Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
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Book Reviews of Fahrenheit 451
Book Review: Taking a Step into the Future
Summary: 5 Stars
Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is one of the most important and influential books of all time. In 1950, when it was written he didn't know he was going to predict today's society. Guy Montag, the protagonist, loved his work. There seemed to be nothing that he liked better than to spray kerosene on a pile of books and watch the pages curl and turn into ash. Until, one day he meets Clarisse, a 17-year-old girl who has been educated about the world. At one point in one of their conversation she asks if he is happy. Montag realizes that people should have the right to read books. He finds that books mean a lot to people when a woman chooses to burn herself with her books. Guy comes up with a plan to get revenge on other firemen in an effort to stop book banning.Montag's boss, Beatty tries to reason with Montag about the banishment of books saying "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 (61)." The people of Montag's society live under such a principle, even though at some times they may not know it.
The turning point in the novel is when his wife, Mildred discovers what he is doing. She becomes scared. Eventually, she turns him in, and he is forced to burn his collection of books. This is the climax of the book because the reader is unsure what lies ahead. The adrenaline of the reader is at its highest, and ones mind is trying to think of all the possible outcomes.
The censorship that is in Bradbury's novel comes from an inferior dictatorship. It is a culture that does not want its citizens to be lured into the meanings of books. Today, our culture is bombarded with advertisements. Everyday it seems as though we have less time to ourselves. Today we are not burning books and bookstores are popular, but we still seem to ban books for one reason or another. Fifty years later the book still remains relevant to our society.
Fahrenheit 451 is a brilliant novel. In my opinion, it is as meaningful perhaps even more so than it was when it was written in 1950. The novel shows what censorship can do to a society, and the importance of free speech. People must learn to accept different views, whether they agree totally or not. We must always be open to new opportunities that arise and never except the norm. Everyone should read Fahrenheit 451, take what they learn from it and apply it to their everyday lives. Overall, I think that the novel has a good message and I am glad that I spent my time reading it.
Book Review: Fahrenheit 451
Summary: 5 Stars
Possessing books is illegal, for which your house may burn. Guy Montag is a man in living in the near future and his occupation is a fireman, whose job it is to burn books. He grows sick of his the society and decides to see what is all about the books he burns. He sees another man in the city who enjoys books as well and they plan to bring them back into society. But after being forced to burn his own house, he commits murder and runs away. He flees to the outskirts of the city where there are retired philosophers and literaturists who help Montag. They watch as an atomic bomb destroy the city, then go and put their book knowledge to use. This book is excellent and very unique and is recommended to all readers.
The plot and flow of this story is also interesting. It begins with Montag first meeting Clarisse who strikes him as an odd person. He then comes home to find his wife unconscious and overdosed on sleeping pills. He burns a lady and her house, and begins to read the books he steals from the homes. After seeking help from a retired professor, Montag is forced to burn his own house. There he commits murder, which sends him on the run from the city. Outside the city, he witnesses it being destroyed by an atomic bomb.
Fahrenheit 451 is a very interesting story because of the unique setting. It is set in the near future in a modern city, but with a much different type of society. Thought they do not realize it, everyone seems to be depressed, compared to real modern society. The setting is also interesting because of the censorship at full extent. With houses being fireproof, firemen's new job is too set them ablaze. With no books, the true facts a completely unknown to the public, with false facts like Benjamin Franklin began the Firehouse and that houses have always been fireproof.
The characters are also interesting. Guy Montag is the lone person he knows who reads books, though he burns them and makes no sense of them. Beatty is an ironic man. Though he is big on burning books and how useless they are, it is obvious he reads them as well because he is a rather cunning intellectual and is able to manipulate almost anybody effortlessly. Another unique person is Clarisse McClellan. She is what one in their society might call an antisocial figure because of her odd habits and strange curiosity
This book is a must read, with such realistic settings and people. It almost seems like a real event, which took place in the past. This book is indeed unique and the best among all the novels.
I.Leung
(Vin)
Book Review: Fahrenheit 451
Summary: 5 Stars
Possessing books is illegal, for which your house may burn. Guy Montag is a man in living in the near future and his occupation is a fireman, whose job it is to burn books. He grows sick of his the society and decides to see what is all about the books he burns. He sees another man in the city who enjoys books as well and they plan to bring them back into society. But after being forced to burn his own house, he commits murder and runs away. He flees to the outskirts of the city where there are retired philosophers and literaturists who help Montag. They watch as an atomic bomb destroy the city, then go and put their book knowledge to use. This book is excellent and very unique and is recommended to all readers.
The plot and flow of this story is also interesting. It begins with Montag first meeting Clarisse who strikes him as an odd person. He then comes home to find his wife unconscious and overdosed on sleeping pills. He burns a lady and her house, and begins to read the books he steals from the homes. After seeking help from a retired professor, Montag is forced to burn his own house. There he commits murder, which sends him on the run from the city. Outside the city, he witnesses it being destroyed by an atomic bomb.
