mad noise. But in the midst of this, Montag wakes up.

In some ways it is a beautiful book. Quotes from books and people are wonderfully placed so you suddenly realize just what they mean. Montags new thoughts are full of hope and dreams. Yet there is an ugly side to this book as well. Books written in love are abused dreadfully by bad people. I felt exhausted and beaten after reading it but the beauty of silence was realized through it. I know the value of thoughts better because of this book.

Action packed and hard it is a book you should not pass by.