Fahrenheit 451

"The good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones rape her and leave her for the flies."

That is a very unpleasant metaphor, and Fahrenheit 451 is an unpleasant book. It feels like it was written by a teenager, and if I were his teacher I'd give it a B- and not let my daughter date the weird little kid who wrote it.

Its protagonist, Montag, lacks any character; he changes as Bradbury's shitty story requires him to, from the dumbest kid in the world (his cousin once offered to pay him a dime to fill a sieve with sand and he sat there for ages crying and dumping sand into it - I understand that's a metaphor, but it's a metaphor for a dipshit) to a mastermind (telling Faber how to throw the Hound off his scent). You ever see film of someone skipping a pebble in reverse? Me neither, but I bet it's like this: plop plop skip skip wtf?

Each other character exists solely to advance the plot. There's the hot underage Manic Pixie Dream Girl - "her face fragile milk crystal" - who teaches him how to smell dandelions (and whose beauty is harped on endlessly) and then disappears off-stage; Faber, who's all of a sudden like best friends and then disappears off-stage; the bonfire circle of retired professors who happen to be right there when he stumbles out of a river looking for them.

There's his wife - "thin as a praying mantis from dieting, and her flesh like white bacon." He seems to loathe her, and all real women.

"Millie? Does the White Clown love you?"
No answer.
"Millie, does - " He licked his lips. "Does your 'family' [TV entertainment] love you, love you very much, love you with all their heart and soul, Millie?"
He felt her blinking slowly at the back of his neck. "Why'd you ask a silly question like that?"

There's a real conservative streak to this book. It looks backwards, as conservatives do. Bradbury blames his world's disgust with books on "minorities," what we nowadays call "special interest groups":

"Colored people don't like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don't feel good about Uncle Tom's Cabin. Burn it."

These are the only specific examples given during Captain Beatty's central speech about why literature has been banned.

There are some nice moments here. A disturbed and immature but intelligent kid flailing around will hit a few marks. The central idea? No, no props for that; book-burning was invented centuries ago. But the moment when the TV instructs all citizens to open their doors and look for Montag, that's nice. And the suicidal Captain Beatty is the book's only living character, although his speech is littered with what I swear are just random quotes. I even like the idea of a circle of book-readers, each responsible for remembering a certain book - but it's dealt with so lamely here. "We've invented ways for you to remember everything you've ever read, so it's no problem." Well, in that case I got like half the Canon, y'all can go home. Losers. Wouldn't it be cooler if these people had to work for it?

Point is, those little flashes of competence are so overwhelmed by terrible philosophy and so ill-sketched themselves that I have no idea how this book has escaped the bonfire of apathy, the worst and most blameless fire of all. It's just a lame, lame book.

I wouldn't burn this or any book. But I'll do worse: I'll forget all about it.

Such an enlightening read. Ray Bradbury, a true bookworm.
There’s so much depth to this story, of his analysis of society, that I’m finding it difficult to put my thoughts into words.

This is the type of book that one can read and every paragraph would bring about beautiful discussions.

It’s passionate. It’s written with so much love and wisdom, and emotion. It speaks about a crime that has happened and he was fearing for the American society at the time and its reduction in interest in literature.

In my privileged state of mind, I’m unable to fathom having no access to books, because of the ease I have now. But censorship was a law and the way it’s tackled in this book is quite incredible.

Really enjoyed this book a lot!

“It doesn’t matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that’s like you after you take your hands away.”

In Guy Montag’s world, fireman start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book.

Can I preface this review with a PSA - if you have read Fahrenheit 451 and you hated it... please try another Bradbury book! This one was so different to the other Bradburys that I have read and loved, in terms of tone, writing, warmth, themes... Everything! Pick up one of the Green Town books (Something Wicked This Way Comes or Dandelion Wine) or The October Country.

Whilst this may not be a new favourite by Bradbury, I did really appreciate the message behind this story. Anything that highlights the importance of books and reading is going to score a few brownie points! I found Bradbury’s dystopian world incredibly interesting and terrifying, and really loved the part where the creation of this current world was explained.

It was scary how relevant it is to today’s world. The similarities between a book written in 1953 and current day hits a little close to home. We are overwhelmed and overstimulated with tv and the media, but luckily there are still plenty of us who read.

Although Bradbury’s writing remains as quotable and descriptive as ever, there was a certain coldness to this book. I didn’t care much for any of the characters. That was probably my main criticism - I just felt very detached from it all. All the Bradbury that I’ve read so far has made me feel all warm and cosy inside, so Fahrenheit 451 feels a little jarring in comparison.

