Book Review 2018 – Part IX

All I can say is, what a book.

This is a book that I had to read at school, so obviously I only read half of it and tried to blag it. A couple of months ago I saw it in Waterstones and decided that I should read it properly. I took my time, savouring every page. Sometimes I read a blog, or a newspaper article or a book and think to myself with practice and dedication I could maybe produce something as good as that. With this book, never in a million years could I wrote something this good.

First published in the early ’50s, the book details a dystopian future where firemen aren’t there to put out fires, but instead they start fires, specifically to burn books. When I watch the news and see what Trump and his ilk are doing to America, or what the conservatives want to do to the UK, Bradbury predictions were far too close to what is actually happening, much like with George Orwell and 1984.

When I finished the book all I could do was sit there for a few minutes contemplating it. I really should have read the whole thing at school.

The edition I have also includes an afterword by Mr Bradbury explaining how the book came into existence, compiled from five different short stories and written on a hired typewriter costing a dime every half an hour.

This is a book that everyone should read.