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Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury

Start date: August 1, 2024

Finish date: August 15, 2024

Discussion: Archived-A Year of Banned Books

Discussion leader: Erica

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Archived-A Year of Banned Books

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* Reading List
By Erica , Quality Control Supervisor · 1 post · 97 views

last updated Dec 12, 2023 04:05PM

* A Year of Banned Books Info
By Erica , Quality Control Supervisor · 1 post · 122 views

last updated Dec 12, 2023 03:53PM

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What Members Thought

May 04, 2011 Bev rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopian, mount-tbr-2020, classic-lit, award-winner, science-fiction, speculative-fiction

Fahrenheit 451 (1953) by Ray Bradbury is story of a dystopian future that is every book lover's nightmare. Guy Montag is a fireman--but not the kind children we have all known have always dreamed about being when they grow up. Firemen in Montag's world don't put out fires--they start them and they mostly start them wherever there are books, because in this world books have been outlawed and any that are found are burned.
Up till now, Montag has been pretty happy as a fireman--but encounters with Fahrenheit 451 (1953) by Ray Bradbury is story of a dystopian future that is every book lover's nightmare. Guy Montag is a fireman--but not the kind children we have all known have always dreamed about being when they grow up. Firemen in Montag's world don't put out fires--they start them and they mostly start them wherever there are books, because in this world books have been outlawed and any that are found are burned.
Up till now, Montag has been pretty happy as a fireman--but encounters with Clarisse, his seventeen year-old neighbor, and their discussions about simple pleasures, his wife's suicide attempt, and a book-burning that results in the self-immolation of an elderly book hoarder all contribute to a growing set of doubts about his chosen profession. It isn't long before he's hoarding books and finds himself on the wrong end of a Mechanical Hound (a robot used to track bookish lawbreakers) hunt.

It's been a long time since I read this the first time--back when I was haunting Mason's Rare & Used Book Store in my hometown and spending all my hard-earned lawn-mowing money on classic science fiction...Bradbury, Asimov, Ellison, Silverberg, Tiptree and the like. I read Fahrenheit then because I wanted to read all of Bradbury that I could get my hands on after my first sip of his Dandelion Wine collection. And was absolutely amazed by it. I was surprised that it never got assigned in school (neither high school nor college).

This reading seems very timely in an age when social media takes up so much of our time, when there are literally thousands of television programs available at any one time, and when I regularly see articles stating the percentage of people who say they haven't even read one book in the last year. Books are such an important part of my life and have been since I learned to read. I can't even imagine what it would be like to live in a world where owning books...any books, not just certain banned books...was illegal. An incredible (if bleak) vision of the future by a SF master.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Sep 06, 2013 Diana S rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: in-a-day, read-in-2015, classics, science-fiction, read-in-2024, dystopia, my-5-stars-books

I read the 60th anniversary edition this time (red cover). It's a fantastic book. I enjoyed it more this time then last time. Truly a classic 🤓 I'm giving it ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ this time (last time it was ⭐⭐⭐⭐). ...more

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May 12, 2011 Chels M. rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: libros-reseñados, favoritos

Datos:
Título original: Fahrenheit 451.
Título al español: Fahrenheit 451.
Autor: Ray Bradbury.
Género: Distopía.
Editorial: DeBolsillo.
Nº de páginas: 175.
ISBN: 978-84-9793-005-5

Historia:
Corto pero intenso.
Fahrenheit 451 nos sitúa en un mundo en el que no querrías vivir.
Han suprimido una parte vital de la cultura, la lectura. Está prohibido leer. Leer hace que haya gente informada, culta, mientras que otros no lo son. Para evitar diferencias –y para evitar que la gente piense, claro- se ideó la fig ...more

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Oct 16, 2013 Alina rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, challenges-2013

It was OK. Interesting take on what the future (1990's) might be like from the 1950's standpoint. Government is trying to take over way too much as it is so book wasn't that far off in my opinion. ...more

1 like · Like · see review