Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - Fahrenheit 451

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.

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soton's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

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bunnivie's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense 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

3.5

this was an interesting read.

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celery's review against another edition

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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

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kajasversion's review against another edition

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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.”

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lorraine19's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark informative reflective tense 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? It's complicated

3.75

This book is a classic for a reason. Prior to reading this book, I had only heard it was about book sensorship but I think that neglects so much of this story. Yes it's about sensorship, but it is also about war, technology, human connection, and what it means to be human. Feel like that makes this book even more important.

That being said, just talking about the actual reading experience, I was a little disappointed. It feels like a big opportunity was missed by starting at the point where the main character has a change of heart instead of establishing his character before the change. It made it difficult to connect or feel anything for him. I know lots of emotions are taken out because of the environment, but even the characters that were fighting felt flat and didn't elicit the emotions I was expecting.

Overall, one I think is important and a must read for its lessons and societal impact. But not as captivating as it could have been just as a story.

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elisabeth888's review against another edition

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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.

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misty_kb's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No

3.75

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