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Fahrenheit 451
An excellent read, thrilling and provocative. Bradbury has a gift for descriptions, and he makes a wonderful story even better through his use of language. A future civilization has banned books, and it's the firemen's job to burn any books people have hidden, and the houses in which they are concealed. Guy Montag is a fireman who has done his job for ten years, never questioning the pleasure of seeing books burned and consumed by flames. Then he meets a girl who shows him that life is not all burning and speeding. She shows him that if you take the time, life has a deeper meaning. He begins to question the burning of all the books he never had time to read and understand. He is driven by a madness to find out what the books say. Unfortunately, he'll have to break a few laws and give up the life which he's lived for so long. He has to make a choice between the illegal life he never knew and the ignorant life as a fireman.
Fahrenheit 451
Having first heard of Bradbury after reading The Martian Chronicles, I immediately fell in love with his writing and was itching to read Fahrenheit since I had heard so many good things about it.The brilliant novel was better than I thought. What took me the most was the sheer realism of such a strange world. I could feel the pain and fear the characters endured throughout the story as the infamous "burning of books" took lives and houses. I really got the sense that books were as taboo (let alone illegal) as narcotics are today.The edition I read included an afterward by Bradbury reflecting upon his own story after about 20 years. I was impressed that he felt that he wouldn't have changed much if he had the chance. This was but another bulletpoint in my list of reasons to have such high respect for this acclaimed author. Fahrenheit 451 was a fantastic read and I encourage everyone to read it, especially sci-fi fans and librarians :).
Fahrenheit 451
This is a book I had always meant to read - so when a 16 yr old I know had to read it for class I read it too. It's a quick, entertaining read. Nothing earth-shattering for adults, but I can see why it's recommended for high school (or even middle school) kids.
Fahrenheit 451
This book is one of my new all time favorites. While this author has some problems with his interpretation of our society as seen from his point of view 50 years ago, his language, full of metaphors, couldn't be more beautiful. As the song says, "If a picture paints a thousand words..." This author can paint a picture with a few of the right choice of words.
Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451 is my favorite book--I have read it three times! Consequently, Ray Bradbury is my favorite author. His style of writing is so captivating. I would, however, say that this book seems to me to be an acquired taste. I LOVE it, but a few of my friends don't like it at all. I think you need to have a certain maturity to read it. When my stepdad first introduced it to me, I was probably still in middle school. I gave up on it after reading the first 20 or so pages--I just didn't get it. A few years later, I picked it up again, understood every word and idea, and loved it!I recommend this book to friends and many of them say, "Oh, that book? It's so weird." But you'd be surprised; when you read it, it's almost like looking into a mirror of our world's future. It really makes you think--is this where we're headed?Buy it. I can't guarantee you'll like it the first time you read it, but give it a chance. If you want great literature, this is it! And check out some other Ray Bradbury books and short stories too; I highly recommend them!!
Fahrenheit 451
This is a must-read book in many ways. Written in 1953, the author was able to predict (in some fashion) the coming of Cable TV, personal music devices, and non-stop urban violence. Bradbury was a prophet.The object of Bradbury's wrath is intellectual sloth, which, left unchecked, results in censorship and a barbarous society where everyone acts on impulse. The author does not merely elevate the importance of books while trashing the influence of media: he elevates the importance of ideas, of thought. Bradbury condemns careless reading as easily as he condemns mindless television. Nor does he find electronic media to be useless: Bradbury's Professor Faber admits that film, music and television can make important contributions to society, when the individual films, songs and programs convey coherant ideas. The Clarisse character further emphasizes the importance of ideas by exploring the arts of conversation and observation.This is an excellent book which defines education, and shows the consequences of an uneducated society.