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lightthebeam's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
I really enjoyed this book. The author has such a unique writing style. It made the book have teeth in a sense, felt like you were being chewed up as the reader after some passages. Thought provoking- challenging and definitely something people should read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Death
pil4r's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Continuando con la aventura y desafío de leer y releer clásicos distópicos, me embarqué en Fahrenheit 451 y seguí a Montag, nuestro protagonista, quien comienza a enloquecer cuando empieza a vislumbrar y poner en palabras y actos su incomodidad con la sociedad acelerada y quema-libros en la que vive.
Si bien la sinopsis me parece gancho suficiente, no quiero dejar de destacar la maravillosa construcción del universo que hace Bradbury tantos años atrás. Sus elaboraciones sobre las pantallas, la velocidad, el pensamiento y el disciplinamiento de los cuerpos son sumamente inteligentes y atinadas.
Por otro lado, advierto que esta edición desafió un poco mi lectura por varios motivos que no esperaba principalmente porque recuerdo la particular fluidez de mi lectura de El hombre ilustrado.
Aún así, no quiero dejar de mencionar -y compartir- la invitación tajante que el autor hace a repensar, de mínima, nuestra relación con la cultura y la memoria; reflexión que, como argentina en un contexto de "liberalismo" mileista-destruyecultura, me duele pero también me empuja. Esto hace que, aunque no puedo ubicar a esta obra como mi distopía o clásico favorito, tampoco puedo dejar de recomendarla como oportuna e importante, sobre todo a quienes comparten mi contexto y mis preocupaciones al respecto.
Si bien la sinopsis me parece gancho suficiente, no quiero dejar de destacar la maravillosa construcción del universo que hace Bradbury tantos años atrás. Sus elaboraciones sobre las pantallas, la velocidad, el pensamiento y el disciplinamiento de los cuerpos son sumamente inteligentes y atinadas.
Por otro lado, advierto que esta edición desafió un poco mi lectura por varios motivos que no esperaba principalmente porque recuerdo la particular fluidez de mi lectura de El hombre ilustrado.
Aún así, no quiero dejar de mencionar -y compartir- la invitación tajante que el autor hace a repensar, de mínima, nuestra relación con la cultura y la memoria; reflexión que, como argentina en un contexto de "liberalismo" mileista-destruyecultura, me duele pero también me empuja. Esto hace que, aunque no puedo ubicar a esta obra como mi distopía o clásico favorito, tampoco puedo dejar de recomendarla como oportuna e importante, sobre todo a quienes comparten mi contexto y mis preocupaciones al respecto.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
berratrixie's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
"phone bad, book good !!!!!!!!!": the book
i don't think reading this book was a bad choice. i quite liked the way it was written. bradbury has a really imaginative writing style that can make any description of an object, a person, an ongoing situation evoke very vivid mental imagery.
BUT
i couldn't help but get the suspicion that the real message wasn't that ALL destruction of ANY informative content is bad, rather just the destruction of this one medium. any other sources of content or information and the people who use them are painted in a pretty bad light. i initially thought the criticism lay more in the authoritarian and fascist aspects of the government portrayed in the book, but reading some of the stuff he's said over the years, it's VERY clear he comes from a very conservative and bigoted perspective. especially him talking about how political correctness or, as he calls it, "censorship from minorities" relates to the book ... yikes !
i also think that the pacing picks WAY up during the third and final part of the book. suddenly there's one plot-altering confrontation after another, concluding with a really weird and unexpected ending.
all this adds up to a really unfocused dystopian novel that, while fun to read, simultaneously has a really questionable message at its core.
i don't think reading this book was a bad choice. i quite liked the way it was written. bradbury has a really imaginative writing style that can make any description of an object, a person, an ongoing situation evoke very vivid mental imagery.
BUT
i couldn't help but get the suspicion that the real message wasn't that ALL destruction of ANY informative content is bad, rather just the destruction of this one medium. any other sources of content or information and the people who use them are painted in a pretty bad light. i initially thought the criticism lay more in the authoritarian and fascist aspects of the government portrayed in the book, but reading some of the stuff he's said over the years, it's VERY clear he comes from a very conservative and bigoted perspective. especially him talking about how political correctness or, as he calls it, "censorship from minorities" relates to the book ... yikes !
i also think that the pacing picks WAY up during the third and final part of the book. suddenly there's one plot-altering confrontation after another, concluding with a really weird and unexpected ending.
all this adds up to a really unfocused dystopian novel that, while fun to read, simultaneously has a really questionable message at its core.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, and Death
Minor: Rape
backitupmoony's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: War, Murder, and Child death
gvstyris's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
There must be something in books, something we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.
Fahrenheit 451 was the bane of my existence when I first read it, and I can now confidently confirm that my original 14-year-old opinion was incredibly based.
This book is a slog. For one thing, the world-building is pretty messy. The 'book ban' in this dystopia isn't a harrowing tale of authoritarian censorship, or particularly topical given what's happening in the 21st century US, because it's not about censorship at all: it's a 'metaphor' for a world where television rots everyone's braincells and short attention spans kill public interest in literature. In that way, Fahrenheit 451 reads as a 1950s time capsule that has not stood the test of time. It's anti-progress and (lowkey) just technology fear-mongering, which made a lot more sense once I unpacked Bradbury's political beliefs.
Honestly, this novel probably would've worked better in its original short story format. Montag's character arc is underdeveloped and unconvincing regardless, and I would've preferred to not to suffer through all 200-something pages of it.
Also, I feel the need to add that I can see why this book is so popular with a bunch of book lovers...lol. Anyways, I'm excited to re-read 1984 soon!
I'd like to conclude with some of Ray Bradbury's other words of true wisdom:
I don't believe in government. I hate politics. I'm against it. And I hope that sometime this fall, we can destroy part of our government, and next year destroy even more of it. The less government, the happier I will be.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, and War
lakes_forests_grey_skies's review against another edition
It was honestly boring and I didn't understand much of what was happening
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
classical_learner's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Chills. Of all the classic authoritarian dystopia novels (That Hyddeous Strength, 1984, Brave New World, then Fahrenheit 451–honorable mention to Animal Farm), only THS (the misuse of books) and F451 (the destruction of books) would be considered victorious stories of living under such a regime. While all four of these are necessary contributions to the literary thought exploration of manipulative urban dystopias, F451 and THS are the most hopeful ones; I do not think, however, they could be so helpful (and hopeful) without the contrasts of 1984 (tyranny by pain) and BNW (tyranny by pleasure).
This concludes my brief self-study on dystopian literature, and the final book I would recommend for this analysis is Amusing Ourselves to Death, as it provides parallel reasoning from a nonfiction perspective.
This concludes my brief self-study on dystopian literature, and the final book I would recommend for this analysis is Amusing Ourselves to Death, as it provides parallel reasoning from a nonfiction perspective.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: War
Minor: Cursing
rishankl's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Fahrenheit 451: the temperature at which book paper burns. This book shows the story of Guy Montag, a fireman who burns books, but questions what books are, and what power do they hold? This is a book to never forget, as it captures a society where self-thought and indivuality are unnattainable.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Death
readingwithlex's review against another edition
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
“there must be something in books, something we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. you don’t stay for nothing.”
I quite literally clutched this book to my heart when I finished it. no words for how incredible this was. truly.
I quite literally clutched this book to my heart when I finished it. no words for how incredible this was. truly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Child death and War
te_ss_i's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, War, Toxic relationship, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Murder, Suicide attempt, Violence, Drug use, and Police brutality