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Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

111 reviews

awesome_archaeology's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

I don’t agree with Bradbury’s views on how “minorities” contribute to censorship. I also don’t agree that his sentiment that the best remedy for contemporary social problems is to revere, romanticize, and revert to past social norms. All of this being said, Fahrenheit 451 is an amazing dystopian novel that focuses on how the censorship of information is used to control a population. Not only books are subjected to the censorship of the “firemen”. Individuals looking to enjoy independence pursuits like nature hikes or collecting butterflies are, at the very least, looked at with suspicion for their “antisocial behavior”. At worst, they are apparently killed under mysterious circumstances. The writing style also feels harsh in its descriptions but strangely appropriate for the story.

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maryellen's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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manatad's review against another edition

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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

3.0

After revisiting this book since I read it for the first time 13 years ago, I think I can see why it didn't leave a very big impression on me, especially compared to the other dystopian novels I had read around the same time, Brave New World and 1984 (the latter I had also revisited last year). Fahrenheit 451 certainly does describe a few interesting and relevant observations about people's shortening attention spans and resistance to confronting challenging or uncomfortable topics, but I don't agree with the whole "books good, TV bad" sentiment that is strongly expressed throughout the novel. And while its warning message regarding censorship was undeniably relevant at the time when it was written, I'm not sure that it still holds up in the context of today's world. I guess some say now that it's more of a warning against political correctness, but even that interpretation feels like sort of a cop-out to me.

My favorite thing about the novel is actually Ray Bradbury's writing style. I found his imaginative use of simile to be quite wonderful, and I did sense a feeling of great passion from the book in general. I think the short length of the novel is appropriate too, because the prose would very likely have worn out its charm if I had to read 300 pages or more of it.

There's not much else I can say about such a famous book that hasn't already been said a hundred times before. Overall, I think it is an enjoyable read, and quick, so there is no reason for anybody who is interested to not to read this classic.

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singalana's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

Omia ajatuksia ja tuntemuksia oli hankalaa summata yhteen tämän kirjan lukemisen jälkeen. Luulen, että se pitääkö tästä kirjasta vai ei, riippuu paljon siitä mitä asioita kirjassa arvostaa.

Fahrenheit 451 on dystooppinen novelli tulevaisuudesta, missä kirjat on kielletty ja ihmiset pidetään tyytyväisenä viihteen avulla. Sodat ovat normaaleja ja ihmiset tekevät itsemurhia, mutta kukaan ei pysähdy miettimään ovatko he onnellisia. Päähenkilö Guy Montag kuuluu palomiehiin, joiden tehtävä on etsiä ja rankaista rikollisia: ihmisiä, joiden hallussa on kirjoja. Kirjat, sekä niitä hallussa pitäneen ihmisen talo poltetaan. Montag pitää työstään, kunnes eräänä päivänä nuori tyttö kysyy häneltä onko hän onnellinen.

On suorastaan hämmästyttävää miten paljon kirjan yhteiskunta muistuttaa maapallon nykytilaa: aivoja turruttavaa viihdettä, mekaanisia robottikoiria valvomassa lainrikkojia, kirjojen kieltämistä. Kuitenkin on sanottava, että kirjan sanoma on vaikuttavampi kuin toteutus. Jos pidät syväluotaavista hahmojen ja maailman kuvauksesta, saatat pettyä tämmän kirjan proosaan. Täytyy kuitenkin miettiä, onko tämä tarkoituksella: onko esimerkiksi Montagin hahmon tarkoitus toimia kehyksinä, joihin voimme asettaa itsemme? Kirjassa esitetään myös muutamia hyviä havaintoja esimerkiksi siitä, mitä ihminen jättää jälkeensä kuollessaan.

Valitettavasti olen itse sellainen lukija, että kaipaan hahmoilta hieman enemmän syvyyttä. Lisäksi olisin toivonut välillä hieman viipyilevämpää kerrontaa, etenkin kun esiteltiin tarinan kannalta tärkeitä konsepteja. Fahrenheit on kuitenkin nopealukuinen ja teemoiltaan tärkeä, joten suosittelen sitä kyllä lämpimästi kaikille.

Tämän painoksen kansi on graafisesti miellyttävä ja kuvaava, ja selkämyksen kuviointi on tehty muistuttamaan tulitikkulaatikon raapaisupintaa.

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liri_reads's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense 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

3.5

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gravitybreaker's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

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

1.5

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magfx's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

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backitupmoony's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

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gvstyris's review against another edition

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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.

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classical_learner's review against another edition

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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.

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