Get Your Read On

Initially, before reading this book I had decided to check out some of the reviews on it. From what I gathered, I was under the impression that I would not enjoy this book. A lot of the critism I found came from the general idea that this was somehow going to a "Potter" double of some sort.
Being a huge fan of the Potter series, I was delighted to hear that JK Rowling was indeed writing a new novel. She said it was going to have nothing to do with Potter, and it was going to be an adult novel. That didn't surprise me. So honestly, I took those reviews with a grain of salt. You can't expect an author to stick within the same genre ... and frankly applaud Rowling for going in this direction.

For me this book was a great read. (I don't say it because it has her name on it) Primarily I will admit that I was not too fond of the characters, and the pacing felt a little slow. However, once I reached the 100 page mark I had so much foundation for all of the characters, I myself felt like I was a part of Pagford: I could see Samantha with her bottle of wine, Andrew Price riding Si-Pie's bike, Sujhkvinder the poor dear in her bathroom,... I could hear these characters, feel them interact and so on. Indeed I found that Rowling's writing style in for the teenagers quite exquisite. The one who stole my heart was Suhkvinder. I loved the progression of the characters and the changes they went throughout the novel. Rowling has a way of allowing you to know what the character is feeling in the most subtle of ways with the use of her words. I was left craving more on the characters. I actually did shed a tear at the end of the book... What can I say, I was hooked into Pagford.

I personally really enjoyed this book. I laughed, I scoffed, I cried and I empathized. I recommend it, however do NOT expect anything Potter... please. This is an entirely different genre, but as I did expect, the storytelling was great. I am looking forward to reading more from Rowling in the future.

The development of Montag is quite intriguing. This book is quite fantastic. I enjoyed it a lot, and was actually quite taken aback a few times, forgetting that this book was written almost 60 years ago. The fact that Ray Bradbury could tunnel vision into the future the way he had is quite remarkable, and frankly almost chilling. He portrays the ideal that we, as a group, would consciously choose to be “entertained" by the media instead of picking up a book and exploring it. Sound like society today? I think so.

The way society is written to be so apathetic toward everything, to be so consumed by their consumerism they don’t even realize was so… heart-wrenching for me to read. I didn’t necessarily feel that this booked was based on the ideal of censorship, but instead what we as a group choose to consume. I find that this book portrays where we are as a society almost too accurately, it’s quite frightening. Too often do you hear people brag about not reading, as if books are truly a evil. People rather go “fast" and not “think" but be told, just be entertained. Just to have fun, and do nothing, be nothing. So lost in that fun that they have completely lost themselves. What I enjoyed was how all the characters aside from the few, were literally void beings. They cared for nothing, only to read their scripts in front of their wall-to-wall screens, with the fake characters who would respond to them with a script, giving them a sense of importance that they themselves diminished. It was… wow. Really powerful. This book is great, truly great.

The only down faults I felt were of course, being born and alive in an era that is quick and fast, I felt that the book was just a little too short. I wanted more of Clarisse, hear more of what she had to say but didn’t make it far. This was written beautifully, and I do recommend it.