Fahrenheit 451

The premise of the book intrigued me. I mean, people burning books! That is somewhat considered blasphemous to me. I applaud the book for posing such a dark, disturbing theme and turning it into the book. The irony of it all! A book about people opposing books and burning them. It kinda makes you think, doesn't it? What if this world has no books? What if the television is heavily relied upon...more

The premise of the book intrigued me. I mean, people burning books! That is somewhat considered blasphemous to me. I applaud the book for posing such a dark, disturbing theme and turning it into the book. The irony of it all! A book about people opposing books and burning them. It kinda makes you think, doesn't it? What if this world has no books? What if the television is heavily relied upon as entertainment? Despite the book being published in 1953, it has stood the test of time and, in some sense, is applicable to our world today. Throughout, it presented a lot of situations and scenarios. Not only about books per se, but also about how dysfunctional society is today and how greatly they rely upon the goggle box. Has television, and other following forms of medium, suppressed our thoughts and destroys the interest of reading books? One of the gripes I have about the book is specifically the style that it was written. The characters spout off sentences that reads like monologues instead of how proper human being speak. Bradbury did state towards the end of the book that he didn't particularly like it if books shorten dialogues and such, believing them to be stunting the actual meaning of how the story was meant to convey. But seriously now- it's not that believable when characters blabber and meander a lot. Another problem that I would also like to highlight is the ending. It felt too abrupt. Like, I felt that there were a few missing strings, some plot holes, that were left in the dark when Bradbury did the ending. Questions still linger.   hide

Totally Prophetic Book About the world today...consider the following... Walls that are TVs (bigger Flatscreen TVs) Seashells for the ears to play music (IPods) Gameshows with added educational value to make you feel like you are spending your time wisely, Cars going faster, Billboards with advertising getting bigger, Family becoming the TV characters we get involved with....more

Totally Prophetic Book About the world today...consider the following... Walls that are TVs (bigger Flatscreen TVs) Seashells for the ears to play music (IPods) Gameshows with added educational value to make you feel like you are spending your time wisely, Cars going faster, Billboards with advertising getting bigger, Family becoming the TV characters we get involved with. Watching more than reading...the list could go on. This book makes you think about the way the world wants you to buy into its kind of thinking. Totally prophetic book...consider... Walls becoming TVs (Flatscreen large TVs, Entertainment Center) Seashells in the ears for music (IPods) Game shows with some added educational value to make you feel like your actually learning something. Billboards growing larger, cars going faster, Reality TV, Instant News Reports The books encourages you to take a look at yourself and the 'world' you buy into thats around you. For a book written in the 1950s it has alot to say about the world today.   hide

An important statement against censorship, this book presents a prophetic vision of a world where people are pre-occupied by 'popular entertainment' and distracted away from any serious thought or real knowledge (as represented by books). The disturbing similarity of this fictional world to the one we actually live in today, makes this a thought-provoking must-read. I must say, however, that I am...more

An important statement against censorship, this book presents a prophetic vision of a world where people are pre-occupied by 'popular entertainment' and distracted away from any serious thought or real knowledge (as represented by books). The disturbing similarity of this fictional world to the one we actually live in today, makes this a thought-provoking must-read. I must say, however, that I am not a big fan of the writing style. Points are driven home without much subtlety. It sounds a little preachy in places, and this diminishes the urgency of the message for me. Even the imagery of book-burning, though very provocative, ultimately makes the world of Fahrenheit 451 seem more un-real and distant than it actually is. The other problem is that the book never gets past the central premise to explore questions like why or how such a world might come to pass in any real detail. This is probably because it was originally written as a short novella. However, in this case, I would have liked to see a sequel!   hide

If you liked Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" and George Orwell's "1984), chances are high that you also like this one. Still, I read and loved the first two and think that, in comparison them, "Fahrenheit 451" is the weakest one. Weak regarding the complexity of the story and also regarding the reader's suspense. However, the idea of future firemen...more

If you liked Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" and George Orwell's "1984), chances are high that you also like this one. Still, I read and loved the first two and think that, in comparison them, "Fahrenheit 451" is the weakest one. Weak regarding the complexity of the story and also regarding the reader's suspense. However, the idea of future firemen torching books and houses instead of saving them from fire is quiet interesting as is the idea of a mankind that does not read anymore and ceases thinking in general. The latter is not too surreal when we think of all the TV-or PC-addicted that live rather in a fictional than in the real world. So, this whole highly interesting idea makes this lecture a not too bad one, after all.   hide

Wow, this book is scary. It was written back in 1953 but it feels like it's happening today. This book follows Guy Montag, a fireman, only in the future, firemen don't put out fires, they start them. This book sucks you in so that you feel like you're going through all the things Montag goes through, and he goes through some mind-bending changes as he wakes up to how dead people have become in...more

