Fir Na Tine

In the 24th Century, a fireman by the name of Guy Montag begins to question his job and his significance in life. After meeting two characters, one young and the other aged, who both show him insight into what society used to be; Guy begins to perceive how dull and thoughtless people have become. The people in the society find fear in thoughts and questions; they want simplicity and censorship. In this story, society has drastically changed from how we know it today. The main difference being that the fireman now seek to censor, or destroy and burn the knowledge of books and thought and philosophy from humans rather than preserve and protect them as they do now. This reflects the overall society within Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451, turned up-side down from the free-thought that is thankfully with us today. The novel follows Guy Montag's journey from his changes in consciousness from living without question and strict-acceptance of how things are, to questioning reality and the current state, to rebelling and beginning to become the very thing he once swore to destroy; a free man in thought and action represented by books and ideas in the novel.
"'Stuff your eyes with wonder,' he said, 'live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories. Ask no guarantees, ask for no security, there never was such an animal. And if there were, it would be related to the great sloth which hangs upside down in a tree all day every day, sleeping its life away. To hell with that,' he said" (Bradbury 157).
That quote is so utterly universal in it's thought that it is beautiful. It transcends the story itself, and like all stories and things at their hearts aim; touches the 'Soul' or 'Heart' , if you will, of the person. I am sure when you read it; many images, moments in life, and experiences flashed (conscious or not) in your head and you had a lesson or feeling when you were finished reading it. We all take different paths or events to realize the same Universal lesson in this, I will try my best to describe it in my own way. I picked this quote for the fact that it, to me, summed up the lesson I took from the entire novel. I could have read that quote and gotten the same feeling and lesson; save about 100 and some pages of text. The story is about a society that has become that sloth animal; traded wonder and exciting adventures and lessons, knowledge, etc. for security, guarantees and relied on "factory" made experiences. The main character, Guy Montag finds himself tired of "hanging upside down" in the tree or society and begins his own journey, slowly letting go of security and guarantees for answers to his questions so that he may gain knowledge and the beauty life offers as spoken about in the above quote.
On the matter of recommending this novel to a friend, I would say it depends. I will certainly tell people I enjoyed it; but just as the story teaches, it depends on if the friend is a sloth or a free-animal. One who wants to read it and enjoy it. Some may find no enjoyment or lessons in this book. I can only attest that I found this book to be an incredible lesson and outlook on life that I absorbed and respect. "To each their own." My personal 'guess', notice I emphasize 'guess', would be someone who is open-minded and enjoys questioning life and experiencing it fully. The only fact I have is that I, myself enjoyed it.