Fahrenheit 451 (Flamingo Modern Classics)
by Ray Bradbury
Our Price: $4.98
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.92 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Ray BradburyEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1993-08-16
ISBN: 0006546064
Number of pages: 192
Publisher: Flamingo
Book Reviews of Fahrenheit 451 (Flamingo Modern Classics)
Book Review: Freedom versus happiness?
Summary: 5 Stars
Very little in the way of review is required for this classic novel, given that its content and themes are so well known. I will, however, attempt to give a response to this monumental work.
Fahrenheit 451 addresses the subject of censorship by depicting a society in which books are forbidden. The destruction (by fire) of any books discovered represents a form of social control which is, essentially, a distortion of utilitarian ethics. The fire chief, Captain Beatty, explains to the novel's primary character, Montag, that the work of a "fireman" is to assure happiness for the many. Utilitarianism, of the kind promoted by John Stewart Mill and Jeremy Bentham, judges the ethical correctness of any action according to whether or not it produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. The character of Beatty argues that books have a disruptive influence on society: "[W]e can't have our minorities upset and stirred. Ask yourself, what do we want in this country, above all? People want to be happy, isn't that right?" Happiness for the majority is encouraged by "the parlor" (a form of television) which entertains and generates contentment by avoiding material which could stimulate independent thought and, therefore, anxiety.
Montag, however, becomes increasingly dissatisfied with this stagnant social situation, and curiously (given his lack of exposure to books) he expresses his disquiet through an apparent reference to Plato's Republic: "Maybe books can get us out of the cave." While this may seem an unlikely observation, it neatly signifies the growing enlightenment in Montag and his desire for further enlightenment - both for himself and for his society. It also draws attention to a somewhat ironic parallel. In matters related to education, Plato was very selective about which works of literature should be used, just as only a few books (mostly technical manuals) are permitted in the society imagined here by Ray Bradbury.
But books aren't really the issue for Bradbury; what matters is the freedom of ideas they represent. Books themselves are mere receptacles. Bradbury's interest clearly lies in the censorship of ideas, not the medium that carries them.
Fahrenheit 451 deserves its status as a classic. It beautifully conveys the power (and the fear) of ideas, and the conflict between the conservative and pioneering tendencies in human consciousness. It easily earns five stars.
Summary of Fahrenheit 451 (Flamingo Modern Classics)
The hauntingly prophetic classic novel set in a not-too-distant future where books are burned by a special task force of firemen. Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to burn books, which are forbidden, being the source of all discord and unhappiness. Even so, Montag is unhappy; there is discord in his marriage. Are books hidden in his house? The Mechanical Hound of the Fire Department, armed with a lethal hypodermic, escorted by helicopters, is ready to track down those dissidents who defy society to preserve and read books. The classic novel of a post-literate future, 'Fahrenheit 451' stands alongside Orwell's '1984' and Huxley's 'Brave New World' as a prophetic account of Western civilization's enslavement by the media, drugs and conformity. Bradbury's powerful and poetic prose combines with uncanny insight into the potential of technology to create a novel which over fifty years from first publication, still has the power to dazzle and shock.In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury's classic, frightening vision of the future, firemen don't put out fires--they start them in order to burn books. Bradbury's vividly painted society holds up the appearance of happiness as the highest goal--a place where trivial information is good, and knowledge and ideas are bad. Fire Captain Beatty explains it this way, "Give the people contests they win by remembering the words to more popular songs.... Don't give them slippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things up with. That way lies melancholy."
Guy Montag is a book-burning fireman undergoing a crisis of faith. His wife spends all day with her television "family," imploring Montag to work harder so that they can afford a fourth TV wall. Their dull, empty life sharply contrasts with that of his next-door neighbor Clarisse, a young girl thrilled by the ideas in books, and more interested in what she can see in the world around her than in the mindless chatter of the tube. When Clarisse disappears mysteriously, Montag is moved to make some changes, and starts hiding books in his home. Eventually, his wife turns him in, and he must answer the call to burn his secret cache of books. After fleeing to avoid arrest, Montag winds up joining an outlaw band of scholars who keep the contents of books in their heads, waiting for the time society will once again need the wisdom of literature.
Bradbury--the author of more than 500 short stories, novels, plays, and poems, including The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man--is the winner of many awards, including the Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America. Readers ages 13 to 93 will be swept up in the harrowing suspense of Fahrenheit 451, and no doubt will join the hordes of Bradbury fans worldwide. --Neil Roseman
Classics Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Classics Books
Native sonby Richard Wright
Perennial Library; Published: 1987; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.75
Native Son: And How Bigger Was Bornby Richard Wright
Perennial; Published: 1993-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $60.00
Raphael and the Noble Taskby Catherine Salton
Harper; Published: 2000-10-24; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.49
Price in other shops:
Island (Perennial Classics)by Aldous Huxley
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2002-07-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
A Tree Grows in Brooklynby Betty Smith
Harper; Published: 2001-11-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.81
Price in other shops:
The Great Divorce CDby C. S. Lewis
HarperAudio; Published: 2003-11-25; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $12.70
Price in other shops:
Great Expectationsby Charles Dickens
Macmillan Pub Co; Published: 1979-06; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
This Side of Paradiseby Fitzgerald
Scribner Paper Fiction; Published: 1988-09-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.95
Price in other shops:
Black Coffee (Poirot)by Agatha Christie
Harper Collins Pb; Published: 2002-12-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $68.32
Slouching Towards Bethlehem (1960s)by Joan Didion
Flamingo; Published: 2001-04-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $22.25
Similar Books and other products
On Liberty (HPC Classics Series)by John Stuart Mill
Hackett Pub Co; Published: 1978-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.88
Price in other shops:
The Journals of Lewis and Clark (Lewis & Clark Expedition)by Meriwether Lewis, William Clark
Penguin Classics; Published: 2002-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.44
Price in other shops:
A Farewell To Armsby Ernest Hemingway
Scribner; Published: 1995-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.74
Price in other shops:
Two Treatises of Governmentby John Locke
Cambridge University Press; Published: 1988-10-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops:
The Handmaid's Taleby Margaret Atwood
Anchor; Published: 1998-03-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.21
Price in other shops:
Terrorist: A Novelby John Updike
Random House Trade Paperbacks; Published: 2007-05-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.35
Price in other shops:
Fahrenheit 451 (Cliffs Notes)by Kristi Hiner
Cliffs Notes; Published: 2000-12-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.17
Price in other shops:
Brave New Worldby Aldous Huxley
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2006-10-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.50
Price in other shops:
Animal Farm: Centennial Editionby George Orwell
Plume; Published: 2003-05-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.64
Price in other shops:
Nineteen Eighty-Fourby George Orwell
Plume; Published: 2003-05-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.49
Price in other shops: