This is Bradbury's best-known novel. The science fiction tale concerns censorship and anti-intellectualism, carried on in an alternate society that conducts huge book burnings as part of the social agenda. It is a spooky and yet uplifting book.
This concise supplement to Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 helps students understand the overall structure of the novel, actions and motivations of the characters, and the social and cultural perspectives of the author.
In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury's classic, frightening vision of the future, firemen don't put out fires--they start them in order to burn books. Bradbury's vividly painted society holds up the appearance of happiness as the highest goal--a place where trivial information is good, and knowledge and ideas are bad. Fire Captain Beatty explains it this way, "Give the people contests they win by remembering the words to more popular songs.... Don't give them slippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things up with. That way lies melancholy."
Guy Montag is a book-burning fireman undergoing a crisis of faith. His wife spends all day with her television "family," imploring Montag to work harder so that they can afford a fourth TV wall. Their dull, empty life sharply contrasts with that of his next-door neighbor Clarisse, a young girl thrilled by the ideas in books, and more interested in what she can see in the world around her than in the mindless chatter of the tube. When Clarisse disappears mysteriously, Montag is moved to make some changes, and starts hiding books in his home. Eventually, his wife turns him in, and he must answer the call to burn his secret cache of books. After fleeing to avoid arrest, Montag winds up joining an outlaw band of scholars who keep the contents of books in their heads, waiting for the time society will once again need the wisdom of literature.
Bradbury--the author of more than 500 short stories, novels, plays, and poems, including The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man--is the winner of many awards, including the Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America. Readers ages 13 to 93 will be swept up in the harrowing suspense of Fahrenheit 451, and no doubt will join the hordes of Bradbury fans worldwide. --Neil Roseman
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Science Fiction Masked In A Glaze Of Poetic Impulse:
If ever there is a formula for the perfect novel, 451 has the ingredients. It would be one part science fiction masked in a glaze of poetic impulse, settled on a bed of classic literature soaking up the juices of vast philosophical thought. The burning of books is a horror to any who love the written word and our freedom to dream. It would be our worst nightmare for society to regress to a state of anti-intellectualism so staunch that ideas themselves have become the enemy. Ray Bradbury not only captures... more info
A dash of cold water, please:
Our book club recently decided to make every other book choice a "classic" book which, for one reason or another, none of us has read. Fahrenheit 451 was this month's choice. After plowing through Bradbury's self-aggrandizing Foreward AND Introduction, I was ready to be enthralled. No such luck. This had to be one of the most abysmal books of all time. I suspect there's a bit of The Emperor's New Clothes (a much better read, by the way) going on here. In other words, if you dare to criticize Bradbury, then... more info
Dated screed:
I am frustrated by the sloppiness of this book. From what I understand, Bradbury sat in a library and wrote it in a few weeks, and it shows. Montag is introduced as a man happy in his job. The meeting with Clarisse blows his mind! But then Bradbury throws in numerous details indicating that his dissatisfaction has been mounting for some time. Although Montag is purportedly of a divided mind, the development of his character is very abrupt and unconvincing. But why develop what is essentially a mouthpiece... more info
Prophetic, but Immature:
This was one of my favorite books in high school, and reading it again had a certain charm, but my issue with it can be summed up in a small quote from an interview included in the final pages. "DEL RAY: In the introduction to the recently published Bradbury: An Illustrated Life", a wonderful book which I have spent hours immersed in-- RAY BRADBURY: Isn't that an incredible book?" I had the same issue with Brave New World. Even though these science fiction romps are interesting and at times... more info
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