If You Can’t Stand the Heat…
August 23, 2010
I usually enjoy dystopian novels. They suit my general pessimism concerning the eventual fate of human civilization. If you ask me, future generations might be genetically disenfranchised from the moment of their laboratory conception, ala Brave New World, ground beneath the heel of an intrusive fascist regime as in 1984, or kept pacified by a regimen of medication and social pressure as in The Giver, but somehow or another, it won’t end well.
So it was with an enthusiasm undimmed by years of waiting that I reached the spot on my book list (many months ago now) occupied by Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. Set in a future where books are burned by squads of government “firemen”, it certainly falls into the dystopian category. I found its premise that an increasingly hedonistic society had willingly submitted to censorship in order to save themselves the hassles attendant on critical thought chilling and plausible – and an intriguing step away from the clear-cut oppression of Huxley and Orwell’s novels.
Upon reading, I found that the book also contained characters who display genuine humanity and boasted some thrilling moments of action to counterbalance the cerebral horror that comes with watching western civilization dead-end. A good read, and highly recommended for fellow fans of the genre. The 2002 film Equilibrium makes an excellent film counterpart – or substitute, if all copies of Fahrenheit in your area have been rounded up and immolated already.
