Fahrenheit 451 [Full Review]

Fahrenheit 451 [Full Review]

"It was a pleasure to burn."

I don't actually know how to begin this review; it's hard to describe this book in a mere review on the blog. I could actually consider this book atop my favorite books after The Palace of Dreams for Ismail Kadare, if not even before it.
I'll try to sum up the review and not spoil many things.

The plot:
Book burning. Guy Montag is a fireman whose job is to burn books.
The plot was the first thing that tugged me in to buy this novel in the first place. If you don't know, it's amongst the top dystopian novels of all time. The very, very first page of the novel was the most beautiful thing ever, why it's different than any other novel I've read so far, is because from page 1 in chapter 1 to page 165 of the last chapter, everything was intriguing, catchy, confusing, dark and conspiracy-soaked.
The fact that the novel was relatively short, was another reason for having enjoyed it; everything was to the point, I didn't feel bored for a second, it was very fast-paced that I could hardly hold my breath.
Finally, the open ending in the novel is something to admire, since I could barely see a reasonable ending for everything inside it, I have to say it was perfect.
I was robbed of the feeling of finishing this novel, because it didn't end, it's how our lives are and it will never end until we choose to end it. I loved that.

The language:

• I was waiting impatiently to get to this part; the language in this novel was pretty simplistic, sometimes I'd find difficulty in the descriptions because of my English, but it wasn't something major.

• The descriptions: they were outstanding, beautiful and very inspiring, it made me really admire the imagination of the author.

• The metaphors: I was somehow confused by the amount of things he said that gave hints to other things, I got to understand some parts only after reading some of the reviews online. Despite this puzzlement, I was enjoying the indirectness in his words, the way he wanted us, the readers, to think, because of the fact that we are readers reading about book burning, so we must have our own justifications.

• The repetitions: That's the one thing I completely utterly enjoyed. Some repetitions were so vague, some seemed pointless, but overall, every repetition meant something. Every line looked like the previous but somehow different. They pretty well fit the insanity in the plot, and the outstanding dullness in the protagonist. And finally, I was inspired. Really inspired.

The dialogue:
I pretty much liked all the dialogues of Montag, the protagonist, with Clarisse, Faber and Captain Beaty. Every one of them held something true, in this life, felt in reality, fed on conspiracy and dystopia. Some things were beautifully said (I'll point them out in the quotes at the end of the review), some descriptions were perfect. The book burning theory and the paradox of being a fireman to start fire not put it out is simply..all about our life.


This novel indirectly talked about everything governments are oppressing people to not contemplate, that's why I definitely recommend it to each and every one who doesn't appreciate books, to everyone who wants to read more, and while reading it live with your imagination to make it real, what would you do?

Quotes:

• "Let you alone! That's all very well, but how can I leave myself alone? We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?"

• "A book is a loaded gun in the house next door"

• "If you hide your ignorance, no one will hit you and you'll never learn."
  

• "Forget them. Burn all, burn everything. Fire is bright and fire is clean"

• "If you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet give him none. Let him forget there is such a thing as war."

• "I don't talk things, sir. I talk the meaning of things.I sit here and know I'm alive".

• "that's the good part of dying; when you've nothing to lose, you run any risk you want."

• "Those who don't build must burn."

• "Well, that's one way to get an audience. Hold a gun on a man and force him to listen to you. Speech away."

• "live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds"

• "oh God, the terrible tyranny of the majority."

Those are not all the quotes I loved. But I'll say enough for now.

My rating: 5/5 (first time to ever rate something as perfect)

Literary Quotes

Literary Quotes

"An artist cannot translate the passionate intensity of life without working in passion. Scholar’s scholar, critic's critic, but the artist burns and beats and blows and jumps and rushes. It's all a matter of virtue, i.e virtuosity"-Jack Kerouac.

"But I'll add, that there is something at the bottom of every new human thought, every thought of genius, or even every earnest thought that springs up in any brain, which can never be communicated to others, even if one were to write volumes about it and were explaining one's idea for thirty-five years; there's something left which cannot be induced to emerge from your brain, and remains with you forever; and with it you will die, without communicating to anyone perhaps the most important of your ideas." -"The Idiot" Dosteovesky.
(Stolen from Noor's review :D )

"And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt." -Sylvia Plath

حبة حبشتكانات

حبة حبشتكانات

أنا بس هسأل شوية أسئلة محيراني...و مش هحطلها إجابات حتى ، بس لو قدرتوا تفكروا فيها معايا يبقى كتّر خيركوا..

