Well, I finally started working on my ultimate goal to read the Top 100 novels of all time this past week. I started with a book I already had a feeling would be enjoyable for me and that I had been wanting to read for a very long time. So, I went to the Provo Library last Saturday and picked up a copy of Fahrenheit 451 to read. It's only about 160 pages, so I finished all in one day, but it was a pretty good read. I can't say that I know everything about the message it was trying to convey, but for me the thing I got out of it most was the idea that free-thinking should not be suppressed. Yes, sometime free-thinking can be dangerous, dependent upon the person and what their thinking inspires them to do, but a large majority of thinking for ourselves and forming our own opinions on what is good, what is bad, what is worth remembering, etc allows us as an individual to avoid monotony and stagnation. It is a fine balance that all of us have to be careful of when filling our minds with thoughts. We have to make sure that our free-thinking isn't going to really cause a lot of detriment or harm to those who are around us.The wife in Fahrenheit 451 was a slave to her visual stimulus and didn't want to think for herself, she just wanted to go along with the craze or fad of the time and be happy with that. Guy Montag on the other hand started to question what he was about, who he was, and what else there could be to make him happy. That was the biggest idea in the book to me. You have to make sure that you are happy because otherwise you have no point in being alive.
So, as the 77th book on the list, I was pleased with the outcome. Now, I just have to find another book that is actually available from the library to read next. It seems most of them are always checked out. However, it will need to wait until I finish a fantasy novel I'm reading, Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson.
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