From the Bookshelf of Reading List Completists…

Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury

Start date: September 1, 2017

Finish date: September 30, 2017

Discussion: Group Reads

Why we're reading this: Winner Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopian Poll - September 2017
[close] Winner Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopian Poll - September 2017

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What Members Thought

Feb 16, 2017 Sue K H rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 000-classics-grp-read, books-about-books, favorites

This was part Brave New World, part Hunger Games and part something completely different. I liked this much more than the two books mentioned, partly because it was more plausible than both. I often have problems with Sci-fi that goes too far and this was just right. I listened to it on audio with Tim Robbins. He was excellent and really brought the story to life. He and the writing kept me interested through every minute.

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Sep 02, 2014 Suzan (Suus Leest) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Originally posted on my blog

3.5 stars

Fahrenheit 451 is set in a dystopian world in which it is strictly forbidden to own books, and firemen are to make sure this law is complied with. Their job is to burn books, and if needed the houses in which these are hidden.
Our protagonist, Guy Montag, is one of these firemen. Not aware of the fact that once books were allowed to be read, and firemen actually put out fires, he never questioned his occupation. Not until he meets his new seventeen-year-old n Originally posted on my blog

3.5 stars

Fahrenheit 451 is set in a dystopian world in which it is strictly forbidden to own books, and firemen are to make sure this law is complied with. Their job is to burn books, and if needed the houses in which these are hidden.
Our protagonist, Guy Montag, is one of these firemen. Not aware of the fact that once books were allowed to be read, and firemen actually put out fires, he never questioned his occupation. Not until he meets his new seventeen-year-old neighbour who teaches him to think independently.

I thought the concept of this story was pretty well thought out, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. The characters are well-developed, as well as the world. Most remarkable perhaps, was the realistic feel to it. Whenever Bradbury had a character explain the workings of the world, it almost sounded rational, and as if it could happen in real life.

When reading reviews written by women on this book, I noticed the feminist point-of-view: women are portrayed as stupid and brainwashed and of the books mentioned, no author is female. I’m not at all used to feminist reading, and thus had not noticed the latter. The former remark, however, I feel is unjustified. Every single person in this novel is at some point brainwashed – men too. I would even like to argue that the most important character in this novel is female: Clarice. She is the instigator – without her, Montag would have remained naïve in terms of his profession. To me thus, it feels inappropriate to mark Bradbury, or at least this novel, misogynist.

Though I was compelled by the story, the ending seemed rather incoherent – both in relation to the rest of the novel, as well as by itself. I was confused as I kept losing track of the story line, and I felt the ending just did not suite the over-all style and ambience. I will, however, not go in too much detail about this, as I want this to remain spoiler-free.

There was another aspect of this novel I felt dubious about: although the story is critical towards society in so many sophisticated ways, the general moral seems cliché: television ruins you, read books instead! Although I understand this is not at all all Bradbury tries to convey, it is the undertone throughout the novel, and it felt too basic for the potential this book had. ...more

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Feb 24, 2019 Chuck rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 1000, 1001

Somehow, like many others, I never read this book in high school or college. I even went through a SF phase as a kid and missed it. But maybe this was the best time to read it after all. Besides being a powerful story of threats to personal choice and freedoms, it rises above the trappings of the SF category into something beautiful and timeless, albeit darkly. The longings of its characters, both those expressed and repressed, are always palpable.

With that said, I experienced a level of amazeme Somehow, like many others, I never read this book in high school or college. I even went through a SF phase as a kid and missed it. But maybe this was the best time to read it after all. Besides being a powerful story of threats to personal choice and freedoms, it rises above the trappings of the SF category into something beautiful and timeless, albeit darkly. The longings of its characters, both those expressed and repressed, are always palpable.

With that said, I experienced a level of amazement similar to what I experienced after reading Asimov's "I Robot" a couple of years ago. I found that the conversation Asimov was introducing in that novel on A.I. in the 1940s(!) was no longer SF, yet somehow he was able to anticipate the moral and scientific dilemmas now on our plates.

Perhaps now, in hindsight, "Fahrenheit 451 was even more prescient. Totalitarian rule, technology that creates virtual friends and family for folks (social media) to "ease" their worry, young people in educational systems that lead to abandoned hopes and an increase in suicides. Apparently inspired by the McCarthy trials in the 50s, Bradbury accurately saw the loss of freedoms preceded by a systematic compression of data, news, literature, etc. so that society became accustomed and satisfied with much less than even a Cliff Notes version of everything. Everything seems the same because all the markers are in place, but all the detail that gives information meaning has been cleaned out leaving only hollowed out representations of the original.

