Fahrenheit 451
Ratings2,244
Average rating3.9
It's interesting to see that the same issues existed over 70 years ago. The parallels to today are striking and thought-provoking. It's interesting to see how fast the main character goes from conforming to thinking as an individual.
There were many parts of this book that I found problematic (the absurdly flat, semi-misogynistically-written female characters; the incoherent critique of television) but could have chalked up to interesting ambiguities until I read the Afterword and Coda by the author, who turns out to have written this polemic/parable as an ill-considered response to criticism (you know, censorship by women's-libbers and homosexuals) and new media.
Otherwise, Bradbury is clearly a virtuosic writer in a showoffy way, but the story pacing and structure is pretty strained. Although Captain Beatty is a pretty terrifically villainous bad guy.
Sadly this book has become more relevant than ever and it's not for the initial reasons you might think.
Most people talk about the book burning in this novel when in reality it's simply a by product of the sedation by overstimulation present within this society.
People, whether they're aware of it or not, all feel this deep unhappiness because they feel as if they're lives are pointless and lack meaning.
Thomas Ligotti, in his book The Conspiracy Against The Human Race, pointed out that the frequently prescribed antidote for this horror of our pointless existence is engaging in some mental gymnastics to simply not think about or to divert ourselves from this fact. This also aligns with a section in Dr. Victor Frankl's book Mans Search For Meaning. Within, Frankl states that once we are aware of this void of meaning some will look for outward stimulation in an attempt to fill or otherwise distract from it, instead of looking within and engaging in introspection, something which Faber alludes to.
How many times have we had a problem that we didn't want to think about? Then we whip out our pocket computer and begin scrolling on our preferred feed. We've all done this at some point and if I could take anything away from re-reading this classic, it would that we all need to un-plug a bit more. Sit with our thoughts, engage in some critical thinking and maybe even talk to someone we normally don't. Maybe then we would see the world for the millions of diverse human lives and ideas that make it up.
Science Fiction with an impact at one of it's highest levels. The story follows a man a future society where he works as a fireman – only firemen don't put out fires. Instead, they burn books. This heavy handed symbolism for the issues of the 1950's surrounding communism and a general fear of new ideas. It's interesting to think what kind of an affect this book had on our society.
very good it's nice to have the “society” kinda classics under the belt bc of school reading
So, first things first- I have never written a review before, but my friend peer pressured me into it. shakes fist angrily at the heavens ANYWHO, I decided to write it on a book I loved. :)
You know that feeling you get when you know you're going to love a book? That's how it was for this book. The first line of the story is just, I don't know, chilling (not really, but it's really awesome).
“It was a pleasure to burn.”
I've never read any of Bradbury's other works, but this book really, really makes me want to. It was loaded with metaphors, and had a great plot/meaning. Now, I will say, some times the metaphors were a bit much, but I still believe this book is worth the 5 stars. In conclusion, this book was a pleasure to read. (Sorry for the corniness- I couldn't resist.)
Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel by American writer Ray Bradbury, published in 1953. The novel presents a future American society where books are outlawed and “firemen” burn any that are found. The book's tagline explains the title: “Fahrenheit 451 – the temperature at which book paper catches fire, and burns ...“
The novel has been the subject of interpretations focusing on the historical role of book burning in suppressing dissenting ideas. In a 1956 radio interview, Bradbury stated that he wrote Fahrenheit 451 because of his concerns at the time (during the McCarthy era) about the threat of book burning in the United States. In later years, he described the book as a commentary on how mass media reduces interest in reading literature.
Fahrenheit 451 deals with serious problems of control of the masses by the media, the banning of books, and the suppression of the mind (with censorship). The major developments of Part One surround the degenerated future in which books and independent thinking are forbidden.
The novel is divided into three parts: “The Hearth and the Salamander”, “The Sieve and the Sand”, and “Burning Bright”.
