General Discussion: Fahrenheit 451

[Sara]

Hi everyone!

I would like to start a general discussion thread on Fahrenheit 451. Please feel free to leave your comments on the book on topics that may not have been included elsewhere. And please, if there are any spoilers place a spoiler alert.

Thank you — I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts on F451!

[Kristin]

(SPOILER MAYBE?)

The title of this book is so fun! I remember hearing the title when I was high school and thinking, "Oh. That's odd. Why is it called Fahrenheit 451?" When I learned that is actually the temperature at which books burn, I swear I felt CHILLS! Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but they never mention that's the temperature they burn at in the book, right? It's just left for the reader to infer?

[Sara]

Kristin wrote: "(SPOILER MAYBE?)

The title of this book is so fun! I remember hearing the title when I was high school and thinking, "Oh. That's odd. Why is it called Fahrenheit 451?" When I learned that is actua..."

I was searching for this as well! I read the audiobook, so I cannot refer back to this, but I do not remember it mentioned anywhere. As far as I can remember, I've only gained knowledge of this from listening to and reading commentaries after reading the novel.

[Ysenia]

I don't think it was explicitly stated in the book, but I think Neil Gaiman mentioned it in his introduction to the 60th anniversary edition! Kristin wrote: "(SPOILER MAYBE?)

The title of this book is so fun! I remember hearing the title when I was high school and thinking, "Oh. That's odd. Why is it called Fahrenheit 451?" When I learned that is actua..."

[Samantha]

I learned what the title meant from watching an episode of “The Famous Jett Jackson” on Disney back in my middle school days. I surprisingly never read the book tho until on my own during a summer semester free of college.

The themes of this book feel timeless. Censorship, masses of society opting for the most mind-numbing entertainment, knowledge being gained in the simplest ways. I briefly taught and subbed in middle school and high school. Every so often hearing kids today say that school is stupid because they can just google everything is scary. I feel pretty confident that’s not what the founders of Google intended anyone to get out of their service. The alarming tone of the book here is how complacent people are about books being burned. Most people just don’t care, because they don’t feel the need or desire to read books anyway.