Rating: 
Summary: Worthwhile themes overcome workmanlike prose
Review: "Fahrenheit 451" begins as an unremarkable piece of writing that makes you wish you had read it in Jr. High school when it would have seemed wondrous by virtue of the "big ideas" it contains. However, half-way through, author Ray Bradbury's dull prose suddenly turns pleasingly lyrical and, in terms of skill and style, catches up to the grandiose theme. The story takes place in a future where firemen no longer put out fires, they set fires - specifically, they set fires to books. The society in which this takes place is one where most people have become so deadened by the vacuous mass media television which pervades their existence, that they don't notice the absence of genuine thoughts or emotions in their lives. They are so numb that even their acts of suicide are committed absentmindedly. The novel follows fireman Guy Montag, who has an emotional epiphany when he meets one person who actually connects with his humanity in a life otherwise devoid of feeling. Feeling sets him to thinking and it's all downhill from there. While there are sections in the book where characters give majestic, pontificating soliloquies about the theme of book-burning which verge on Ayn Rand's literary bludgeonings in "Atlas Shrugged," there is plenty of suspense and action to offset the grandstanding. Bradbury, known for his futuristic novels is actually more adept here at rendering beautiful descriptions of nature than he is at depicting a three-dimensional futuristic world. When Montag views the destruction of his city by atomic blast, it is less compelling that the simultaneous image of him smelling the leaves and dirt in the forest from where he watches. In some ways "Fahrenheit 451," chosen by Los Angeles Mayor Kenneth Hahn, as the first selection for that city's participation in the "One Book, One City" reading promotion, was an odd one. The book is, in many ways, a running indictment of the cavernously empty entertainments that many local residents produce on a daily basis. But it's okay, they won't have time to read the book anyway. They're too busy making "reality" shows about adulterous couples on cruiseships which are surprisingly like the stupefying television shows depicted in the book. Maybe someone did read this after all.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book, off the mark!
Review: In this book Ray Bradbury, one of my favorite authors, did not become Nostradamus. His story did not account for the internet. Therefore, many of the political ideas simply won't appeal to the internet generation, where information is only a fingertip away. On the other hand there are valid points regarding the "opiates" of life. Unfortunately, when you are young you look at it and say "look at what they are doing to us", which is what our protagonist does. As you become wiser you begin to see that the statement is really "look at what we have done to ourselves", which is what he finally discovers when he joins the band of scholars. This is an all time classic, but the reverse is happening in our society. There is too much information and no filters/censorship. So we need to be more alert for misinformation and propaganda, than we have ever needed to before. Own the book.
Rating: 
Summary: A little too blatant and obvious
Review: This small book starts off nicely with a "Fireman" name Montag walking down the street. This takes place in the future where books are banned, and fireman set fires to houses with books. It's a world where the government controls everything, and people are content watching television. As Montag walks he encounters a strange girl. A inquisitive teenager who tends to slowly open Montag's eyes to the life that himself and the government has tried to prevent him from seeing. However, the book goes downhill from there. We later learn that the girl died, maybe or maybe not by the government. Then all forms of subtlety are thrown out the window. Montag burns a lady and her house down, but only after picking up a few books. He starts a conversation with a former literature professor, who discusses how the government and people disengaged themselves from the world of literature, and how to change their thinking. The worst part was when his fire chief enters his house and gives the typical bad guy expose to the good guy on what the government is trying to do. This dialogue is extremely forced and contrived and quickly bores the reader along while taking away much of the imagination of the what and why. He later kills that fireman and goes on the run after his house burns down, only to be left in a the countryside as a survivor, and tries to resurrect the world of books and open thinking. This again overtly ties into an over the top message on the good of literature and open-mindedness. For those who value subtlety and imagination, this book is not for you. While I respect and admire Bradbury's plot and perspective, it could have been done in a much more presentable, believable, thought provoking, and by far more engaging way.
Rating:
Summary: Fahrenheit
Review: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury takes place far in the future in the suburbs of a big city. The name of the main character is Guy Montag and he is a fireman, but instead of putting out fires he lights them. In his society books are banned. If anyone is found to be keeping these illegal objects, their houses are burned down. Montag meets a girl named Clarisse, and she makes him question what he does every day. The main conflict begins when Montag begins to steal books and hide them in his house. He realizes how important they are and what the government is hiding from its people. He is immediately motivated to do something about this. He seeks the help of Faber, a book-keeper who Montag knows about but never reported. Faber is not at all hopeful, but he agrees to help Montag preserve books. Together they read books and store the words in their minds, saving the information for later.
In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury describes things by gshowingh instead of gtellingh. On page 75, Bradbury describes being inside the virtual parlor, which is surrounded by video screens. gHe was a victim of concussion. When it was all over he felt like a man who had been thrown from a cliff, whirled in a centrifuge and spat out over a waterfall that fell and fell into emptiness and emptiness and never-quite-touched-bottom-no-never-never-quite touched bottom. The thunder faded. The music died.h This is a very interesting book, but most of it is fairly depressing. It is all about the government controlling what people think. gfWhatfs going on?f Montag had rarely seen that many house lights. eOh, just my mother and father and uncle sitting around, talking. Itfs like being a pedestrian, only rarer. My uncle was arrested another time„Ÿdid I tell you?„Ÿfor being a pedestrian. Oh, wefre most peculiar.f eBut what do you talk about?fh This quote shows how deprived the society is of anything that actually means something. This book was written on experiences that Ray Bradbury had like actually being stopped by the police for walking. The one thing that makes this book different from other science fiction is that the plot of Fahrenheit 451 is so believable that it seems like we are in danger of it happening.
