Cannonball Read 13

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Search This Site

| Log in
  1. Follow us on Facebook
  2. Follow us on Twitter
  3. Follow us on Instagram
  4. Follow us on Goodreads
  5. RSS Feeds

  • Home
  • About
    • About CBR
    • Getting Started
    • Cannon Book Club
    • Diversions
    • Fan Mail
    • Holiday Book Exchange
    • Book Bingo Reading Challenge
    • Participation Badges
    • AlabamaPink
  • Our Team
    • Leaderboard
    • The CBR Team
    • Recent Comments
    • CBR Interviews
    • Our Volunteers
    • Meet MsWas
  • Categories
    • Review Genres
    • Tags
  • Fight Cancer
    • How We Fight Cancer
    • How You Can Donate
    • Book Sale
    • CBR Merchandise
    • Supporters and Friends of CBR
  • FAQ
  • Contact
    • Contact Form
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Follow Us
> FAQ Home
> Genre: Fantasy > What Book Would You Try and Save?

What Book Would You Try and Save?

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation by Tim Hamilton

February 10, 2020 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

I have never read Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 (long story short, I have issues with classics, which is a little ironic for a former English major). I had no interest in it, other than knowing people considered it a classic and something pretty damn special. I knew people banned it. Which, when you think about it, is terribly amusing (or at least for me). To have a book about the ultimate banning of books being challenged and banned itself? Maybe the irony drives the point home even farther.

I am rating Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation graphic novel a five not because it is the best book ever, but because it was a great introduction to the story. It showed a piece of history that we are repeating. And not just once or twice, but several times over the years since the book was first published. The graphic novel is the ultimate CliffsNotes but still the book. Illustrator Tim Hamilton hits the nail on the head with the literally seeing the flames coming off the page (you see the books burning, even the people when they too are engulfed by flames), the emotions of the Fireman, the panic of his wife’s friends when he reads them poetry. We even see the wife’s dead features: the person who is “so happy” yet still wants more; who may or may not have tried to take her own life more than once. Or the fact you do not see the people, faces or other things around them (houses, trees, the Fire Hound). There are shadows everyplace. They hide and reveal at the same time. The incompleteness of the details, backdrop, the faces even are haunting, but they are the metaphor of the darkness everyone is in. Or seems to be.

The story we mostly know: Firemen start the fires that burn books. People are turned in by their friends for the crime of knowledge. Not having read the original I am not sure what lines have been transferred into the graphic novel text, but there are some simple lines that are gut punches. This adaptation was powerful. I can only imagine the impact it would have had on 1950’s America. The implications of this book are timeless. Perhaps it was a comment on World War II and Hitler or Communism. But we are seeing this again today. This book, sadly, is as relevant today as it was in 1953 or 2009 when the graphic novel was first published. Bradbury wrote a new introduction for the graphic novel.

I am including the Wikipedia link to show how the meaning of the book can be adapted to fit needs, or to show how easy things can change within a few years. Bradbury knew this book would live on long after he did. Now I have read the graphic novel, I actually want to read the original and see what was I missing all these years.

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novel/Comic, Science Fiction, Young Adult Tagged With: book burning, Ray Bradbury, Tim Hamilton, Totalitarianism

BlackRaven's CBR12 Review No:74 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novel/Comic, Science Fiction, Young Adult · Tags: book burning, Ray Bradbury, Tim Hamilton, Totalitarianism ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

About BlackRaven

CBR13 participantCBR13 CommentsCBR12 participantCBR11 participantCBR10 participant

Reading, writing and alligator wrestling are passions of mine. 2018 was my first year participating. 2021 is going to be a year! A year with reviews and lots of fun! View BlackRaven's reviews»

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.



Recent Comments

  • MsWas on CBR Diversions – It’s Never too Late to Have a Happy ChildhoodThe Thorn Birds!!! I read that early on too. I don't think I read it when it came out in 1977, I would have been...
  • Ashlie Daigle on CBR Diversions – It’s Never too Late to Have a Happy ChildhoodDid you see the news that the Nimona film adaptation was cancelled? Sob.
  • markabaddon on CBR Diversions – It’s Never too Late to Have a Happy ChildhoodSame. Her interpretation of vampirism was soooo cool to me as a teenager.
  • esme on CBR Diversions – It’s Never too Late to Have a Happy ChildhoodOMG- the Great Brain- I wonder if it holds up? I’ll have to see. I also used the love the Three Investigators. And Encyclopedia Brown....
  • andtheIToldYouSos on CBR Diversions – It’s Never too Late to Have a Happy Childhoodalso- Louis Sachar's HOLES! it came out when I was in middle school and I loved it, and my current students love the movie, but...
See More Recent Comments »

Want to Help Out?

CBR has a great crew of volunteers, and we're always looking for more people to help out. If you have a specialty or are willing to learn, drop MsWas a line.

  • How You Can Donate
  • FAQ
  • Shop
  • Volunteers
  • Leaderboard
  • AlabamaPink
  • Contact

Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo
  3. Google Pay
© 2021 Cannonball Read | Log in