Amazon.com Review: In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury's classic, frightening vision of the future, firemen don't put out fires--they start them in order to burn books. Bradbury's vividly painted society holds up the appearance of happiness as the highest goal--a place where trivial information is good, and knowledge and ideas are bad. Fire Captain Beatty explains it this way, "Give the people contests they win by remembering the words to more popular songs.... Don't give them slippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things up with. That way lies melancholy."
Guy Montag is a book-burning fireman undergoing a crisis of faith. His wife spends all day with her television "family," imploring Montag to work harder so that they can afford a fourth TV wall. Their dull, empty life sharply contrasts with that of his next-door neighbor Clarisse, a young girl thrilled by the ideas in books, and more interested in what she can see in the world around her than in the mindless chatter of the tube. When Clarisse disappears mysteriously, Montag is moved to make some changes, and starts hiding books in his home. Eventually, his wife turns him in, and he must answer the call to burn his secret cache of books. After fleeing to avoid arrest, Montag winds up joining an outlaw band of scholars who keep the contents of books in their heads, waiting for the time society will once again need the wisdom of literature.
Bradbury--the author of more than 500 short stories, novels, plays, and poems, including The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man--is the winner of many awards, including the Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America. Readers ages 13 to 93 will be swept up in the harrowing suspense of Fahrenheit 451, and no doubt will join the hordes of Bradbury fans worldwide. --Neil Roseman
Product Description: This is Bradbury's best-known novel. The science fiction tale concerns censorship and anti-intellectualism, carried on in an alternate society that conducts huge book burnings as part of the social agenda. It is a spooky and yet uplifting book.
Fahrenheit 451*** ^ Wonderful story. Never gets old. I can read it over and over again, which I do. I recommend people to at least read it once, it's a classic.
Starved of greater breadth ^ From the standpoint of literature as a whole, it seems 451 is an important piece of work simply because of its eternal message of censorship. Ray Bradbury was a science fiction writer but managed to elevate this novel to the most important rungs of the literary community, something not many SF authors do. There's a reason for that vacuum- typically SF writing is dry, much like 451. It's a good novel, but I don't think it added much to realm of science fiction as it did to the literary community.
Science fiction novels from the 50s and 60s have a distinct feel and flow to them and Fahrenheit 451 is no exception. Like many of the other novels of the era, 451 was based on a short story written and was later lengthened to a novel. The basis is simple: books are illegal and must be burnt. That makes a tidy short story. But stretching a simple idea like that into a full length novel loses an ethereal something (the spirit? the essence? the soul?) from its inception. This occurs in many Poul Anderson novels, as well as John Brunner, James Blish and others from the same era.
That ethereal something lost changes the feel and flow of a normally placid plot... much like in 451 where the onset of the protagonist's change of heart is sudden and undeveloped. The direction of change is clear and predictable. Perhaps 451 is the waving flag of examples of censorship, but its undeveloped underpinnings starve it of greater breadth.
Good Read ^ I have read this book more than once, when I first read it I had to for school but really enjoyed it. I read it again and even watched the movie, the book is way better. Very good message for those that think books are bad and useless. Books remind us of the past and can help us in our day to day lives.
Went in with high hopes, came out disappointed. ^ I feel almost guilty giving this book a review like this, it is hailed as a classic and usually when I read books that are considered classics I can see the many strong qualities that put them on the 'classic' pedestal. But I must be honest, I'm not going to make this book sound better then I thought it was simply because it is considered a classic. The only redeeming quality this book really has is the overall idea and like many reviewers have already pointed out - the idea is good, the execution of said idea is quite lacking.
This story follows Guy Montag, a fireman. Unlike the firemen of today, these firemen burn books rather than put out fires. The world has become a dystopian society that favors pleasure over reality. We almost have a 'stepford-society' of sorts. Critical thinking is said to create sadness and conflict so something must be done about it. The books must be burned.
In Fahrenheit 451 Montag has an epiphany after talking with his light-hearted neighbor Clarisse. Clarisse represents the very thing this society is trying to rid. Guy Montags wife represents the opposite. You can already see the conflict here, so what is Guy to do?
I'll admit the first 40 pages or so really had me going. The story was unique and the message was interesting. I did notice right away that Bradbury likes to be overly-poetic in some parts, and a straight-shooter in others. His writing is a little inconsistent but I was able to look past that. At first I really hated Montags wife (a good thing, when books conjure up these types of feelings then they are doing their job) and I really felt empathetic towards Guy. The problem is that this book really started becoming silly. The characters really become forced and the plot as a whole takes an eye-rolling turn for the worst. The ending is one of the most forced endings I've ever read. This book could have been written a million different ways and Bradbury chose a really silly path. I had to force myself to finish the book and I started to lose my feelings towards the main characters, I just started to not care anymore. It's almost as if Bradbury had a good idea for a short-story one day and forced it into a novel.
In the end I would give this book a 2.5/5. There are some interesting ideas and some of the writing is pretty good, though it is inconsistent. Unfortunately I can't give half-stars so it's either a 2 or a 3. Tough choice but ultimately this book was more on the disappointing end of the spectrum for me.
Prompt Supplier ^ Supplier, Thrift_books, has always been prompt in shipping products. I have ordered from them often, in fact, I look on their site first for the items I'm interested in purchasing. If they carry what I'm looking for, I order from them.
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