Fahrenheit 451 carries some valuable lessons. The largest message in the book is that we should not let books become obsolete. Even if we use the Internet and watch TV more and more, we should still read books and value them because, as Faber says, gBooks donft tell things, they tell the meaning of things.h He also says that books are not important, but that they are just a receptacle for things we are afraid we might forget. This is a reoccurring theme that appears throughout this excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book I've Read in Awhile
Review: It's been a long time since I've read a book that I was so totally engrossed by. Fahrenheit 451 could have been written yesterday in as much as it relates heavily to todays world. When you read about this society in which people spend their lives glued to giant televisions, in which books, intellectual thought and art are forbidden, you can visualize it so perfectly in your mind that it's scary. This is not one of those simple books you pick up, read, and put back down. This is one that you will read again and that will stay in your mind as you ponder the meaning of the world around you and appreciate the fact that you are allowed to read at all.
Rating: 
Summary: The Burning
Review: Fahrenheit 451 was book about a fireman whose job is to start fires. Montag had been a fireman for ten years. Montag met a seventeen-year-old girl named Clarisse McClarisse in the neighborhood. He goes to other people's houses and burns their books. He has about 20 books in his house. Captain Betty told him about the fireman days that they are not to read books. He met professor who is English teacher. Montag wants to make copies of the book to put them in other people's houses so they can get in trouble. The professor told him that he could think in the future. Montag had some books in the garden. There is a huge war going on. The main character is Montag that tells the story. The problem Montag faces is taking books that he was not to read. Montag had some adventure. He went to professor Faber answers and help. My favorite character was Montag because he was brave and wants to know about the future. I can not relate him. I have not done the thing he did. I like the book because it told a lot about the future and long time ago. My favorite part was the end of the book. The beginning of the book was a little boring. .... I would recommend this book a person my age that likes science fiction. Maybe a teacher who is a science teacher would enjoy this story.
Rating:
Summary: bradbury has really out done himself!!
Review: this is one of the best books i have ever read!! it really gets you thinking and it sends a deep message to all of us. it's amazing how he had all these great ideas about the future when he lived back in the past!!
Rating:
Summary: Review of Farenheit 451
Review: If you like science fiction books Farenheit 451 is a must have, at most points it is a page turner. I rated this book 4 stars because it is a great book that really gets the reader involved.
To describe the book, I would say think of todays world and completly flip it around! This book is a twisted version of life as we know it. It is set in the future where firemen no longer are called to put fires out, but, to start them. There hoses dont spray water, but, they spray kerosene. Now that all houses and buildings are fire proof regular firemen are no longer needed. Instead they are called apon when some one has broken the law and has posetion of a book. Then these people are called apon to burn them and punish the owners. A typical room in a house in this time setting would be walls lined with T.V.'s and at the fire stations they have robotic dogs that kill people. Guy Montag was a firemen who played by the rules and never questioned why he did what he di until one night he met a young girl named Clarisse and she told him about a world in the past where people uses to read books and firemen uses to put out fires instead of starting them. After hearing this Guy Montag stars rebelling and he starts questioning the theory behind his job and he starts taking some of the books.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an exciting book that will push your mind to the limit. It is almost as if the science fiction book takes all known reason and throws it out the window!
Rating:
Summary: School Review
Review: Fahrenheit 451 was a twisted novel where everything you had previously believed in, was proved wrong. It created a world where fireman started fires instead of putting them out. It was a time where houses were all made fireproof. It was a world where people didn't just sit and talk, and have educated conversations, there was actually very little exchange between people. Its quite on the contrary, it's a world where TV's lined whole walls, and if you pay extra they can even say your name! The fireman lived in firehouses, but had robotic dogs that were trained to attack and kill! The story is about a fireman, Guy Montage, who meets a young girl who tells him how life used to be, and about what can be found in books. Guy then steals books and reads them. In reading these books he has discovers the truth, he discovers the way life was and should be, he reads about philosophy and poetry, even the bible. His wife rats him out to the fireman and they come to burn down his house to destroy all the books kept inside. He then becomes a criminal running from everyone. His goal is to set up fireman across the world by planting books in their homes, therefore destroying all firemen and hopefully returning the world to the way it used to be like in the young girls stories. This was a very exciting book, and very colorful. It painted a very beautiful painting in my head and described things so thoroughly that I believed that a world like that might possibly exists somewhere out there.
Rating:
Summary: reality is burning.
Review: Guy Montag burns for a living--he's a fireman whose job is to burn books. Meeting Clarisse shows Montag a different corner of the world, a corner where people seem to wait for him, where people have a reason to exist. A place where people are books.
Montag realises he must change. The horror of his crime burns him like fire itself. But he also carries the weight of hidden books, keeping it silent under the threats of his firehouse chief. When his wife sets the alarm and own house is burned by his own hand, Montag runs. He runs for his life and finds help around the corner.
He becomes a living, running book along with others who have escaped the ruined city.
This is a book that speaks of hope among the dust, among the ashes; emptiness that can be so easily mistaken for happiness.
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