I wanted to understand why so many people absolutely adore this book and hold it in such high regard as one of their all-time favourites, so I read a few gushing reviews on goodreads... and I honestly just feel a little sad that I couldn’t connect with it in the same way that others have. But that’s reading for you!

Overall, glad I finally read it. Some parts were fantastic, but it felt a little dull at times. 3.5 stars.

You can check out thousands of better reviews here and across the internet, but here is all you really need to know...

This is one of the best books ever written. This is one of my favorite books of all time. ALL TIME. This is the third time I've read it. I audiobooked it this time.

Every line of Fahrenheit 451 is beautifully written. Poetic. Metaphoric. Transcendent. Awesome. The beginning, middle, and ending... all amazing.

If you consider yourself a fan of science fiction or dystopian novels or classic literature or banned books or books high-schoolers read or thought-provoking books, and you have not read this book... wow... just stop whatever you are doing right now, which is reading this review, I guess...

Stop reading this review. Put down your laptop, your phone, your iPad, your mouse and keyboard, your floppy disk drive, your PlayStation 4, your Smart TV remote, whatever. Just stop. Grab your car keys, hop on a bus, walk... run to your nearest bookstore. Dash frantically through the aisles, locate the fiction section, maybe science fiction. Maybe just ask someone who works there. Find a copy of this book. It's written by Ray Bradbury, but my God, if you don't know that by now...

Demand a copy of this book from the bookstore, happily open up your purse or wallet and pay whatever price they make you pay for a copy of this book. Don't ask any questions. Don't have them put it in a bag for you. Don't get a copy of your receipt. Just hand over the money and get the hell out of there. Dump all of your spare change you've collected onto the counter. Tap into your 401k if you need to.

Rush home and instantly sit down in your easy chair or whatever it is you like to sit, lay, or stand on while reading. The bathtub perhaps. A recliner. A porch swing. It really doesn't matter. Pour a glass of wine or grab a beer. Pour a glass of wine AND grab a beer. Take two shots of whiskey then pour a glass of wine and grab THREE beers.

Then, in one sitting just plow the hell right through this book. Just breathe it all in like the cool, salty ocean air. Let it sink down deep into the depths of who you are as a person living as a human being in the world right here on Earth. Let it just smack you right in the mouth with how awesome it is. Let it punch you right in the jaw with how mind-blowing it is. Let it leave you lying on the floor with your mouth wide open trying to figure out what in God's name just happened to you. Let it elevate itself high above pretty much every other book you've ever read, maybe all the way to the top of that damned prestigious mountain, and let it hoist its flag into the soil of your mind and proclaim to every other book ever written that it is king of literature. Other books can bow down and bring burnt offerings to it. It shall reign forevermore.

Don't wait to get it from the library. Don't even think about ordering it on Amazon, and I don't even give a damn if you have Prime and woohoo look at me I can get it shipped in two days. One day shipping if I pay a few bucks! No. Run. Get a physical copy of the book. Don't settle for reading text on your Kindle or whatever it is you digitize books into. Get up now. I don't care if it's late and the bookstore is closed. Go wait outside like it's Black Freaking Friday. I don't care if you're the only one out there all night. Are you a reader or not? Do you care about books? How have you not read this yet? What's the matter with you? Why are you still reading this? Why haven't you left yet? God...

I love Fahrenheit 451. And I love you enough to demand that you read it. Reread it. Yes! This is wonderful! This is going to be one of the best days of your life. Maybe the best day of your life! Are you ready? Can you handle it?

Have fun.

Excellent modern classic with huge aftermath.

It is that kind of a book that will make you sit back and reflect why you value books.

As I read this dystopian novel, I clung on my books a tad tighter, appreciated my freedom of thinking for myself as this is the only reliable road to real safety and my freedom to challenge situations by asking incisive questions.

As curiosity is the force in my DNA, it is the more important to continuously learn and think for myself by means of books.

Anyway, Montag has now inspired me to read poems out loud...

Happy reading

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

My second time reading this dark cautionary tale from Ray Bradbury. While reading it I realized I did not remember much from the first time. Of all the post-apocalyptic tales I have read, this is probably the simplest yet most terrifying.



Published only 4 years after the book 1984, it is obvious where post WWII fears were driving our mindset. It is also very evident how modern dystopian stories have taken direction from these mid-20th Century classics. And, in our current political climate, fears like this are coming aground again: war, government control, freedom lost, etc.

