Reviews

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

anglerfishinariver's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I really liked the content and dome of the lines in this book. I especially enjoyed the symbolisms and the expressive descriptions. However, it was kind of boring, so I can't really rate it as high as I want. 

notspacemanlee's review against another edition

5.0

Just incredible. The Coda from 1979 which concludes the book pretty much sums up the Moms for Liberty, school boards, politicians, "heckler's vetoes," and on the other side of the political spectrum, performative aggrievement or editorial "gatekeepers" refusing to publish anything which could microaggress someone.

In regards to the book itself, Bradbury's writing pretty much foresaw TikTok.

We're in a society where 56% of Americans did not read a book last year, reading proficiency in schools continues to decrease, and so much of cultural rot appeals to the lowest common denominators. Oh well, social media is our new three panel walls.

Easily 5 stars. The book holds up so well.

tegancalnan's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

lanes100's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

A fantastic book with incredible relevance to the current era of social media and the decimation of long form content.

jacobcracknell's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

frannybry's review against another edition

reflective 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

4.0

r_helm's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-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? It's complicated

2.5

smuttea_matcha's review against another edition

3.0

I love how this book shows how technology makes us stupid and that with new technology and the convenience of it, people stray away from books. Society destroyed itself. The craze that took over Montag was incredibly enjoyable, because he sort of reminded me of someone of a certain fandom trying to get someone else into it. I enjoyed the book and it was incredibly interesting with how firemen burn books in their time.

archbibliomage's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

In Bradbury’s classic novel featuring censorship and its societal consequences, we follow Guy Montag— a firefighter dedicated to burning books, which have been outlawed in this dystopian future. Montag meets an eccentric young girl whose curiosity inspires him to question the history he’s been taught and whether or not he is happy in his violent, yet monotonous, life. 

I've been meaning to read this book for a while and have known its premise for as long as I can remember. As someone who doesn’t believe in banning books and encourages diverse reading, I thought I was going to love Fahrenheit 451. In reality, I wasn’t a big fan. I thought the storyline was interesting and the message was important. The way Bradbury wrote the story felt fast paced and stylistic in a way that felt like if reflected the mannerisms of the characters— rushed and desensitized. 

I think what turned me off was how Montag thought of Clarisse when he first met her— talking about how beautiful she was, how she occupied his thoughts, how she was the highlight of the day. He later tells her he thinks of her as a daughter. I’m sure it’s not the intent, but the way he regards her just felt icky to me, which I think tainted my experience throughout reading the book. There were two events in the book that felt very compelling to me, one of which was the ending itself. I really liked the ending of the book and redeemed the experience for me a bit.

c_marie_writes's review against another edition

3.0

I decided to go with this one because I am going to start working through my TBR list from oldest to newest. I had heard a lot of things about this book and had some ideas about it.

This is a classic in a dystopian era where books are banned. The internal monologue of the MC became annoying at times, but it was an alright book.

I didn't love it, and I didn't hate it, so I'm going with 3 stars.