Scan barcode
angorarabbit's review against another edition
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
TLDR: Beautiful writing style, thought provoking ideas.
Context: Teenager me tried to read a Bradbury short story collection but my mind was too jittery to appreciate well written prose and I was too impatient for short stories. That is a loss I will try to make up for.
A good novel lives rent free in your mind long after it is placed back on the shelf or returned to the library. For a great novel you are happy to give it the room. Fahrenheit 451 is one of those books. Rather than glow about Mr Bradbury’s work I’d like to leave my thoughts on two things.
First; Beatty is explaining to Montag why books are not only not needed but harmful to their society. “Coloured people don’t like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White People don’t feel good about Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Burn it.” In an afterword Mr Bradbury also writes that minorities and women play a part in censoring and banning books.
While women and minorities do add their voices to calls against books I do not think that they are the reason why books such as Little Black Sambo (LBS) are discarded. Rather, I would argue that it is the trend in books that changed. Even in the 60’s LBS was thought of as old fashioned, something your grandparents had laying around. We had Dr Seuss, and Maurice Sendak for goodness sake. Why would we want to read and look at pictures as old hat as LBC? LBC was as square as Aesop’s fables.
If women could rewrite books surely there would be a leading role for a few females in the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings for a start. Foundation doesn’t have a single female, minority, or lgbtqaa+ character as far as I recall, yet has it been rewritten? No because the majority see no need.
Second: The wall to wall televisions block out the leaves and the Seashells block out the crickets in the night. Books can open your eyes or blind you to reality. They can enhance or block you thinking for yourself just as much if you let them. The trick is to read what will enhance and to live in the real world. If I had to memorise one book to save it from the book burners it would be Fahlrenheit 451 and not the bible.
Again thank you to libraries and librarians who despite the gun bearing Redoubt continue to bring banned books to our eyes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Suicide, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Grief, and War
Minor: Infertility and Religious bigotry
Graphic book burning, possible suicide attempt.nenah_elizabeth's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Blood, Medical content, and Grief
michaelion's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
i read this once in 2020 (fell asleep in the last hour of the audiobook but i retained the whole story, woke up the next day, relistened to the parts i missed), and watched the truffaut movie in one of my last film classes, but i have the book version and i thought i might as well give it the honest try now that i’m officially integrated into reading.
welp, i gave it 3 stars back when i didnt have a rating system, and 3 stars was too generous. i get what he was going for but there are so many questions and plot holes. WHY do they know how to read if books are illegal is the biggest one! WHO taught them and HOW and WHY. and honestly with that question alone I don’t even need to get into my other issues. the story isn’t good but white people have a very low bar for what they have made into classics. basically anything that happened in real life to people of color they fictionalized and went “isn't that terrible? wouldn’t that be terrible if that happened to us civilized people? and isn’t the prose fantastic? let’s make this a classic.” like there are absolutely better dystopian and censorship based books. let me stop the man’s already six feet under.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Police brutality, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Vomit, Medical content, and War
Minor: Mass/school shootings and Abortion
celery's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
kajasversion's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
i agree with everything Sideria said so i’ll just leave this here: “Besides that it also describes a future of degenerating and increasingly faster entertainment. Entertainment that doesn't ask hard questions. And in that it often managed to predict some bad current tendencies in 21st century media. 30sec short form video bombardement. But as much as the book gets right about the future, it gets wrong as well. Because books are more popular than ever. Long form video content and endless critiques of power structures still exist. There's just more of everything now and (as of now) we make our own decision on what we spend our time on. As a cautionary tale it does work I think and Ray Bradbury never claimed that he tried to predict the future.
The book doesn't escape the solid undertone of 1950's pre feminist misogyny. Every single woman in this book except Clarisse (who's childish and innocent) is hysterical. It's not even clear if they have a job. Granted, given the book's short 200 page length, you never truly get an idea of everyday life in this Dystopia but I'd assume gender dynamics is one the things that hadn't changed. This is the biggest point of critique I have.”
