From the Bookshelf of On Paths Unknown…

Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury

Start date: December 27, 2015

Finish date: March 30, 2018

Discussion: CENSORSHIP vs FREEDOM OF SPEECH

Why we're reading this: To discuss relevant issues of censorship.
[close] To discuss relevant issues of censorship.

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Showing 2 of 3 topics — 124 comments total

CENSORSHIP vs FREEDOM OF SPEECH

Fahrenheit 451 Part 3 : Burning Bright
By Traveller · 40 posts · 30 views

last updated Feb 11, 2016 12:18AM

Fahrenheit 451 Part 2: The Sieve and the Sand
By Traveller · 13 posts · 10 views

last updated Jan 19, 2016 08:55AM

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What Members Thought

Jan 23, 2009 Brian rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: dover-beach-referenced

I am in 6th grade. My Language Arts teacher assigns us a book report; tells us we can choose the book but that our grade will be based on the maturity of the novel the report is based upon.

My mother and I are in K-mart. I've mentioned to her about this book report to be done, and so before we leave with a basket filled with clothes I know I will be embarrassed to wear, we stop by the rack of books. She selects a few pulp paperback titles, throws them into the cart.

A few days later she hands me F ...more

9401 likes · Like · see review

Apr 15, 2016 Cecily rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi-future-speculative-fict, dystopian-apocalyptic, film-good-or-better-than-book, crime-detective-mystery, film-tv-version-not-good, usa-and-canada

Library as cathedral, as all libraries should be - John Rylands Library, Manchester. Image source

Read me, love me, touch me, treasure me

This is a book about the power of books that is itself steeped with references, both explicit and indirect, to the great works that permeate our culture so thoroughly that we do not always notice them - until they’re gone. Bradbury shows us the horror of a hedonistic but unhappy world where books and ideas are banned in the futile pursuit of the illusion of hap ...more

359 likes · Like · see review

Aug 09, 2010 Karl-O rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopian, american-literature, sci-fi

Fahrenheit 451 is based on the quasi-original premise of how the world will look like if books were banned and most importantly (well, for Bradbury at least) if books were burned. Unfortunately, this premise is stifled by a lack of imagination mostly because there is no creative or intriguing plot as much as an excessively symbolic prose, even at places where clarity is crucial. I certainly won’t be exaggerating when I say that I've made a real effort at times just to stay focused on it.

There a Fahrenheit 451 is based on the quasi-original premise of how the world will look like if books were banned and most importantly (well, for Bradbury at least) if books were burned. Unfortunately, this premise is stifled by a lack of imagination mostly because there is no creative or intriguing plot as much as an excessively symbolic prose, even at places where clarity is crucial. I certainly won’t be exaggerating when I say that I've made a real effort at times just to stay focused on it.

There are many things that I didn't like in this book, but what I've even found annoying was Bradbury’s style of repeating words and perceptions, not only for two or three times, but sometimes as much as fifteen times. This can be very useful in another book written with a simple tone, but not this one. His repetitious words coupled with his long symbolic prose drew whatever enjoyment possible from the book and replaced it with frustration. I recall passages absolutely out of place and unrelated to the story. I believe this style of writing is unsuitable for dystopian novels, where the story is already allegorical and symbolic. Apart from that, it was very hard to connect with the book's unbelievable characters, even at times where the events were a bit interesting.

I am a skeptic when it comes to sudden transformations of character. I prefer the gradual and natural change which is more driven by people and circumstances that makes the story rich, rather than by mysterious and vague factors and deus ex machinas. The book is filled with sudden and unclear transformations that could have been condoned if accompanied by profound circumstances. I didn't find such profundity in the events and the changes were mostly brought about by vague and unclear circumstances, which miraculously rendered a man who for years took pleasure in burning books, into a hero willing to risk his life for only a couple of books.

Finally, the book is very brief in terms of describing the world in which the events are taking place or the systems upon which the society runs, especially when you consider its long and descriptive prose. If we take the possibility for example, that Orwell got the same idea and wanted to write a book about it, I believe he would not have written a book about something as abstract as a world where books were banned or burned, but instead a dystopian world where this - the banning of books- was one of its outcomes. ...more

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Jun 06, 2012 Jonfaith rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: speculativelyspeaking

As Karen noted, the contemporary reader knows the narrative. There are no surprises, yet I found it sublime.

6 likes · Like · see review

Sep 29, 2010 [Name Redacted] rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy, classics, society, futurity

A childhood favorite!

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Oct 29, 2013 Antonio Gallo rated it really liked it

Shelves: edizione-kindle, bibliomania, identità, classici, digitale, autore, futuro, fantascienza

Fahrenheit 451 è un romanzo di fantascienza distopica di Ray Bradbury, pubblicato per la prima volta nel 1953. La storia è ambientata in un futuro in cui i libri sono stati proibiti dal governo e i pompieri, invece di spegnere gli incendi, li appiccano per bruciare i libri. Il protagonista, Guy Montag, è un pompiere che inizia a dubitare della sua professione quando inizia a pensare al significato dei libri che sta bruciando. Alla fine, Montag decide di fuggire dalla città e di trovare un gruppo ...more

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