Fahrenheit 451 (2004)

By Ray Bradbury
It was such a relief to read this book after trudging through Ulysses and other books requiring intense concentration. Here’s an author who calls a flame thrower a flame thrower. Guy Montag is a “fireman” who’s job it is to burn books (with flame throwers!!), but who comes to the realisation that maybe there’s something to them after all. It feels a bit lightweight somehow, and even though Bradbury is trying to be all meaningful and so on it reads more like a potboiler - sort of a science fiction Mills and Boon, if that makes sense. (OK it doesn't really). Still, I kind of enjoyed it – I might give Bradbury another go sometime, maybe after I’ve actually finished Ulysses, in order to realign my brain to normalcy.

Rating 6 out of 10