"The Hearth and the Salamander"Guy Montag is a "fireman" employed to burn the possessions of those who read outlawed books. He is married and has no children. One fall night while returning from work, he meets his new neighbor, a teenage girl named Clarisse McClellan, whose free-thinking ideals and liberating spirit cause him to question his life and his own perceived happiness. Montag returns home to find that his wife Mildred has overdosed on sleeping pills, and he calls for medical attention. Two uncaring EMTs come over to pump Mildred's stomach, drain her poisoned blood, and fill her with new blood. After the EMTs leave to rescue another overdose victim, Montag watches over Mildred, watching the new blood fill her pallid cheeks. Montag then goes outside, overhearing Clarisse and her family talk about the way life is in this hedonistic, illiterate society. Montag's mind is bombarded with Clarisse's subversive thoughts and the memory of his wife's near-death. The next day, Montag finds Mildred in the kitchen, with no memory of what happened and talking incessantly about being hungry from an alleged hangover she has from a party she thought she attended last night. Over the next few days, Clarisse faithfully meets Montag as he walks home. She tells him about how her simple pleasures and interests make her an outcast among her peers and how she's forced to go to therapy for her behavior and thoughts. Montag looks forward to these meetings, and just as he begins to expect them, Clarisse goes absent. He senses something is wrong.In the following days, while at work with the other firemen ransacking the book-filled house of an old woman before the inevitable burning, Montag steals a book before any of his coworkers notice. The woman refuses to leave her house and her books, choosing instead to light a match and burn herself alive. Montag returns home jarred by the woman's suicide. While getting ready for bed, he hides the stolen book under his pillow. Still shaken by the night's events, he attempts to make conversation with Mildred, starting by asking her when they first met and where. Mildred goes to answer, but immediately forgets. As she laughs off her ignorance and heads for the bathroom to take more sleeping pills, Montag realizes just how much Mildred's sleeping pill addiction, love of interactive entertainment, and fast driving has ruined her mind and their marriage. Later, as Mildred is sleeping, Montag wakes her up and asks her has she seen or heard anything about Clarisse McClellan. Mildred initially brushes off the question until she finally reveals what happened: Clarisse's family moved away after Clarisse got hit by a speeding car and died four days ago. Dismayed by her failure to mention this earlier, Montag uneasily tries to fall asleep. Outside he suspects the presence of "The Hound", an eight-legged robotic dog-like creature that resides in the firehouse and aids the firemen.Montag awakens ill the next morning, with Mildred nagging him to get up and go to work. As Mildred tries to care for her husband (but finds herself more involved in the parlor wall entertainment in the next room), Montag suggests that maybe he should take a break from being a fireman after what happened last night. Mildred panics over the thought of losing the house and her parlor wall family and angrily blames the old woman who killed herself over her books for Montag's change of heart over his job. Captain Beatty, Montag's fire chief, personally visits Montag to see how he is doing. Sensing Montag's concerns, Beatty recounts how books lost their value and where the firemen fit in: over the course of several decades, people embraced new media (in this case, film and television), sports, and a quickening pace of life. Books were ruthlessly abridged or degraded to accommodate a short attention span while minority groups protested over the controversial, outdated content perceived to be found in literature (yet comic books, trade papers, and sex magazines were allowed to stay, as those fed into the population's want for mindless entertainment). The government took advantage of this by turning the firemen into officers of people's peace of mind. Beatty adds casually that all firemen eventually steal a book out of curiosity; if the book is burned within 24 hours, the fireman and his family will not get in trouble.After Beatty has left, Montag reveals to Mildred that, over the last year, he has accumulated a stash of books that he has kept hidden in their air-conditioning duct. In a panic, Mildred grabs a book and rushes to throw it in their kitchen incinerator. Montag subdues her and tells her that the two of them are going to read the books to see if they have value. If they do not, he promises the books will be burned, and all will return to normal."The Sieve and the Sand"While Montag and Mildred are perusing the stolen books, a sniffing occurs at their front door. Montag recognizes it as The Hound while Mildred passes it off as a random dog. They resume their discussion once the sound ceases, but Mildred refuses to go along with it, questioning why she or anyone else should care about books. Montag goes on a rant about Mildred's suicide attempt, Clarisse's disappearance and death, the old woman who burned herself, and the constant din of bombers flying overhead and the imminent threat of war that goes ignored by the masses. He then states that maybe the books of the past have messages that can save society from its own destruction. The conversation is interrupted by a call from Mildred's friend, Mrs. Bowles, and they set up a date to watch the "parlor walls" (large televisions lining the walls of her living room) that night at Mildred's house.Montag, meanwhile, concedes that Mildred is a lost cause and he will need help to understand the books. Montag remembers an old man named Faber he once met in a park a year ago, an English professor before books were banned. He telephones Faber with questions about books, and Faber soon hangs up on him. Undeterred, Montag makes a subway trip to Faber's home along with a rare copy of the Bible, the book he stole at the woman's house. He tries to read it on the way, but gets distracted by a radio