Wow, this book is scary. It was written back in 1953 but it feels like it's happening today. This book follows Guy Montag, a fireman, only in the future, firemen don't put out fires, they start them. This book sucks you in so that you feel like you're going through all the things Montag goes through, and he goes through some mind-bending changes as he wakes up to how dead people have become in real life (it has a lot in common with "The Matrix" in that way).Bradbury deals with teen violence, war, shallow entertainment and "info-tainment," the speed of modern life, consumerism, commercialism, sound-bite politics, endless and unjustified war, divorce, fascism, alienation and a million other things that we struggle with here in the 21st century. It really is frightening how prophetic he was- how much we've become like the world of the future he describes. Wide-screen High Definition, interactive TVs, iPods, well, except that everybody drives VW Beetles instead of SUVs!Of course, if you've never heard anything about this book before, I may as well tell you that it mainly deals with censorship and reading. It's short, fast paced and exciting. Hope you're not afraid of robot spider dogs with hypodermic needles filled with poison, or of fire!   hide

I first read this book in the 6th grade. This book single handily turned me on to reading literature for entertainment. It's a great story in a world that seems backwards from the very beginning. The main char is introduced as a fire-fighter so our expectations are set. When their job is to search residencies for books (which are banned), compile them and then burn them. Our...more

I first read this book in the 6th grade. This book single handily turned me on to reading literature for entertainment. It's a great story in a world that seems backwards from the very beginning. The main char is introduced as a fire-fighter so our expectations are set. When their job is to search residencies for books (which are banned), compile them and then burn them. Our pre-conceptions are shattered. The mains wife is truly a rose, sitting at home surrounded by television sets the size of the walls (modern technology... we are getting there). All is normal until he confiscates a book for his own personal inquiry and suspicion. Labeled as a criminal can he escape persecution? If I could take three books when stranded on a remote island, this would be one of them.   hide

I guess the last time I read this I did not find it a little long on the metaphors. But, even considering this you cannot deny that this is a great novel. It is amazing how many details get lost in the recesses of your memories (which is probably a good reason to read the old classics over again. I recently read that Ray Bradbury was peeved that the general masses (and those that instruct...more

I guess the last time I read this I did not find it a little long on the metaphors. But, even considering this you cannot deny that this is a great novel. It is amazing how many details get lost in the recesses of your memories (which is probably a good reason to read the old classics over again. I recently read that Ray Bradbury was peeved that the general masses (and those that instruct them) consider this a book of censorship. He apparently wished to get a different meaning across (you can read it here). I have some apprehension in believing this article. One, is this a true interview stating exactly what was discussed? Two, is Ray Bradbury in his old age forgetting things? And three, if his intention was otherwise than he failed to get his message across since I only see censorship of knowledge and thought being portrayed throughout the novel. An artist creates and lets the audience decide what it means to them. In this case apparently the masses believe it is about censorship – and to this end they learned not to take the status quo and not to be blind. Whether you agree with me or not, you must agree that this is a great classic science fiction novel.   hide

I think people have commonly misinterpreted this book as being about state censorship. While the firemen are in fact state-appointed censors, it is apparent that it is the people themselves that have caused the censorship to become so widespread in the first place (as Beatty alludes to). The state willingly cooperates in this censorship because it maintains that status quo and makes its citezens...more

I think people have commonly misinterpreted this book as being about state censorship. While the firemen are in fact state-appointed censors, it is apparent that it is the people themselves that have caused the censorship to become so widespread in the first place (as Beatty alludes to). The state willingly cooperates in this censorship because it maintains that status quo and makes its citezens easy to control and manipulate. The main theme I got was about people's willingness to give up critical thought because it is simply easier to be a "sheep," and have someone else do the thinking for you. Such a society has crumbled into a cultural wasteland, where citizens are not happy (but in denial), engage in violence against thier fellow man, have no family values, are out of touch with the natural world and have empty souls. The similarities to contemporary western society are chilling.This book is a must-read. Incredibly powerful, but told through Bradbury's subtle and beautiful prose.   hide

I'm always annoyed when I think of all the great books that I wanted to read that were read in other people;s highs school classes. Even in the my high school. One semester I would here about one class reading something cool like "1984" and then in my semester, I wouldn't get to read it and I get "Who Has Seen the Wind" instead. This was one of those cool books. I've known about it for so...more

I'm always annoyed when I think of all the great books that I wanted to read that were read in other people;s highs school classes. Even in the my high school. One semester I would here about one class reading something cool like "1984" and then in my semester, I wouldn't get to read it and I get "Who Has Seen the Wind" instead. This was one of those cool books. I've known about it for so long, but have only just read it for the first time. Very relevant for any time period. For any society that frowns upon free thought or questions, this is a very important book. My only problem is that the very end of it sounded very preachy to me. Then again, I'm a cynic and a pessimist, but it just seemed like along speech, but the rest of the novel makes up for it. I would suggest this book to anyone.   hide