Fahrenheit 451 - 6

6) Why do we still read this book?  What is so timeless about its message and characters?  What can we learn from reading this novel?

I believe that Fahrenheit 451 is still being read today because it has such a relevant message to our time. It reminds us to really think about what we do with our lives instead of skimming past without a care. Without a reality check now and again, I have no idea what our world would look like today. I do find it ironic, however, that the author actually wrote a book about ruining books.
I find it fascinating that Bradbury knew that we would end up taking everything we have for granted.  It just amazes me that he somehow predicted that we would one day make it our goal to get through life as quickly and easily as possible. He had to have put a ton of thought into this novel because he even predicted, in an exaggerated way, how influential television would become.  I know that this book did not change everything, but I have to wonder what people would be like today if a book like Fahrenheit 451 was never written.
Reading this book make me really wonder what it would be like in a world where books were not only readily available, but they were even illegal.  A thought like this is not a pleasant one.  While this book really emphasized the problems and dangers that could possibly come up, it also made me appreciate the books that i have read in the past.  Books, in my opinion are the best was to learn.  If not for books, our world would have non record of anything, history would be a shot in the dark.  Books have the power to change people, they have influence on the reader's deepest thoughts and ideas.  Books help people decide what they believe, what to remember, how to deal with certain situations.  They make people who they are!
Fahrenheit 451 makes you want to really think about what you're doing with your life and where this world is going.  You have to really slow down to wonder about things like this.  Besides the two nuclear wars, the author was pretty good at predicting what would happen to this world (Bradbury 73).  There is no question as to why this book is still read today, the message it conveys is so significant.  It always will be.  

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York, NY: Ballantine Books, 1954