A Confusing 451°F Week

Can you guess what this post is going to be about? Maybe a little Bradbury? Yep. As a class we have started discussing the book Fahrenheit 451. Not all of us are finished yet..And I am thinking of rereading parts of it again because I am quite confused..

The questions brought up in class (ex. What societal problems does Bradbury see in his time and exaggerate?) are really good questions that I have no clue on how to answer.
I found the book quite confusing as well as dull. I appreciated Bradbury's skill at creating emotion simply by writing things in a way that cause irritation, confusion, etc. But I found his repetition of  this technique kind of annoying (maybe that was the point?) and boring. This book for me was a book I had a hard time focusing on. I would zone out a lot and then have to re-read the whole paragraph!

Another part of the book I had a hard time swallowing was Mildred character. She drove me nuts! The entire time I read about her, I envisioned her as this zombie staring at the screen and selfishly whining over everything Montag would say. Urgh! Why is her character so hard to love? As the reader, I wanted Montag to have a supportive wife, but Mildred just crumpled up that dream! Another question brought up in class was: "How did Mildred and Montag's marriage end up like we see it?". And yet again, I feel like I have no good answer. I assumed that they just kind of got married out of practicality with no real love to begin with and then other time, even more distance grew between them.

So my conclusion from this past week was one of disappointment. I may have 'read' the book, but I didn't READ the book. Maybe due to the fact that I would zone out so much, but now I have to re-read this book just to feel like I've got a grasp of the meaning.