Fahrenheit 451 (Flamingo Modern Classics) Paperback – International Edition, 4 August 2008

Book arrived in good condition. Talking about the book, Ray Bradbury's style of writing is very different. It's like you watching a movie as it shows emotions of the characters meticulously. Give it a try, it's worth reading.

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, a dystopian sci-fi story of censorship and book burning published in 1953. It is also a love letter to the joy of reading books and visiting libraries, and a fear (an irrational one honestly) that it all might go away once the public loses interest in reading.Some time in the future, homes have become fireproof but firemen exist. What do they do then? Well of course firemen are ones who set the things on fire. The protagonist, Guy Montag, is one of these firemen, belonging to the division named 451 that deals with the burning of books (Bradbury was incorrectly informed that 451 degrees Fahrenheit was the temperature at which books burned). Once the protagonist comes in contact with a girl – A familiar trope in all major dystopias – that looks at things in a different way, only then does the revolutionary spark ignites in Montag.The first thing right off the bat that everyone would probably want to know is why everyone is so against books. I’ll leave it to the reader to read it and find it out, not spoiling much. All I’ll say is that the reason for is pretty understandable yet far-fetched. In the end it was still convincing to me once I thought about it. The best part is the ambience and world Bradbury has created. The atmosphere is stellar. The science-fiction concepts are one of the best for the times it was written in my opinion. This book had predicted huge wall-to-wall TV screens, 24 hour ATMs and in-ear phones/walkie-talkies back in the early ‘50s.It was written at a time when things like TV shows and pulp magazines were on the rise, and book readers feared they’d be extinct soon, that screens would take away the joy of reading. The joke’s on Bradbury, I read the book on Kindle. Who’s laughing now!There’s a misconception that this book is in response to McCarthy era censorship, whereas according to Bradbury the idea for the book predates the censorship norms that were the rage in America during the McCarthy Era.I would consider it among the better dystopias along with We and This Perfect Day, but definitely less than Nineteen Eighty-Four. On a side note, I was in the middle of the book when the first teaser trailer of the movie adaptation was released revealing the names of Michael B. Jordan and Michael Shannon. I’m looking forward to the movie version as well.I’d recommend this book if you fans of dystopian society stories.

𝘍𝘢𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘵 451 by Ray Bradbury is a dystopian futuristic novel published in 1953. The protagonist is a fireman named Guy Montag who was responsible to spot and burn outlawed books and the houses they were harboured in. He was a man unaccustomed to the charm of books and diligently carried out the orders of his employer until the day he met the young and liberal spirit Clarisse McClellan. From Clarisse’s unusual ideas and her family’s beliefs of the society that had turned hedonistic, Montag begins to question his life choices.In an unlikely encounter with an old woman, Montag becomes aware of the overpowering enigma of books. He begins to wonder what is so life altering in the contents of books that makes one never want to part with them in life or death. As his curiosity gets more intense with each passing day, he begins to acquire books from every place he could. As the aficionados of books had influenced him, he knew he had to know what is in the pages of a book before unquestioningly going back to the life where he incarcerated them.Bradbury’s most popular work is based on various incidents of book burning in history. From the ancient Library of Alexandria to the Nazi book burnings and the popularisation of mass media that declined the worth of books were all inspirations of Bradbury to create this terrifying dystopian world. The censorship of books, art and cinema haunted him and he wrote the short story ‘The Pedestrian’ which developed into the full length novel ‘Fahrenheit 451’ after a few years. As a man who has educated himself sitting in libraries for many hours of his life because he could not afford to attend college, Bradbury was aware of the true potency of books and the unlawful future that would be the resultant of the unjust reprimanding of books. Quite unfortunately his rage on censorship and prohibiting free speech was expurgated and banned in many places. Fahrenheit 451 is quite extraordinary as it displays Bradbury’s visions were definitely not so out of line. I would call it an absolutely terrifying book, as what is more terrifying than limiting knowledge and ideas?Rating: 4.5/5⭐

Loved this small dystopian novel. Got the hardcover for around 600 rupees or so. Worth every paisa!

Back in Highschool we were assigned this book to read and I loved it. I loved it so much I ordered it to read it again. Definitely a good read! Its very interesting how this book was written is the 1950s, the way it described the world almost felt like it was depicting todays society. It was really eye opening.

Un excelente libro e historia

Correspond à description

Fahrenheit 451 is one of my all time favorites. It's written in the third person, placing you into the shoes of an objective narrator who has special access to the thoughts and world view of the characters within the book, especially that of the protagonist. The protagonist (Guy Montag) actually begins the story as a sort of villain really. His profession is that of a future based fireman, who don’t really put out fires like they used to. In fact, they professionally start fires. What a clever twist on Bradbury’s part.These firemen are sanctioned by what one can only conclude to be a dystopian government to burn books, as well as the houses they are contained within. In this future world, the government has deemed books as dangerous, containing ideas that run counter to the narrative they wish to form and broadcast via televisions that cover entire walls within people’s homes. And the people want this, as they feel more comfortable with their government fed information. How dystopian indeed.Reminds one of the behavior of the Roman Catholic Church during the Dark Ages. The two have book burning in common, as well as burning Bibles (in the case of the RCC, Bibles that didn’t subscribe to their criteria – even though they came from source material originating from the same authors). No offense to Catholics – some Protestant sects weren’t much better (like the early Anglicans who destroyed much of the Church’s property, including relics, as did Orthodox Christians during the Iconoclast Era).Montag takes quite apparent joy in his job, causing a smile to overcome his face every time he gets to burn those devilish books. That is, until he becomes intrigued by a young neighbor girl named Clarisse. Clarisse is a female character that many feminists sadly overlook as to her importance in the overall arc of the story. Good on Bradbury for taking this approach, as you know what they say – “behind every great man, there’s an even greater woman”. This doesn’t always have to imply a spouse, mind you, and Bradbury exploited this fact while using Montag’s lame wife as a great contrast.Clarisse is somehow able to tap into Montag’s emotional capacity to better understand what exactly his job is harming, and how his otherwise dull life (including dull wife who serves as a great example of the brainwashed zombie like people of his society) could become so much more enriched by. This confrontation with not only Clarisse – but himself – causes a sort of psychosis for our villainous protagonist. And thus begins his character development that makes the book really begin to take off and hook the reader into the protagonist’s story arc and growth.At first, Montag struggles with his newfound understanding of the profound beauty of books. He is intrigued by the sense of wonder, emotion, and timelessness that books have to offer compared to the mind numbing talking heads that rule the day (sounds similar to our times with all the political talking heads telling how people should think, unlike books that allow people to draw their own conclusions). Yet he is still skeptical, resisting this newfound understanding as he continues in his line of work.He challenges the notion of books being a net positive for society along the way, including challenging protectors of books along the way. All of this amidst some unknown war going on in the background of the story that is never really described in much detail. I assume that Bradbury himself had assumed (living in the days of the Cold War between the US and the USSR) that some kind of war of that magnitude coming to fruition was sadly somewhat inevitable.As his change of heart is occurring, he struggles with his chief named Beatty (the antagonist of the story). Beatty is a walking contradiction, as he is full of knowledge pertaining to the books they burn. He is so well versed in their content by heart, yet seeks to eliminate books from existence on behalf of the government.Unlike Montag who simply found pleasure in his destructive line of work, Beatty knows full well every reason and intention as to why they do and takes pleasure in doing so. This, all while being so well versed in the knowledge and insights contained within them. He overall sees them as dangerous, yet behaves as if the type of knowledge contained within books should be reserved for elites rather than the average citizen. This antagonist displays the kind of pretentious attitude that perfectly captures what it means to convey the notion of a dystopian society within a book of this genre.After trials and tribulations in his struggle, Montag reaches a point where he is so moved by the message of a particular book, that he even steals it so that he can preserve it himself. As a Christian myself, I personally loved that this book just so happened to be a Bible. Why does Montag take such a personal infatuation with the Bible?It may be that Montag’s society is so lost that when bombs begin to fall toward the end, whatever Montag had read might help him and others rebuild society for the better. After all, the Bible is full of advice, and provides direction for moral and ethical enrichment. Certainly a new society would need guidelines to rebuild and improve over mistakes made in the past.Montag refers to the book of Job at one point in the story, as well as references made about Caanan. At the end, Montag even tries to recall parts of the books of Ecclesiastes and Revelation. The book of Revelation itself (arguably my favorite book of the Bible – I’m a fan of the dystopian genre after all) deals with the end of times. Although, perhaps Montag failed to recall this as quickly as he might because they are preparing to start a new life when the world appears to be ending.The novel ends with Montag escaping the city in the midst of this new war. He escapes deep into the countryside, meeting a band of roving intellectuals who have elected to preserve significant works of literature in their memory. Reminds me of the Vaudois, the Waldenses and the Albigenses who preserved the original books of scripture in spite of the persecution they suffered from the RCC.Not long after these roving intellectuals welcome Montag into their community, an atomic bomb falls on the city and reduces it to rubble. The next morning Montag leads the men on foot back toward the city with rebuilding in mind. The novel’s conclusion functions to bring the prevalent violence to its logical conclusion, which is that violence infiltrates nearly every aspect of the world our protagonist finds himself in.The firemen violently destroy people’s property and lives. Television displays gruesome, desensitizing violence for viewers’ entertainment. Pedestrians regularly get trampled by speeding vehicles. Finally, war takes these forms of violence to a new extreme, destroying society and its infrastructure altogether. The novel’s ending depicts the inevitable self-destruction of such an oppressive society in such an effective, and rather melancholy fashion.As stated in the beginning of the Fahrenheit 451 book review, this book is one of my all time favorites. It’s no wonder as to why I give it a 5/5 rating. Bradbury’s use of language is lyrical, yet not overly forceful. He paints a picture of a world in which we as a society should wish to avoid – in a multifaceted way.When it comes to dystopian books, this is truly a classic – and for good reason. Not only was it tremendous back in its heyday; it has stood the test of time, proving to be of use to us nearly 70 years later. I absolutely love Fahrenheit 451, and I believe you would too if you love dystopian fiction and have happened to somehow not have read it yet (it happens – later is better than never though!).

Livre en anglais ne correspond pas