Fahrenheit 451 is a very interesting story because of the unique setting. It is set in the near future in a modern city, but with a much different type of society. Thought they do not realize it, everyone seems to be depressed, compared to real modern society. The setting is also interesting because of the censorship at full extent. With houses being fireproof, firemen's new job is too set them ablaze. With no books, the true facts a completely unknown to the public, with false facts like Benjamin Franklin began the Firehouse and that houses have always been fireproof.
The characters are also interesting. Guy Montag is the lone person he knows who reads books, though he burns them and makes no sense of them. Beatty is an ironic man. Though he is big on burning books and how useless they are, it is obvious he reads them as well because he is a rather cunning intellectual and is able to manipulate almost anybody effortlessly. Another unique person is Clarisse McClellan. She is what one in their society might call an antisocial figure because of her odd habits and strange curiosity
This book is a must read, with such realistic settings and people. It almost seems like a real event, which took place in the past. This book is indeed unique and the best among all the novels.
I.Leung
(Vin)
Book Review: Why Hate A Book Written For You?
Summary: 5 Stars
First off this is an excellent book. I'll not bother to say what it's about `cos everyone else has already done that. What I will say is that this book was written for all of you out there who hated it and want to see it burned. This book tells what is today so very well, with the poetic pose that Bradbury alone can use. No wonder he's only the second person EVER to be printed in TIME, and virtually every major magazine. In one sceen Montag reads poetry to a room of guests, they all burst into tears. The reason for this? They have never heard anything like it before, and can't understand it. Step into any high school English class and you'll find the same thing, kids not understanding and hating the book. Many people hate this book, they don't understand it. It describes mode day perfectly. Look at any college library were they have books that have been banned for being "intororant" "Little House On The Prairie", "The Bible" books that offended. In the world described in this book all, books offend, nobody understand them and if one person doesn't get it WHOOSH! up in flames it goes. That's why student's today read dull gutless books by contemporaries, instead of books to make you think like something by Dante, or Milton. God forbid the poor kid not understand something. A 12-year-old wrote, "This book is supposed to be about the future, but talks it resembles today" NO KIDDING! This alone shows the greatness of this book, it was written 50 years ago, and tells us about ourselves. They also claimed they could "not relate to anyone in the book." What a shock! Got news kid this was written for adults, of COURSE you couldn't relate, how could you? Unless you're abnormally intelligent they couldn't. The teacher who assigned this book to a class of 12-year-olds should have their head examined; they weren't going to get it. Some people say Bradbury has a negative outlook on the future. Anyone who was read a book by him knows that. The reason? Bradbury has a firm grasp on reality, and knows that humans are evil, and will ultimately destroy themselves. He has good cause to be pessimistic, he looks at the modern world and shakes his head, and then try's to do something about it by educating us. For those of you who want to be educated, and are bright enough to understand this book, and the truth it shows, buy it. For the rest of you. Buy a meaningless book by I know not who, and find why nobody knows who they are. And leave book meant for bright people with eyes in their heads alone.Book Review: Nothing but prophetic
Summary: 5 Stars
Upon first thinking of the book burning concept, I thought to myself, "That's unrealistic. It would never get that far." After reading Fahrenheit 451, however, I've come to realize that the creep towards censorship is insidious, and the American society is closer than I had previously realized. With the several groups, races, sects, and organizations complaining and protesting over every word that offends their fragile egos, with political correctness rewriting books and documentation even as I write this review, Bradbury was much closer to predicting the future than even he had probably imagined.
Guy Montag is a fire fighter in the new world, a world where firemen start fires rather than douse the blazes. He travels from house to house, totally incinerating any location that dares possess and read books that do not fit the very limited list that has become acceptable. Regardless of families, livelihoods, or other considerations, if the occupant owns books, the house will be set ablaze. Montag's job, however, has started to make him consider the consequences and reasons his job exists.
Montag meets a teenage girl named Clarisse in his neighborhood with an odd aura about her. She causes him to think deeply, to consider that which he had previously taken for granted. Her entire way of life, her family atmosphere, it all takes him by surprise, and eventually invigorates him with life he hadn't felt in quite some time. The daily monotony of his life, his marriage, and his job had Montag quite melancholy, and the new perspective brought on by the young girl with an odd wisdom becomes the catalyst for life changes.
What follows is a brilliantly described story, where the details fly off the pages in colorful and lively metaphors. Bradbury's style allows each reader to clearly and easily see the images of Montag's world, a world in which Montag must now make a decision to continue living his life, or to follow his heart and mind into a new and dangerous journey.
In the end it's a story about the dangers of groupthink and the loss of freedom. It's a prophetic warning, showing how seemingly minor forms of censorship could eventually lead to a society without the basic freedoms of individual thought, self-expression, or self-growth.
I can't recommend this book highly enough, and it should be required reading for every school across the nation.