Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - Fahrenheit 451

Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

200 reviews

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

lakes_forests_grey_skies's review against another edition

Go to review page

It was honestly boring and I didn't understand much of what was happening

Content Warnings

classical_learner's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

rishankl's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

readingwithlex's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

te_ss_i's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

littlewishling's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

This is a beautifully written book with an important message but I find the portrayal of woman to leave much to be desired. The only woman are a inquisitive child and then a ignorant and vapid wife.

Content Warnings