The book doesn't escape the solid undertone of 1950's pre feminist misogyny. Every single woman in this book except Clarisse (who's childish and innocent) is hysterical. It's not even clear if they have a job. Granted, given the book's short 200 page length, you never truly get an idea of everyday life in this Dystopia but I'd assume gender dynamics is one the things that hadn't changed. This is the biggest point of critique I have.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child death, Murder, and War
Minor: Suicide, Car accident, and Abortion
elisabeth888's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Although this book was published over 70 years ago, its critiques continue to remain relevant to modern society. Within Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury critiques the dystopian society in which Montag lives. It is a totalitarian regime which uses anti-intelletualism, excessive violence, and the destruction of media to promote a dominate, misleading narrative.
The media that people are allowed to consume is surface-level and empty, prioritizing sensationalism rather than having a larger meaning. People, like Montag's wife, are addicted to watching screens with programs that contain no real substance and are often grisly. This feels like a prediction for modern-day algorithms which are employed to keep people addicted to media consumption.
I found Montag's character development to be very interesting to read throughout the novel. I wish we could have had more backstory for each character within the novel, especially for Clarrise and Beatty. I found these secondary characters to make great speeches throughout the novel and would have liked to hear more from them. Otherwise, I found Fahrenheit 451 to be a good read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child death, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit, Car accident, and Abortion
terrortwilight's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Car accident
laurakehl's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Car accident
squishy_bee's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
slow-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? No
3.75
It's a very quotable book, but I do find it lacks nuance sometimes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Self harm, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Car accident, Murder, and War
Minor: Child death
singalana's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Omia ajatuksia ja tuntemuksia oli hankalaa summata yhteen tämän kirjan lukemisen jälkeen. Luulen, että se pitääkö tästä kirjasta vai ei, riippuu paljon siitä mitä asioita kirjassa arvostaa.
Fahrenheit 451 on dystooppinen novelli tulevaisuudesta, missä kirjat on kielletty ja ihmiset pidetään tyytyväisenä viihteen avulla. Sodat ovat normaaleja ja ihmiset tekevät itsemurhia, mutta kukaan ei pysähdy miettimään ovatko he onnellisia. Päähenkilö Guy Montag kuuluu palomiehiin, joiden tehtävä on etsiä ja rankaista rikollisia: ihmisiä, joiden hallussa on kirjoja. Kirjat, sekä niitä hallussa pitäneen ihmisen talo poltetaan. Montag pitää työstään, kunnes eräänä päivänä nuori tyttö kysyy häneltä onko hän onnellinen.
On suorastaan hämmästyttävää miten paljon kirjan yhteiskunta muistuttaa maapallon nykytilaa: aivoja turruttavaa viihdettä, mekaanisia robottikoiria valvomassa lainrikkojia, kirjojen kieltämistä. Kuitenkin on sanottava, että kirjan sanoma on vaikuttavampi kuin toteutus. Jos pidät syväluotaavista hahmojen ja maailman kuvauksesta, saatat pettyä tämmän kirjan proosaan. Täytyy kuitenkin miettiä, onko tämä tarkoituksella: onko esimerkiksi Montagin hahmon tarkoitus toimia kehyksinä, joihin voimme asettaa itsemme? Kirjassa esitetään myös muutamia hyviä havaintoja esimerkiksi siitä, mitä ihminen jättää jälkeensä kuollessaan.
Valitettavasti olen itse sellainen lukija, että kaipaan hahmoilta hieman enemmän syvyyttä. Lisäksi olisin toivonut välillä hieman viipyilevämpää kerrontaa, etenkin kun esiteltiin tarinan kannalta tärkeitä konsepteja. Fahrenheit on kuitenkin nopealukuinen ja teemoiltaan tärkeä, joten suosittelen sitä kyllä lämpimästi kaikille.
Tämän painoksen kansi on graafisesti miellyttävä ja kuvaava, ja selkämyksen kuviointi on tehty muistuttamaan tulitikkulaatikon raapaisupintaa.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War