jingle for Denham's Dentifrice and nearly goes insane. Once he arrives at Faber's house, Montag forces the scared and reluctant Faber into helping him by methodically ripping pages from the Bible. Faber concedes and gives Montag a homemade ear-piece communicator so he can offer constant guidance.After Montag returns home, Mildred's friends, Mrs. Bowles and Mrs. Phelps, arrive to watch the "parlor walls". Not interested in this insipid entertainment, Montag turns off the walls and tries to engage the women in meaningful conversation, only for them to reveal just how indifferent, ignorant, and callous they are about the upcoming war, the thought of losing loved ones to death, their unruly children, and who they voted for in the last election. Enraged by their idiocy, Montag leaves momentarily and returns with a book of poetry. This confuses the women and alarms Faber, who is listening remotely. Mildred tries to dismiss Montag's actions as a tradition fireman do once a year: they find a book from the past and read it as a way to make fun of how silly the past is. Montag proceeds to recite the poem Dover Beach, causing Mrs. Phelps to cry. At the behest of Faber in the ear-piece, Montag burns the book. Mildred's friends leave in disgust, while Mildred locks herself in the bathroom and takes more sleeping pills.In the aftermath of the parlor party, Montag hides his books in his backyard before returning to the firehouse late at night with just the stolen Bible. He finds Beatty playing cards with the other firemen. Montag hands Beatty a book to cover for the one he believes Beatty knows he stole the night before, which is unceremoniously tossed into the trash. Beatty tells Montag that he had a dream in which they fought endlessly by quoting books to each other. In describing the dream Beatty reveals that, despite his disillusionment, he was once an enthusiastic reader. A fire alarm sounds, and Beatty picks up the address from the dispatcher system. They drive in the firetruck recklessly to the destination. Montag is stunned when the truck arrives at his house."Burning Bright"Beatty orders Montag to destroy his own house, telling him that his wife and her friends reported him after what happened the other night. Montag watches as Mildred walks out of the house, too traumatized about losing her parlor wall family to even acknowledge her husband's existence or the situation going on around her, and catches a taxi, never once looking back. Montag obeys the chief, destroying the home piece by piece with a flamethrower. As soon as he has incinerated the house, Beatty discovers Montag's ear-piece and plans to hunt down Faber. Montag threatens Beatty with the flamethrower and (after Beatty taunts him) burns his boss alive, and knocks his coworkers unconscious. As Montag escapes the scene, the firehouse's mechanical dog attacks him, managing to inject his leg with a tranquilizer. He destroys The Hound with the flamethrower and limps away.Montag runs through the city streets towards Faber's house. Faber urges him to make his way to the countryside and contact the exiled book-lovers who live there. He mentions he will be leaving on an early bus heading to St. Louis and that he and Montag can rendezvous there later. On Faber's television, they watch news reports of another mechanical hound being released, with news helicopters following it to create a public spectacle. After successfully wiping Montag's scent from around the house in hopes of deterring the hound, Montag leaves Faber's house. After an extended manhunt, he escapes by wading into a river and floating downstream.Montag leaves the river in the countryside, where he meets the exiled drifters, led by a man named Granger. They have each memorized books should the day come that society comes to an end, then rebuilds itself anew; this time, with the survivors learning to embrace the literature of the past. While learning the philosophy of the exiles, Montag and the group watch helplessly as bombers fly overhead and annihilate the city with nuclear weapons. While Faber would have left on the early bus, everyone else (including Mildred) was immediately killed. Montag and the group are injured and dirtied, but manage to survive the shock wave.The following morning, Granger teaches Montag and the others about the legendary phoenix and its endless cycle of long life, death in flames, and rebirth. He adds that the phoenix must have some relationship to mankind, which constantly repeats its mistakes. Granger explains that man has something the phoenix does not: mankind can remember its mistakes and try never to repeat them. Granger then muses that a large factory of mirrors should be built, so that way people can take a long look at themselves and reflect on their lives. When the meal is over, the exiles return to the city to rebuild society
Bradbury's implicit hope and faith in the common man by representing the life of a working-class fireman. Though Montag isn't a man of profound thought or speech, his transformation has occurred through his innate sense of morality and growing awareness of human dignity. Note, as well, the dual image of fire in its destructive and purifying functions. Although fire is destructive, it also warms; hence, the source of the title of Part One, “The Hearth and the Salamander.” Hearth suggests home and the comforting aspect of fire — its ability to warm and cook. In ancient mythology, the salamander was a creature that could survive fire. Possibly Montag himself is represented in the salamander reference. His job dictates that he live in an environment of fire and destruction, but Montag realizes that the salamander is able to remove itself from fire — and survive.
Parts of the book are slightly dated, but it seems to have correctly predicted society and the way we sadly seem to be heading. In the final part of the book the Phoenix is mentioned. Society may rise from the ashes, but we never seem to learn from our mistakes. War, maybe to almost obliterate the human race once again until we again rise from the ashes only to repeat previous mistakes. But we are all distracted by our latest gadgets and endless mind trivia so that seems to make living bearable ...
