“Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury is an immensely powerful, well-written dystopia that gets in one's mind through its deceptively simple narrative and heartfelt earnestness. A book about the dangers of censorship and modern-mass culture, it is just as reason...ant today as it was nearly sixty years ago. One notices immediately the vividness of the characters, drawn deeply and delicately. One feels for these characters, even if we do not know much about them – which is a testament to Bradbury's power as a writer and how much he cares about his work. One feels the tension and confusion of Guy, the enchantment of Clarisse, compelled by Beatty's defense of the system, pity for Millie's blindness, and even fear of the Mechanical Hound. What makes the book powerful in my opinion is not its relevance but its simplicity. Unlike books like “1984” and “Brave New World,” the changes in this future society are quite subtle and the story itself is on the surface quite simple. Furthermore, Montag's journey from fireman to rebel is intensely personal and his awakening is has a very visceral feeling - my favorite moment in the book is in part three when Guy is walking through the wilderness and he is beginning to feel nature, to feel the world around him in a new way. The numbness he felt in the city has begun to melt away in a world of new sensations. So much has been said about this particular book but as Bradbury attempts to get across, the books are not important but it is what books do to people which is important. People are the carriers of the ideas within books. Bradbury, an admitted bibliophile, calls not so much for books but for thinking, questioning people informed by the wisdom of books, their worlds expanded and made complex by their ideas.