Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Fahrenheit 451
Book Review: A Gem
Summary: 5 Stars
I have never been too enthralled into science fiction to truly appreciate its genius and creative content. But with Fahrenheit 451, I somewhat admire the genre to some degree. More than anything of course, i admire the novel, which is truly a work of genius and creativity. It took me less than 3 or 4 hours to read it because it was that good! While reading it you can't help but feel a sense of so much irony because of the haunting aspect of a society and of a world where books are burned into ashes. But it's also enlightening that yet, in that world, people like the inspiring Clarisse McClellan, Professor Faber, the "Book People", Granger and other hopeful outcasts of society, as well as our hero, Guy Montag, can still have that hope and ambition to still keep that curiosity and passion for learning, not only from books, but from life in general. Reading this book overwhelmed me with all those allussions to Shakespeare, Plato, Plato's Republic, Einstein, etc., which embodied the foundation of our conscience in the history of world literature. This book is a quick read, and also an insightful book into a world that has to some extent become our modern society. You can have many twists to looking at this novel yourself. At the end, it's so worth reading the WHOLE thing, and seeing it in different views to make you appreciate more in the power of literature.Book Review: A Great Book
Summary: 5 Stars
This novel by Ray Bradbury is a very interesting book. Fahrenheit 451 is one of those books that you just can't put down. It's hard to say why, but you pick it up saying to yourself, "I'll just read a few pages," and you end up reading for an hor or two because of the way it puls you in. The conflict starts imddediately, solving the problem of a slow beginning that some novels have. The very first few paragraphs show Guy Montag's love for fire that eventually becomes his personal struggle as well as the struggle of the world throughout the novel. There is alot of foreshadowing that you don't really recognize until you see what it's lead to, such as how Beatty doesn't run out of the kerosene-filled house as the others, but walks slowly almost delaying when the old lady pulls out a match. In leads into something very strange later on, but I don't want to give it away. This novel plays off the old concept of how you never really know how valuable something is until its taken away, playing on something as important as making books not only rare but illegal in the future. It also shows how destructive the world has and will become, with wars lasting technically 48 hours, and are decided in less time than it takes to blink. All and all it is a very interesting and entertaining book, and I would recommend Fahrenheith 451 to anyone, whehter they are heavy readers or not so heavy readers, such as myself.Book Review: A Great Book 2 Read
Summary: 5 Stars
Did you notice that nowadays writers and filmmakers tend to make no difference between Horror and Science-Fiction? ... Real Science-Fiction plays not only in the future but in a society very different from ours and with people who have habits and a mentality which also are different from ours. Fahrenheit 451 is a very good example of that. Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature that makes books burn and this is the problem we are dealing with (and no longer in the far future I'm afraid). Guy Montag is the hero of the novel. He's a fireman who burns books that are in people's houses, usually because someone denounced them at the police. It's forbidden to read books because they make you think and therefore make you unhappy. (Clothes have only zippers and no buttons; buttons take to much time so you start thinking and once again this makes you unhappy.) But Montag is a lonely person who has no contact with his wife; she only watches TV from dawn till dusk. The irony is that all the measures, which are taken by the government to protect people from being unhappy only, make them more unhappy than before. As the story unfolds, Guy Montag starts wondering what books are all about and he starts meeting people who read books (without notifying his superiors). The novel ends in a peculiar way.I said in the beginning that the problem is maybe no longer in the far future: a psychologist I know once said that all books ought to have a happy ending. I never asked her what would become of the books that don't have a happy ending because I'm afraid what she might answer.
Book Review: A Great Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
This book was required reading when I was fifteen, and it's easy to see why. It's a great book about the evils of censorship, something I am strongly against. Ironically, some schools I read tried to censor some parts of the book because the characters mildly swear. Isn't that defeating the purpose of the book? I believe every high school student should read this (uncensored, of course) and understand it. I won't go into details about the plot (there are plenty of other reviews which will do that), but I will say this is one book you don't want to miss.Book Review: A Great Novel
Summary: 5 Stars
The book definitely has great ideas to revolve around, and ever since I've heard about the burning of books, I thought it was worthy of reading and I placed some expectations that were all met. I wanted it to be exciting, and it definitely was. I also found this book to have less boring scenes (there are boring scences to every book, and we can't deny that) than many other great books - this book is short, but it is to the point, which is one of the many reasons to love this book. While "1984" by George Orwell is a great book, it took more than a hundred pages to set up, which I found to be a drag.
I cannot say what the biggest strength in the novel is - there are lots of strengths. I like how the author doesn't mention what city they are in; that way, everyone can relate to it a little more. He doesn't set it in Los Angeles or New York (though for all we know, it could be), because he wants to imply that every place is like this - in other words, it could be your city that they are living in. He does this to create a better microcosm of the world. Also, the idea of book burning is one of the greatest ever, as it shows how a society denies knowledge and chooses to go with ignorance instead. The biggest weaknesses in this novel is that it is hurried at times. I think Clarisse McClellan dies too fast, and it would have been better if they had had a bigger relationship. Also, the ending is abrupt. Then again, that is his style. In his short story "Frost and Fire" the ending is also abrupt. However, he has a great way of making people relate to his stories, even though they might be science fiction. In the future, I probably will read another one of his books.
This is a great book, hands down. Go take it out of your library or purchase it and read it. It will only take you a matter of days (in fact you can even read it in one day). With a great theme dealing with censorship, along with everything else that is great about the book, this should be a "must read".