If you love modern dystopia, but have not read this . . . you need to!

If you are a fan of classics and have not read this . . . you must!

It is not a happy tale - it is deeply disturbing with very little hope, but maybe the more people that are aware of its message the safer our future will be.

There is some really terrifying fan art out there for this book:

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is an American-Literature Classic!

n  451 degrees is the temperature at which book paper catches fire and burns!n

In a dystopian future, a rigidly structured society has banished everything that causes confusion, contradiction, or complication to a culture focused on the happiness of all citizens.

Citizens aren't permitted to read books, think independently, or have meaningful conversations.

Books are illegal, thoughts are dangerous, and conversations about books could be deadly.

When printed books are discovered in someone's home, the entire house is set ablaze and burned to the ground. In this society, firemen create fires rather than extinguish them.

Guy Montag loves his job as a fireman. It invigorates him and he knows what he does is important. He feels this way until the day he meets a teenage girl named Clarisse who asks him if he's happy...

I love ending my reading year with a classic and Dystopian-Fiction is one of my favorite genres. So what could be more perfect than ending 2022 with Fahrenheit 451: a book about books?

This story is about the struggle for knowledge and individuality in a society that expects ignorance and conformity. "Compliance without question" is the law of the land.

Can you imagine living in a world without books? This story holds more thought-provoking parallels to our current techno world and comparisons that could be made to the levels of mindlessness in our current social media world. Kinda scary, right?

The audiobook is narrated by actor, Tim Robbins who uses his award-winning talent in a variety of voicings for the characters. His 5 hour narration made my revisit of this novel, after so many years, a memorable and emotional experience.

A frightening dystopian future feels believable through this author's creative writing and vivid imagination. This book is original, different, and just as fresh today as it was when first published on October 19, 1953, almost 70 years ago. Fahrenheit 451 is regarded as Ray Bradbury's greatest work.

As a reader, reviewer, and lover of books, I highly recommend this classic to everyone! 5 stars! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Edit for 2021 reread: It just gets better every time I read it!

Original review: I haven't read this in many years, but I just taught it for the first time and oh! What a joy it was to teach! As a bibliophile, the idea of burning books makes my hair stand on end. I have considered, with great seriousness, what I would do in case of a fire in my home. How would I save my books? Which books would I save first? I would imagine these are questions that all of us on this site have asked ourselves at some point in time. To me, even more horrifying, more telling, is the fact that the entire problem with books in this dystopian society began not with the firebug firemen but with the wholesale rejection of books by the general populace. THAT was the root of the problem, the beginning of the end of the free dispersal of knowledge. That is so much more horrible to me than the firemen because I don't see arsonist firemen lighting up people's personal libraries in our world today--but I do see the continual moving away from books by our young people. Censorship is still a concern today, but the overall social rejection of it has greatly diminished its use. Recently a school district banned Huck Finn and it made national news and the district was roundly condemned.

Sure, we still have bookworms in school, but there are way more of the kids who never pick up a book voluntarily--EVER--than we do of the readers. Having to pick up a book would mean having to put down their phones, and that is intolerable. I so enjoyed watching the students' lightbulb moment: the moment that they realized that the character in the book they most closely resemble is poor old Mildred. And they did realize it. Their obsession with their phones rivals Mildred's for her parlor walls and in many cases, surpasses it. At least Mildred left her walls to go to bed. I'm pretty sure many of these kids sleep with their phones cradled against their cheeks so they can feel the vibrations of incoming texts, tweets, and snapchats even in their dreams. I think the rehabilitation centers for phone addictions are a certainty in our future.

Back to the book! The prose is hauntingly beautiful, the imagery so vivid that it needs to be read slowly and savored. So many technologies that did not exist when Bradbury wrote this book later turned out to be real that it is mind-blowing. Giant screen tvs, interactive and touch screens, earbuds, robot dogs, and many more.

The book's message is even more on-point today than it was in Bradbury's time. Although he feared the effect of tv on people's acquisition of knowledge, people were much more apt to read in his time than they are now. I worry about the replacement of technology for reading. I am also concerned about the scientific evidence that points to the way phone use is affecting the wiring of young people's brains--they are unable to focus on one thing at a time. They are too accustomed to that constantly shifting screen in front of them to focus for a sustained period of time on any one thing.

What's frightening to contemplate is Bradbury's eerie accuracy in his predictions. If he was right about so many things in this book, how much more of his story is going to come true? How much more of it will we LET come true?