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I have read this book more than once, when I first read it I had to for school but really enjoyed it. I read it again and even watched the movie, the book is way better. Very good message for those that think books are bad and useless. Books remind us of the past and can help us in our day to day lives.
There are some interesting ideas and some of the writing is pretty good, though it is inconsistent. The world has become a dystopian society that favors pleasure over reality. Unfortunately I can't give half-stars so it's either a 2 or a 3. This book could have been written a million different ways and Bradbury chose a really silly path.
The only redeeming quality this book really has is the overall idea and like many reviewers have already pointed out - the idea is good, the execution of said idea is quite lacking.This story follows Guy Montag, a fireman. But I must be honest, I'm not going to make this book sound better then I thought it was simply because it is considered a classic. Critical thinking is said to create sadness and conflict so something must be done about it. I did notice right away that Bradbury likes to be overly-poetic in some parts, and a straight-shooter in others.
The problem is that this book really started becoming silly. We almost have a 'stepford-society' of sorts. The books must be burned.In Fahrenheit 451 Montag has an epiphany after talking with his light-hearted neighbor Clarisse. Clarisse represents the very thing this society is trying to rid. I feel almost guilty giving this book a review like this, it is hailed as a classic and usually when I read books that are considered classics I can see the many strong qualities that put them on the 'classic' pedestal.
His writing is a little inconsistent but I was able to look past that. At first I really hated Montags wife (a good thing, when books conjure up these types of feelings then they are doing their job) and I really felt empathetic towards Guy. The characters really become forced and the plot as a whole takes an eye-rolling turn for the worst. The ending is one of the most forced endings I've ever read. You can already see the conflict here, so what is Guy to do.I'll admit the first 40 pages or so really had me going. Unlike the firemen of today, these firemen burn books rather than put out fires. I had to force myself to finish the book and I started to lose my feelings towards the main characters, I just started to not care anymore.
Guy Montags wife represents the opposite. The story was unique and the message was interesting. It's almost as if Bradbury had a good idea for a short-story one day and forced it into a novel.In the end I would give this book a 2.5/5. Tough choice but ultimately this book was more on the disappointing end of the spectrum for me.
Supplier, Thrift_books, has always been prompt in shipping products. I have ordered from them often, in fact, I look on their site first for the items I'm interested in purchasing. If they carry what I'm looking for, I order from them.
It was his wife who escaped from it all, through mind-numbing technology. It is as basic as freedom itself. What does it all mean., he wonders. Guy Montag is a good man. With the backdrop of war looming and exploding as he makes his way through a confusing world, to escape and to perserve his own desire to learn about it all, he discovers that there is more to life than the ever present of the nothingness and lack of meaning.
To burn down the houses that hide them, to burn down the people who consume them with a deep earnest need that confuses Guy to no end. It was the mechanical dog that didn't like him, bit at him. As a member of the 451 fire brigade, proudly displaying the salamander and the phoenix disc on his shirt, it is a privliege and a pleasure to burn books. The characters are not described in detail, shaped merely by their words and actions. It was the teenage girl, with the questions, full of life.
Each character represents specific facets and outcomes of such a society, empty of meaning, terrified of expression: Montag himself, the blind wanderer struggling through the dark to find truth, who just went along; Mildred, his detached wife, who wants nothing more than sweet oblivion without knowing why and so fearful of everything falling apart; the Firechief Beatty who is the most dangeorus of all, a learned man who throws the forbidden words and ideas at Montag to confuse, terrify him and he himself uncertain about it all; the old man, Faber, who Montag met long ago, one of those, like Clairssa, who loved the books, understood them but terrifed of being found out; and Clairssa herself, the exuberant 17 year-old who unraveled it all, who had no fear. He discovers that it's not about the books, it's about the human struggle and freedom to dream. Guy begins to ask his own questions, make his own inquires as a chain of events begin to accrue; and he begins to realize the state of his life, the world in which he lives. A true honor.
It is nothing, futile, he tells himself. The world and society Bradbury describes is self-contained and doesn't venture too far beyond the main characters, but it's enough to give you a sense of the darkness that resides. So it was the hand that started it all. Without censorship, without recourse or punishment, to see the world as he sees it and to understand and learn the dreams of those before him and ahead of him. This book is more than about censorship or reveling in ignorance for immediate pleasures, it is about the human right, the unchainable desire for humans to connect emotion with ideas, words with learning, understanding through discussion; it's about humanity and communion. The words are simple, the meaning profound. Seemingly mundane questions, inquiries, the words of her uncle of a past where books were revered, fires bad. None of the characters are perfect, far from it, they all struggle within, fighting themselves, fighting everything and everyone and hiding with their fears.
It was nothing, as it should have been, but it became everything. The message has a lot of layers, it's up to you to decide what that message is, I hope everyone gives it a chance, read carefully, it's deceptively an easy read. One chance meeting with a girl after a night of burning, which turns into an oddball friendship, churns Guy's world upside down. Now, his world is not so black and white, simple and uncomplicated. And each person is so distinct from one another yet they all have the same fears and hopes as everyone else. At the end, there are 2 essays--very interesting and insightful ones--by the author, one about the process and ideas that went into the story and the characters; the second, about a different kind of 'burning' and censorship of his own material by various groups who, on one hand, love his material, yet on the other hand, wanted to excise a few choice words/phrases not to their liking.
Orwell's `Nineteen Eighty Four'.It is a picture of a totalitarian State at war, where people have no friends, no families, no houses. They have to forget the rest of the world. This book is a real classic in the same league as A. People are made equal, being snatched from the cradle and pounded into submission. We must remember, dig the biggest grave of all times and shove war in it and cover it up.'This remarkably memorable book is a must read for all lovers of freedom and peace.N.B. They are surrounded only by walls of TV screens. They have no time to think, no education and no responsibilities (and consequences).
All memories of former times have to be destroyed.`Intellectual' is a swear world. Huxley's `Brave New World' or G. All books have to be burned. They know only things, not the meaning of things. They function with automatic reflexes. Those who resist (the `antisocials') are killed.But, there are still dens of resistance of older people who escaped the brainwashing.Their message is `stop making the goddamn funeral pyres. This book contains an important interview with the author.
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