Name: Vojtech's review of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Item: Fahrenheit 451
Rating: 5
Author: Vojtech

Ray Bradbury

'Fahrenheit 451' ist die Temperatur, bei der "Bücherpapier Feuer fängt und verbrennt". In Ray Bradburys Zukunftsvision ist die Feuerwehr nicht mehr mit Wasserspritzen ausgerüstet, sondern mit Flammenwerfern, die genau diesen Hitzegrad erzeugen, um die letzten Zeugnisse individualistischen Denkens - die Bücher - zu vernichten. Da -beginnt der Feuerwehrmann Guy Montag, sich Fragen zu stellen... Die beängstigende Geschichte von einer Welt, in der das Bücherlesen mit Gefängnis und Tod bestraft wird, ist ein zeitloses Plädoyer für das freie Denken.

Fahrenheit 451

Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television “family.” But when he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn’t live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known.

里森

And on either side of the river was there a tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Yes, thought Montag, that’s the one I’ll save for noon. For noon … When we reach the city.

“I hate a Roman named Status Quo!” he said to me. “Stuff your eyes with wonder,” he said, “live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories. Ask no guarantees, ask for no security, there never was such an animal. And if there were, it would be related to the great sloth which hangs upside down in a tree all day every day, sleeping its life away. To hell with that,” he said, “shake the tree and knock the great sloth down on his ass.”’

he was a thing of horn and blood that would smell like autumn if you bled it out on the ground.

A deer. He smelled the heavy musk-like perfume mingled with blood and the gummed exhalation of the animal’s breath, all cardamon and moss and ragweed odour in this huge night where the trees ran at him, pulled away, ran, pulled away, to the pulse of the heart behind his eyes.

they say there’s lots of old Harvard degrees on the tracks between here and Los Angeles.

But remember that the Captain belongs to the most dangerous enemy of truth and freedom, the solid unmoving cattle of the majority. Oh, God, the terrible tyranny of the majority.

“The folly of mistaking a metaphor for a proof, a torrent of verbiage for a spring of capital truths, and oneself as an oracle, is inborn in us, Mr Valéry once said.”’

“The Devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.”

If you hide your ignorance, no one will hit you and you’ll never learn.

‘Do you know that books smell like nutmeg or some spice from a foreign land? I loved to smell them when I was a boy.

He ran on the white tiles up through the tunnels, ignoring the escalators, because he wanted to feel his feet move, arms swing, lungs clench, unclench, feel his throat go raw with air.

if you read fast and read all, maybe some of the sand will stay in the sieve. But he read and the words fell through,

Melting wax dolls also also appear in The Satanic Verses (a book that was burnt like those in Fahrenheit 451).

She was beginning to shriek now, sitting there like a wax doll melting in its own heat.

A special spot-wavex-scrambler also caused his televised image, in the area immediately about his lips, to mouth the vowels and consonants beautifully.

Cram them full of non-combustible data, chock them so damned full of “facts” they feel stuffed, but absolutely “brilliant” with information. Then they’ll feel they’re thinking, they’ll get a sense of motion without moving.

The girl? She was a time bomb. The family had been feeding her subconscious, I’m sure, from what I saw of her school record.

‘Coloured people don’t like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don’t feel good about Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Burn it. Someone’s written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book. Serenity, Montag. Peace, Montag.

Not everyone born free and equal, as the Constitution says, but everyone made equal.

We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered?

‘I’ll turn it down.’ She went out of the room and did nothing to the parlour and came back. ‘Is that better?’ ‘Thanks.’

Mild variations of this hardly seem absurd today.

Wasn’t there an old joke about the wife who talked so much on the telephone that her desperate husband ran out to the nearest store and telephoned her to ask what was for dinner?

We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out,”’ said Beatty. Stoneman glanced over at the Captain, as did Montag, startled. Beatty rubbed his chin. ‘A man named Latimer said that to a man named Nicholas Ridley, as they were being burnt alive at Oxford, for heresy, on October 16, 1555.’

‘Let’s talk about something else. Have you ever smelled old leaves? Don’t they smell like cinnamon? Here. Smell.’

‘Yes, I am!’ ‘It doesn’t show.’ ‘I am very much in love!’ He tried to conjure up a face to fit the words, but there was no face. ‘I am!’

Vojtech

I’ve read it for school like 3 separate times, still slays.

Delaney LaFalce

Mid, really like the philosophy in the book, but it's too on the nose and just can't get over the writing style. None of the characters are likable and while it has its good moments that I really like it also has a lot of repetitiveness. 

Derek Graf

I've read it for uni, it allowed me to analyse it and uncover some hidden thoughts but also made me in many ways reluctant to pick it up

Alina

Bri Billaney

I read this as part of my mission to read all the 'banned books' in my library's display. This was the one I started with, and I think it was probably the only one I actually read. Bradbury is an excellent story teller, and I really appreciated the way the characters felt human rather than like book characters.

Colleen

5 Stars

There are some books that everyone should read at least once regardless of their reading preferences. Fahrenheit 451 is one of those. 


  “The good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones rape her and leave her for the flies.”

I’ll keep this review short, because it’s better to experience it for yourself. The writing is beautiful and haunting yet full of bleak portents – some of which have come to pass. It’s tragic how true parts of Bradbury’s portrayal of society is: honestly, there are no lack of mindless sheep who have imaginary intimacies with celebrities. But it’s a poignant portrayal. 


  “ “Don't ask for guarantees. And don't look to be saved in any one thing, person, machine, or library. Do your own bit of saving, and if you drown, at least die knowing you were heading for shore.” 

It’s a short book with a fast paced plot but does not sacrifice the writing. The story is not a firm prediction; rather, it is a thought-provoking exploration of societal motivations and breakdowns. My own interpretation is less about the anti-technology message (though that was clearly an intent of the story) but a focus on societal suffocation of originality and non-conformity. But regardless of your interpretation, it is a stimulating story.


  “ “Stuff your eyes with wonder, he said, live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.” 

I also enjoyed this 60th anniversary edition which had a lovely forward by Neil Gaiman.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 5 Stars
Writing Style: 5 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 5 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 5 Stars
Level of Captivation: 5 Stars
Originality: 5 Stars

I don’t think this book is good. It was difficult for me to understand what was happening. I wasn’t entertained and the plot was random and not cohesive. 

Robin Collura

Kind of weird and short. I don’t really know what the point of the book was 😂

Elizabeth Clark 

Brittany Levely-Connolly

I first read this book in middle school and didn't fully appreciate it at the time (because lets be honest who really appreciates any of our assigned readings for school), but I always remembered enjoying the book and the poetic way in which Ray Bradbury writes. As someone who loves to read the story stuck with me long enough to want to re-visit it as an adult. This is one of my all-time favourite books, and with all the current concerns about censorship and freedom of speech this book is as relevant today as when it was first written. A world where firemen don't put out fires, but rather start them and to think on your own or even a book is dangerous, Ray reminds us that the status quo and the government do not always have our best interests at hard and to continue to question what goes on around us and fight for what we believe in.

Vilandra

It’s interesting to see that the same issues existed over 70 years ago. The parallels to today are striking and thought-provoking. It’s interesting to see how fast the main character goes from conforming to thinking as an individual.

Wataru N.

The terrifyingly prophetic novel of a post-literate future Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the source of all discord and unhappiness, the printed book.

Ioana Kardos

A science fiction book that narrates the story of a futuristic society where all books are banished and firefighters are assigned the job of burning the books and the house or building that contains the books rather than putting out fires.

Jacqueline Englund

Just the idea of burning books gave me major anxiety....however I really enjoyed this and it definitely deserves to be called a classic!

Prashanth Srivatsa

Bradbury's imagination is terrific. He wholly succeeds in making us disturbed and frightened of how evolving technology and a lessening attention span is causing us to not only move away but also discard the learnings of literature as irrelevant. This kind of presience and human understanding is rare.

Nast Marrero

Twin brother of The Martian Chronicles. Bradbury crafts a thrilling distopia that becomes closer by the day.

Jordan Peet

Fahrenheit 451 was a good book. It builds up the action after each part. In my opinion, the first part was the worst. It was confusing and you really had to pay attention to understand what was going on. The second part was better. It had more action and it just appealed to me more. The third part, in my opinion, was the best. You can understand what was going on and you could feel what Montag felt.

Ali 🐝

Nicolás Niño 

Ray Bradbury consigue hacernos ver como la sociedad necesita de la literatura y la cultura. Sin ella, nos quedamos sin nuestra identidad propia, la identidad propia de los seres humanos. 

