Fahrenheit 451

By Ray Bradbury

Book Overview

Nearly seventy years after its original publication, Ray Bradbury's internationally acclaimed novel Fahrenheit 451 stands as a classic of world literature set in a bleak, dystopian future. Today its... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1451673310
• ISBN13: 9781451673319
• Release Date: January 2012
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 249 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.4" x 0.8" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Even more relevant than before.

Short form market-based content, brainrot, the slow-burn death of art and meaningful culture, a world where everyone is distracted by their devices and vapid meaningless media while the rich and powerful tear the planet apart by the seams. Knowledge, self-awareness, non-conformity and empathy are all rejected in favor of a monoculture that feeds peoples' ego and sense of instant gratification. Everything so perfectly tailored to the individual's identity and taste that nothing else holds meaning. Flocks of people all more than happy to do nothing as the state does everything in its power to erase science, free thought and literature so long as they still get their dopamine hits. What's not to say? Ray called it.

My teacher friend recommends this book to everybody and now I'm going to as well.

The main character of the book slowly starts realizing that things don't exactly make sense in his life. And that he's not as happy as he thought he was. When the neighbor girl starts asking him questions that makes him think he begins to wonder if everything he's heard is actually true about the history of the 'Firemen' and books. So he draws too much attention to himself by questioning how their "perfect" life is not so perfect. Very surprising ending. Did not think it was going to go the way it did.

odd quality

i ordered what it said to be a good quality paperback, but the book came with a bent and torn cover, writing and hi-lighting all over the book, and pages were ripped. far from good condition. i do recommend getting “excellent condition” or the one above good quality.

About the seller, not the book!

This is not the copy that I ordered. The description of the book that I was led to believe that I was purchasing versus what I sent is unacceptable. I sense a scam occuring and I would like for the correct copy to be sent or my money refunded. I received a high school approved version of the book with only 147 pages. The book cover is totally different from the book version displayed for sale.

Written in the b-a-s-e-m-e-n-t of the UCLA library.

451 is the temperature at which book paper burns. One major difference between the book and the movie “Fahrenheit 451” (1966) -- Oskar Werner and Julie Christie-- is that in the film, the "written word" was completely removed (even from the credits). Whereas in the book, the state was opposed to “literature” and not “technical writing.” Books symbolize ideas that could also be represented on screen. There is a distinction between training and education. Additionally, in the book, a symbol is used to describe one man's superiority over another in a world of equals. I won't reveal much of the story, as the unfolding adds to the intrigue. However, now that houses are fireproof, firemen's purpose is to serve by burning books to keep a happy social order. Of course, one fireman goes astray after several emotional incidents that conflict with his role. This leads to various deviant actions, such as reading “literature”. What are you doing now?

So much to unpack in this short novel

Wow. What a sad world, and eerily feels like something we’re headed toward. I know I’ll be thinking about this book for days/weeks…turning it over in my head. So much to unpack.

Adored, will be reading again

I always ignore the foreword/final thoughts so no comments there. I read this book in school as a kid and loved it. As an adult, especially with the world's current climate, I'm glad I got the chance to give it a fresh read, with fresh eyes. Once again, I was transported to a world eerily similar to now. If you like books with strong political themes, and would rather burn than never read another book, read Fahrenheit 451.

A Classic

This book will make you think on so many levels. What does it mean to be fully human? Is it really a gift when we all think, feel and believe the same? Would censorship really help us all get on the same page as books went up in flames?

Can't Get Into It

I've been reading a lot of dystopia novels lately, and this is by far my least favorite. I'm not connecting with any of the characters and I don't find the writing very good. It's a short book and I am struggling to get through a page of it at a time.