• المفروض إن الواحد ميسكتش على المحتل الأجنبي...فا مابالكوا بالمحتل الوطني بقى؟؟ اللي مننا فينا؟

• الشعب كله يطالب بالديمقراطية ، بس في نفس الوقت مبيحاسبش نفسه على ديكتاتوريته...تقريباً كده الناس فاكره إن الديكتاتورية هي ضرب و خلاص. نسينا فرض الرأي و عدم إحترام الرأي الآخر. نسينا رفض أي تعليق أو نقد من الخارج.

• إحنا إزاي عندنا بلاهة و بلادة و قلة تقدير للكلام اللي بنقولوا دا؟ إزاي مثلاً تروح تقول لشخص "ربنا هيحاسبك عاللي عملته" ؟ دا على أساس إن دا هيخلي ركبه تخبط في بعضها؟ دا على أساس إنك عارف أصلا يعني إيه ربنا هايحاسبه؟ و بتتكلم على أساس إن و يعني إيه إن شخص يستغل شهرته في إنه يالجملة دي عادي حاجة كده في الحياة اليومية؟

• هو يعني إيه "حرام" ؟ و "واجب شرعي" ؟ و يعني إيه إن شخص يستغل شهرته في إنه يتكلم كلام الناس تمشي عليه من غير ما ياخد باله إن دي مصيبة في حد ذاتها

• إحنا إزاي بقينا نتكلم في أطنان براميل بترول و ثروات تقدر بمليارات الدولارات بالسهولة دي؟ إزاي دي حاجة بقت بتضحك أوي كده؟ إنها لكارثة...

• إحنا إمتى ابتدينا منحسّش ببعض بالطريقة الصعبة دي؟ بزعل أوي أوي بجد لما حد يقوللي "أنا النهاردة حصل لي الموقف الفلاني و فهمت إنتي قصدك إيه" ياسلام؟

(أنا كمان بعمل كده عامةً...متفكروش إني بستعبط)

أسئلة كثيرة و الإجابة في جعبة الحياة :D

To Kill a Mockingbird [Full Review]

To Kill a Mockingbird [Full Review]

"Shoot the bluejays of you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird"

The plot: I have to say I was kind of disappointed at the plot and the narration of this novel. If you intend to read this novel, you have to be very patient because at least the first half of the novel is quiet boring and pointless-at least to me. The chapters are very slow-paced and you need to take out what you can in order to finish them and get to the good parts.

The language: I kind of thought it was hard to read, and for a person who has much admiration for literature and language like myself, the language was poor, not of the narrator's, but of the era itself; I didn't really mind it as much as I thought it was hard and sometimes not understandable.

Characters: Mostly, I loved the father, I really admired his patience and the way he was trying to raise his kids and make it up to them for having lost their mother at a young age. I admired his calmness and the way he handled frenzied situations. His way of analyzing and defending at the court, knowing that it's a lose-lose case. Away from the two main characters, who are the girl and her brother, I think the father is the most important and beautiful role in the novel.

I don't really have much to add to this novel, I didn't think I would be so eager to finish it only to know what's gonna happen not because I was utterly enjoying it; overall, I think I can give it 2.5/5, but I still gotta say I enjoyed how the author, Lee, put out the ugliness of racism in the 30s. It's a good-but-not-great novel.

P.S I remembered "Broken April" and "Chronicle in Stone", both for Ismail Kadare while reading this and I couldn't help but compare, I probably haven't read several poetic novels for one author as for Kadare.
"Chronicle in Stone" was also narrated from the heart of a young boy, but the humor was felt more than this novel.
"Broken April" also had to do with the killing of the innocent only because they committed the sin of living in this world.

Lastly,
Quotes to remember:

"I don't know, but they did it. They've done it before and they did it tonight and they'll do it again and when they do it ــــ seems that only children weep. Good night."

"You got it backwards, Dill. Clowns are sad, it's folks that laugh at them."

"The most ridiculous example I can think of is that the people who run public education promote the stupid and idle along with the industrious - because all men are created equal, educators will gravely tell you, the children left behind suffer terrible feelings of inferiority.We know all men are not created equal in the sense some people would have us believe-some people are smarter than others, some people have more opportunity because they're born with it, some men make more money than others, some ladies make better cakes than others-some people are born gifted beyond the normal scope of most men."

"In the name of God, do your duty (out loud). In the name of God, believe him (to himself)."


P.S Never miss out contemplating chapter 20, I'd say it's probably the best chapter in the whole novel (: