Fahrenheit 451
by: Ray Bradbury
Price: $6.99
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Amazon.com Review:
In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury's classic, frighteningvision of the future, firemen don't put out fires--they start them inorder to burn books. Bradbury's vividly painted society holds up theappearance of happiness as the highest goal--a place where trivialinformation is good, and knowledge and ideas are bad. Fire CaptainBeatty explains it this way, "Give the people contests they winby remembering the words to more popular songs.... Don't give themslippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things upwith. That way lies melancholy."
Guy Montag is a book-burning fireman undergoing a crisis of faith. Hiswife spends all day with her television "family," imploringMontag to work harder so that they can afford a fourth TV wall. Theirdull, empty life sharply contrasts with that of his next-door neighborClarisse, a young girl thrilled by the ideas in books, and moreinterested in what she can see in the world around her than in themindless chatter of the tube. When Clarisse disappears mysteriously,Montag is moved to make some changes, and starts hiding books in hishome. Eventually, his wife turns him in, and he must answer the callto burn his secret cache of books. After fleeing to avoid arrest,Montag winds up joining an outlaw band of scholars who keep thecontents of books in their heads, waiting for the time society willonce again need the wisdom of literature.
Bradbury--the author of more than 500 short stories, novels, plays,and poems, including The MartianChronicles and The IllustratedMan--is the winner of many awards, including the Grand MasterAward from the Science Fiction Writers of America. Readers ages 13 to93 will be swept up in the harrowing suspense of Fahrenheit451, and no doubt will join the hordes of Bradbury fans worldwide.--Neil Roseman
Product Description:
Nowadays firemen start fires. Fireman Guy Montag loves to rush to a fire and watch books burn up. Then he met a seventeen-year old girl who told him of a past when people were not afraid, and a professor who told him of a future where people could think. And Guy Montag knew what he had to do....
In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury's classic, frighteningvision of the future, firemen don't put out fires--they start them inorder to burn books. Bradbury's vividly painted society holds up theappearance of happiness as the highest goal--a place where trivialinformation is good, and knowledge and ideas are bad. Fire CaptainBeatty explains it this way, "Give the people contests they winby remembering the words to more popular songs.... Don't give themslippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things upwith. That way lies melancholy."
Guy Montag is a book-burning fireman undergoing a crisis of faith. Hiswife spends all day with her television "family," imploringMontag to work harder so that they can afford a fourth TV wall. Theirdull, empty life sharply contrasts with that of his next-door neighborClarisse, a young girl thrilled by the ideas in books, and moreinterested in what she can see in the world around her than in themindless chatter of the tube. When Clarisse disappears mysteriously,Montag is moved to make some changes, and starts hiding books in hishome. Eventually, his wife turns him in, and he must answer the callto burn his secret cache of books. After fleeing to avoid arrest,Montag winds up joining an outlaw band of scholars who keep thecontents of books in their heads, waiting for the time society willonce again need the wisdom of literature.
Bradbury--the author of more than 500 short stories, novels, plays,and poems, including The MartianChronicles and The IllustratedMan--is the winner of many awards, including the Grand MasterAward from the Science Fiction Writers of America. Readers ages 13 to93 will be swept up in the harrowing suspense of Fahrenheit451, and no doubt will join the hordes of Bradbury fans worldwide.--Neil Roseman
Product Description:
Nowadays firemen start fires. Fireman Guy Montag loves to rush to a fire and watch books burn up. Then he met a seventeen-year old girl who told him of a past when people were not afraid, and a professor who told him of a future where people could think. And Guy Montag knew what he had to do....
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- An unsubtle sledgehammer of a novel
I love Something Wicked This Way Comes, and look forward to reading more Bradbury eventually, but I did not particularly like *this* novel of his.
Why not? Because of all the sociopolitical satires or didactic fictional works I've ever read, this one is the most unsubtle. It is the literary equivalent of grabbing someone, violently shaking him, bellowing "CENSORSHIP IS BAD! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?" in his face, and then, for good measure, clubbing him with a blunt object. As a work of literature, ... Read More
Rating: - Great Book to read, but NOT to LISTEN to.
I have always liked this book to read so I thought I would get it on CD. Ray Bradbury reads it, and it is very bad. It was so painful to listen to his voice I had to turn it off. He reads in such a monotone voice it put me to sleep. Someone needs to re-make the CD's.
Rating: - Not What You Expect
Guy Montag is a firefighter, but not what you expect. He starts the fires. Guy meets a girl who turns his whole world upside down. She opens the doors to his mind and changes his whole perspective on life. She changes everything he ever knew.
I enjoyed this book. I learned that you might not know people or even yourself as well as you thought. I also learned that you don't really know what you have until you have it ripped away from you.
Some parts in this book made me want to keep reading ... Read More
Rating: 
- The Best Book I've Ever Read
In the book Fahrenheit 451 author Ray Bradbury shows his wisdom and our faults through a character called Guy Montag. The story takes place in the near future and shows a world where history is an unknown blur and books are a contraband that must be burned. The people in charge of burning these so-called "contraband items" are non other than the worlds firefighters. And of course, one of those brave book burners is Guy Montag.
Guy has lived his entire life without questioning it, but all of that ... Read More
Rating: - What if firemen set fires instead of putting them out?
One of my all time favorite books.Montag lives in a world where books are burned and firemen actually set fires instead of putting them out.It's hard to imagine what Montag had to go through to make such a change in his life and go against all social norms, to be one of the most revered in society (a fireman) to an outcast.It's also very interesting to see the correlations to today's lifestyle.
- An unsubtle sledgehammer of a novelI love Something Wicked This Way Comes, and look forward to reading more Bradbury eventually, but I did not particularly like *this* novel of his.
Why not? Because of all the sociopolitical satires or didactic fictional works I've ever read, this one is the most unsubtle. It is the literary equivalent of grabbing someone, violently shaking him, bellowing "CENSORSHIP IS BAD! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?" in his face, and then, for good measure, clubbing him with a blunt object. As a work of literature, ... Read More
- Great Book to read, but NOT to LISTEN to.I have always liked this book to read so I thought I would get it on CD. Ray Bradbury reads it, and it is very bad. It was so painful to listen to his voice I had to turn it off. He reads in such a monotone voice it put me to sleep. Someone needs to re-make the CD's.
- Not What You ExpectGuy Montag is a firefighter, but not what you expect. He starts the fires. Guy meets a girl who turns his whole world upside down. She opens the doors to his mind and changes his whole perspective on life. She changes everything he ever knew.
I enjoyed this book. I learned that you might not know people or even yourself as well as you thought. I also learned that you don't really know what you have until you have it ripped away from you.
Some parts in this book made me want to keep reading ... Read More
- The Best Book I've Ever ReadIn the book Fahrenheit 451 author Ray Bradbury shows his wisdom and our faults through a character called Guy Montag. The story takes place in the near future and shows a world where history is an unknown blur and books are a contraband that must be burned. The people in charge of burning these so-called "contraband items" are non other than the worlds firefighters. And of course, one of those brave book burners is Guy Montag.
Guy has lived his entire life without questioning it, but all of that ... Read More
- What if firemen set fires instead of putting them out?One of my all time favorite books.Montag lives in a world where books are burned and firemen actually set fires instead of putting them out.It's hard to imagine what Montag had to go through to make such a change in his life and go against all social norms, to be one of the most revered in society (a fireman) to an outcast.It's also very interesting to see the correlations to today's lifestyle.