** Medium : Audiobook **
F451 is a cult classic. A sharp critique of the erosion of knowledge and attack on arts and culture. Bradbury's book in the 1950s was a response against the violent subduction of liberal voices rising against the Cold War by the American government. As good books often prove, they stay relevant beyond their time, often for decades and centuries to come. Funny enough, Bradbury wrote a book so significant and timeless that its protagonist in the third act would memorize its content.
The book is full of iconic dialogues. It features less than ten characters panning 200-odd pages, and yet, in such limited space and time, the book forces the reader to ruminate on the words spoken.
Having said this, this book felt a little weird, like it shouldn't have been a book but rather a play. (I later found out that F451 has been adapted as a play with a screenplay written by the author himself) Bradbury doesn't spend much time building characters, introducing the setting, or setting the space. You're kicked right into the dystopic future of Guy Montage and its life.
The book made me a little sad, forcing me to rethink the current media landscape and how the forces of social media are furthering us away from long-form, introspective sources of knowledge. Even tho the style wasn't something I particularly enjoyed, I am glad I read it. What a book, I feel better reading it.
Contains spoilers
A classic masterpiece and a solid warning of the path that we are actively headed down in our current society.
“Cram them full of noncombustible data, chock them so damned full of ‘facts' they feel stuffed, but absolutely ‘brilliant' with information. Then they'll feel they're thinking, they'll get a sense of motion without moving.”
aka
“The mind drinks less and less.”
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“This age thinks better of a gilded fool than of a threadbare saint in wisdom's school!”
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“With school turning out more runners, jumpers, racers, tinkerers, grabbers, snatchers, fliers, and swimmers instead of examiners, critics, knowers, and imaginative creators, the word “intellectual” became the swear word it deserved to be.
aka
“There's more than one way to burn a book. and the world is full of people running about with lit matches.”
aka
“I'm so mad I could spit!”
This was such a good book! Check out my review here! https://youtu.be/AfzJi0BHXKM
I thought the descriptions were strong and the style interesting, but the plot and characters weren't spectacular. Great starting paragraph though.
I didn't remember Clarisse the trigger/muse, or Faber themythological help, or that he had become a murderer and hidden books even before the muse. Also, had forgotten how inane the wifey Millie was. Don't like the ending, keep thinking such a book deserved a more
I think this is the best dystopian novel I have ever read! Ray Bradbury has created a masterpiece here which is bound to make you think long and hard about the world and where it's headed.
The story begins with the protagonist Guy Montag, who is a fireman. And in this dystopian world, the firemen burn down books and the houses hide them.
The metaphorical message this book tries to convey is thought provoking and profound. It instills the importance of critical thinking and highlights how humanity is doomed if we stop reading books and learning from them. And how our role is to educate people who have abandoned books, and eventually abandoned thinking altogether.
And given the times we live in now, with social media being in cahoots with governments and billionaires, which in turn influences our minds and almost everything about the way we think, reading this book felt like a bleak and haunting experience. It also highlights how important it is to educate people and the role of an individual in a society that's deteriorating without being aware of it.
A must read book. I would recommend this to every reader out there! 5/5 for this work of literary brilliance!
In Ray Bradbury's dystopian novel of the future, Fahrenheit 451, books have been forbidden. The Fire Department is tasked with uncovering the hordes of books around the city and setting fire to them (and the house, and sometimes the residents as well). Guy Montag is one such fireman. He doesn't question the orders he's given, nor does he wonder why books are forbidden. He doesn't have any friends and is in a loveless marriage with his wife, Mildred. Mildred prefers to spend her time with her real "family" that lives within the projection walls of the couple's living room, than spend time with her husband. Then, Guy meets Clarisse, a teenage girl whose family has moved in next door. Clarisse and her family are not like any people Guy knows. They talk to each other. They appear to even enjoy being in each other's company. And Clarisse asks awkward questions of Guy, like "Are you happy?" This friendship, however brief it is, leads Guy to ask his own questions. Like what is so dangerous about books?
Fahrenheit 451 is a fast paced account of a society that has taken censorship to the extreme in the efforts to eliminate offence. Books are banned because someone might object to what is written. Entertainment is sanitised and atomised. People are in their own little bubbles (courtesy of ear transmitters) and bombarded with nonsensical, meaningless programmes to ensure that they are kept ignorant of the events in the world around them. There's a war going on, after all, but if people notice the bomber planes flying overhead, it's just background noise to the show. And any one who dares to ask themselves if they are happy, like Guy and Clarisse, or who stand out from the masses, paint a huge red target on their backs. This is a timeless story, it seems. As relevant to today as when it was written. It is more than just about book burning, it is about controlling a population through entertainment lest they discover what is really going on.