Collective loss of memory, history, and the outside world

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a story of a society that has been changed to a dystopia. High authorities try to regulate life to make people happy. To achieve this happiness, firemen (which has been redefined) burn books to people don't know what the past was like. The city is a dystopia in a utopia. Guy Montag, firemen who finds out that he isn't happy once he has multiple conversations with a spontaneous adolescent girl named Clarisse. Clarisse doesn't thrive in the dystopia like everyone else. She does not accept that books are bad. She late affects the train of thought for Montag. Mildred, Montag's wife is happy with her life. She accepts the thought of books being bad. She agrees that destroying books brings happiness. She spends most of her time watching T.V. all day. Faber is an old man who enjoys books, but he is terrified of the firemen. He's a smart coward. Captain Beatty reads books from time to time, but he doesn't believe anything he reads. The common theme for the book the collective loss of memory, history, and the outside world in a society will result in an easy psychological manipulation of mankind by a government ultimately leading to dehumanization of the people. This is the theme because they are erasing history in an effort to achieve happiness. The common characteristics used in the book are relying on physical and somewhat psychological torture to maintain order. They threaten to burn books and houses if you're caught with books. The society the government runs thought to be an utopia but is far from it, the government basically runs and controls everything. Fahrenheit 451 really unfolds when Montag begins to take books for himself. His wife is terrified that he wants to keep the books. She is afraid that her house will be burned by the firemen, but Montag is a fireman, but does this make him able to read books? Things become more interesting when he is caught with a plethora of books in his home. Deon, Carlos, Juan, Cody (12th grade)

farenheit 451- a readers response

I think that this book was an intriguing account of what a possible future society might be like. this book, though very difficult to follow or understand at times, was one i enjoyed very much. I do not suggest this book to someone who does not agree with cursing. If you are easily offended by the d-word, G-D, or h-e-l-l then this book probably is not for you, also if you have difficulty reading such as following the flow of words then this book is not going to make it any easier on you. Speaking of being difficult to read, the end of this book is a pain, it leaves you hanging, wanting to read more but you cant because there isnt a sequel and it the book ends on a very tense moment that does not have time to cool off with.

Bradbury's classic parable on the evils of censorship

I am teaching "Fahrenheit 451" as the example of a dsytopian novel in my Science Fiction class, although it is certainly one of the most atypical of that particular type of narrative discourse. Compared to such heavy weight examples as George Orwell's "1984," Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World," Yevgeny Zamiatin's "We," Ray Bradbury's imaginative meditation on censorship seems like light reading. But the delicious irony of a world in which firemen start fires remains postent and the idea of people memorizing books so they will be preserved for future generations is compelling. Of course, there have been more documented cases of "book burning," albeit in less literal forms, since "Fahrenheit 451" was first published in 1953, so an argument can be made that while all the public debate was over how close we were the Orwellian future envisioned in "1984," it is Bradbury's little parable that may well be more realistic (especially in terms of the effects of television). The novel is based on a short story, "The Fireman," that Bradbury published in "Galaxy Science Fiction" in 1951 and then expanded into "Fahrenheit 451" two years later. However, those who have studied Bradbury's writings caw trace key elements back to a 1948 story "Pillar of Fire" and the "Usher II" story from his 1950 work "The Martian Chronicles." Beyond that, there is the historical record of the Nazis burning books in 1933. The story is of a future world in which everyone understands that books are for burning, along with the houses in which they were hidden. Guy Montage is a fireman who has been happy in his work for ten years, but suddenly finds himself asking questions when he meets a teenage girl and an old professor. "Fahrenheit 451" is not only about censorship, but also about the inherent tension in advanced societies between knowledge and ignorance. Reading this novel again I am reminded about Pat Paulsen's editorial on the old "Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" (a series well acquainted with the perils of censorship) about how we might enjoy freedom of speech in this country but we do not enjoy freedom of hearing because "there is always the danger of something being said." Censorship, in practical terms, is the effort of those who do not want others to hear what they find offensive, for whatever reasons, basically because it leads to people thinking thoughts they do not want them to be thinking. Through the rambling diatribes of Captain Beatty, Bradbury makes this point quite clear to his readers. Even though this is essentially a novella, Bradbury's work retains the charm of a short story. The recurring use of animal imagery throughout the story, the use of the mythic ideas of the salamander and the phoenix, make "Fahrenheit 451" more poetic than any other dystopian work. Even if it is predominantly a one note argument regarding censorship, it is impossible to deny that Bradbury makes a clear and convincing case for his position. Besides, there is something to be said for