El mejor ejemplo de lo que Bradbury ilustra en su novela lo podemos observar hoy en día: la novela sobrevive al paso del tiempo y, a cada año que pasa, se vuelve más vital su lectura. "Fahrenheit 451" parece cada día más un espejo en el que mirarnos y menos una obra de ciencia ficción. 

El final es simple pero efectivo: ¿Hay alguna esperanza en el ser humano en la sociedad de "Fahrenheit 451"? Cada lector asimilará el final de una manera distinta. Una obra para releer y estudiar.

Fahrenheit 451: la temperatura a la que el papel se enciende y arde. Guy Montag es un bombero y el trabajo de un bombero es quemar libros, que están prohibidos porque son causa de discordia y sufrimiento. El Sabueso Mecánico del Departamento de Incendios, armado con una letal inyección hipodérmica, escoltado por helicópteros, está preparado para rastrear a los disidentes que aún conservan y leen libros. Como 1984, de George Orwell, como Un mundo feliz, de Aldous Huxley, Fahrenheit 451 describe una civilización occidental esclavizada por los medios, los tranquilizantes y el conformismo. La visión de Bradbury es asombrosamente profética: pantallas de televisión que ocupan paredes y exhiben folletines interactivos; avenidas donde los coches corren a 150 kilómetros por hora persiguiendo a peatones; una población que no escucha otra cosa que una insípida corriente de música y noticias transmitidas por unos diminutos auriculares insertados en las orejas. «Fahrenheit 451 es el más convincente de todos los infiernos conformistas.» Kingsley Amis. La novela más célebre de Ray Bradbury, una historia de un sombrío y horroroso futuro.

Stefanie Viens

Maybe I have a weird taste in books, but I wasn't too thrilled with this classic. Possibly because I'd heard about it for so long that I began anticipating a certain feel to it and found that it wasn't accurate. It seemed to me like the book was a lot of whining and indecision on the part of the main character. I like characters with strong personalities, and he just didn't cut it for me.

Rachel Kanyid

I finally read a classic! And I loved it! I can definitely see why this book has been considered so important in the literature world.

A totalitarian regime has ordered all books to be destroyed, but one of the book burners, Guy Montag, suddenly realizes their merit.

A Novel

megan kelley

pretty fire but didn’t reach as high as 451 degrees for me though.

Felipe Saldarriaga 

Una lectura sumamente recomendada, se posiciona en mi favorito del año y seguramente de los que más recomendaré en mi total de experiencias transformadoras de la lectura <3

Vivian

Now I’m convinced that American modern classics published around the 50s are simply not my cup of tea. Will avoid going forward.

With that said, Fahrenheit 451 isn’t without its merits. The writing seriously bored me to death, but maybe it’s just the dystopian tone. Creepy, disoriented, messy. The bleak future society Bradbury built is ambiguous, hard to decipher. Is it about censorship, mind control, humanity? You can’t be sure. Readers find whatever worries and scares them in this story, and that’s what makes it timeless.

David Foster Wallace once said, “Good fiction's job is to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” In this way Fahrenheit 451 fulfilled its purpose.

Fahrenheit 451 ofrece la historia de un sombrío y horroroso futuro. Montag, el protagonista, pertenece a una extraña brigada de bomberos cuya misión, paradójicamente, no es la de sofocar incendios sino la de provocarlos para quemar libros. Porque en el país de Montag está terminantemente prohibido leer. Porque leer obliga a pensar, y en el país de Montag está prohibido pensar. Porque leer impide ser ingenuamente feliz, y en el país de Montag hay que ser feliz a la fuerza... La novela más célebre de Ray Bradbury, maestro de la ficción científica.

Fahrenheit cuatrocientos cincuenta y uno

Haylie

I thought it started out kinda blah, but then gradually became great.

Rito Ghosh

One of the best books I have ever read.

I am not going to write a long review.

I remember two scenes particularly.

One, when Montag opens his mouth and the flying jets do the screaming for him.

Two, when, a book is burning, its visual similarities with a pigeon and its unfolded wings.

Ray Bradbury has exceptional and powerful capability of creating a meaningful scene. A dramatic scene.

Not only for the scenes I shall remember this book, I also have to remember it for its philosophical and creative value.

The concept of men becoming books and the layer of meaning it hides is of a tremendous value from all creative, dramatic and philosophical perspectives.

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Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

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