In turn, people become hollowed out as well. There are glimmers of hope - the central character Montag, has a personal awakening that he chooses not to snuff out but to face the consequences of living with integrity. Academics who have been cast out of educational institutions have become the hobos of the world who hold the stories that remind us of our humanity.

The events that have taken place since 2016, our crumbling and lost educational systems, increasing numbers of youth feeling so lost and alienated that they resort to suicide, and the reductive outcomes of much of our current news media and, of course, social media make this "science fiction" novel from 1953 now a current events horror story that should be read or read again. ...more

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Dec 26, 2018 GracieKat rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audible

Ah, Ray Bradbury. We meet again. As I mentioned in our recent Top Ten Tuesday I've had an indifference/hate relationship with Ray Bradbury. Oddly he's an author that I prefer to listen to rather than read, I started Fahrenheit 451 a while ago but didn't get very far into it. So I tried it again with Lilyn to coach me through the rough spots. I managed to finish it this time. I can say that I'm happy to have read it, but as I mentioned in our Top Ten, I can't say that I will read it again.

First, Ah, Ray Bradbury. We meet again. As I mentioned in our recent Top Ten Tuesday I've had an indifference/hate relationship with Ray Bradbury. Oddly he's an author that I prefer to listen to rather than read, I started Fahrenheit 451 a while ago but didn't get very far into it. So I tried it again with Lilyn to coach me through the rough spots. I managed to finish it this time. I can say that I'm happy to have read it, but as I mentioned in our Top Ten, I can't say that I will read it again.

First, the good. When Ray Bradbury is on he can really paint a picture. It's almost like poetry. Some of his descriptions are very vivid. Like The Hound. It was so creepy sounding. The way its hunting apparatus is described is nothing short of terrifying. Putting in a person's chemical signature so it can hunt them down, specifically? Holy hell. The world was built well enough. It was enough to picture what it looked like and how it functioned but not so overly described that it was dull. If the focus of the book is not the political minutia then I could care less about it. Some of it was also a bit eerily accurate.

Now, the bad. Bradbury's dialogue is always so...off. It never sounds like real people speaking to each other. I can't say that I liked the characters very much. Clarisse was a straight up Manic Pixie Dream Girl if I've ever seen one with no resolution or answers to her character. Mildred, oh my Cthulhu, Mildred. She was one of the most annoying characters I've come across. I haven't read but three of Bradbury's works but sometimes I wonder if he's ever interacted with a human woman. Ever. Montag, in my opinion, is pretty unlikable as well. After his 'awakening' he gets pretty high and mighty about it. Way too self-righteous for my taste. He also doesn't act very logically at times. A lot of it has to do with major plot points so I won't spoil it. Let's just say that a lot of the time I wanted to give him a Bobby "You ijit!" speech.

The plot meandered quite a bit. I honestly can't say the book riveted me. The ending didn't thrill me at all. It seemed so flat. That might seem weird given the ending but it seemed more like he was just like, "I'm done writing so this is the end." As far as the Audible reading goes, Tim Robbins is a fairly decent reader. The narration and Montag were done well. Clarisse wasn't too bad but again...Mildred. I get her character is supposed to be very out of it but the way Tim Robbins narrated her was so horrid. She sounded like a whiny five year old Valley Girl. It was almost painful to listen to.

As I said up top, I'm glad to have read it but I doubt that I ever will again. So, I'm sorry Mr. Bradbury but here is where we part ways.

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Mar 15, 2018 Nico rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: bad-character-development, a-dry-read, bad-love-triangle, moments-of-excellence, not-the-most-exciting-plot, audiobook, a-for-effort, faux-intelligent, out-of-curiousity, man-pain

There's a vague whiff of luddism that sets the whole thing a bit sour... At parts, it feels like a liberal arts wank fest.

I mean, really? You're gonna write a book on how important books are? Nothing really tracks or holds together, the world remains almost entirely unbuilt, but then it's constructed for the sole purpose of providing Bradbury with an Author Tract...

I hate Author Tracts and I'm generally severely peeved anytime an author goes down that road of Liberal Arts vs Science and Techno ...more

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Mar 01, 2017 Gaby rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, politics, dystopian, 2018

Lately, I've been enjoying dystopian books more and more, I mainly chose to read Fahrenheit 451 for educational purposes, because for me this book is a classic among the dystopian genre.

However, I did not enjoy it nor did it work for me, I'm not sure if it was the writing style, the storyline or the characters that I couldn't connect with, but it was hard to finish it.

For me, it would have been better if the story was centred in the banning of books, instead of in the highlight of how society su ...more

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