Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury, United States, 1953.

•  Characters: Guy Montag (fireman), Clarisse McClellan (17-year-old girl), Mildred (Montag’s wife), Betty (Montag’s boss), Faber (English Professor), Granger (exilers’ leader)

•  Genre: Novel, Science Fiction

•  Reading time: 19 days (finished on July)
•  Setting: Futuristic American city, 24th century

•  Pages: 46,118 words / 179 (physical book) / 76 (PDF) / 103 (EPUB) (average pages per day: 5)

•  Rate: 3/5

• Plot Summary

Guy Montag is a fireman who in a society which hates books, his job is not to put out fires, but to light them. Along with his coworkers, Montag seeks and burns books because they are outlawed.

One night when returning home, Montag meets a 17-year-old girl named Clarisse McClellan who, unlike his TV-addicted wife, Mildred, is willing to engage in a conversation. Her intriguing personality makes him question his perception of happiness, his job, and if books are as bad as society accounts.

Back to work but dubious about his coworkers and society's approach to books, Montag hides a book away he was supposed to burn. At home, he surprises Mildred by telling her about the book, but reluctant to keeping it, Mildred pleads with Montag to incinerate them.

Looking for support, Montag remembers Faber, a former Professor he met a year before. After having convinced him that he was not meant to burn anything from his house, Faber gives in and teaches him about the importance of literature. Then Faber gives him an earpiece communicator so that he can advise him as well as warn him about the threats he might face to.

At home, Mildred has some friends over. They watch Television and laugh over unimportant pointless stuff. Montag turns off the TV and tries to engage them into a meaningful conversation, then he shows one of his books and reads them a poem, but ends up making one of the women cry.

Afterwards, Montag goes to work where his boss, Betty, seems to be onto Montag's secret. Then the alarm goes off at the firemen station and they head to Montag's house. There he learns his wife has reported him and therefore is obliged to burn his own house. Thereafter, Montag sets fire to his boss and kills him.

Then Montag joins a group exiled book-lovers who have memorized several books so that the firemen do not chase them. Immediately after, a short but devastating war breaks out in the city, which the exilers see as an opportunity to rebuild the society reintroducing books to it.