Rating: Summary: Good Book Review: What can I say that has not already been said. It is a bit dark and too short, but a great effort none the less.
Rating: Summary: A Scary, Yet Thoughtful Social Critique Review: This tale is far more than a simple scary novel about burning "unacceptable" books. It is a red flag warning about the ever-present encroachment of censorship in the world about us. It is not surprising that this book was indeed heavily "edited" when it was first published. The censors saw their own reflection! Fahrenheit 451 is a book, which sends a strong message we should all heed. "Social criticism" in the written form is all-important to improve our society and prevent our freedoms from being eroded. There are not many other books along this line, but I have found two very enjoyable books, which really do fit into the "Fahrenheit 451 social critique/satire" genre. They are both by the skilled author C.B. Don. One is entitled, "MANAGEMENT BY VICE"...it is a critical, hilarious satire on interactions of technical staff and managers in high-tech industry...and the other, "ACCUSED BY FACET-EYES"...is a fairytale-like science-fiction, which is heartwarming, yet with a sharp ecological message critical of our thoughtless polluting, human practices. Like the classical much recommended Fahrenheit 451, these two books are also our 21st Century must-reads, ideal for every student of satire/social critique! I enjoyed all three books and walked away thoroughly enlightened and with a new perspective on society and life!
Rating: Summary: Technology Specialist Review: It's not hard for me to believe that 8 minutes of one-sided conversations from a 17 year old could change 10 years of beliefs, it happens every night as "We" watch the "News", so why would the book be any different. A great awakening to what "We" are already doing to ourselves. Characters are realistic in that they are living among us already.
Rating: Summary: A classic that hasn't aged very well at all Review: I have to be honest and confess that my rating is really three stars + one star for the historic value. This is the novel that 7th grade English teachers across the US recommend to teach children the value of books-- I guess that that fact alone earns it a star.Bradbury creates a vision of a world where Firemen burn books when they're found instead of putting out fires. People have wall-sized interactive television which has taken the place of family life. Teenagers are encouraged to drive as quickly as possible when bored, and bearing children is officially nearly forbidden. One fireman, spurred on by a non-conformist neighbor, begins to question his task and becomes alive to the value in books. While some of the messages certainly are still relevant, the book is not as strong of an effort of other Bradbury novels. The tone and the heavy message focus date the book and tend to say more to someone interested in the concerns of the 50s then they really appeal to modern readers. Difficult not to recommend, all things considered, but don't expect too much.
Rating: Summary: stunning idea - mediocre writing Review: Ray Bradbury's vision of a world without books is genius. However, I don't think he was able to convey all that he wanted to with this book. It could be that the almost-novella length left him without the option to fully develop the characters. I was vexed not knowing what happended to Clarisse, and I was intrigued by the idea of the literati outcasts who roamed the rails. I think that in and of itself would have made an interesting novel. I couldn't understand the reasoning behind the book burnings. Captain Beatty's explanations left me wondering if that was the full story? Humanity is flawed in the extreme,but this seems to suggest a reverse in evolution - human intelligence on a steady downward spiral. I hope that it would take a little more than the explanations given by Captain Beatty to inspire the world-wide destruction of books - especially in this manner. Wouldn't incinerators be much more effective at destroying books than torching houses and buildings? I realize that the book was written very quickly, and maybe Mr. Bradbury got caught up in the passion of writing it, at the expense of character development. But I rated this book 4 stars anyway, because I respect the brilliance of the idea, and Mr. Bradbury made a very bold statement by writing about a topic he felt strongly about. It makes you think, which is more than I can say about the vast majority of literature published.
Rating: Summary: Poor audiobook Review: This may be a classic story, but Ray Bradbury is not a classic reader... I couldn't get through 5 minutes of his voice. I DO look forward to reading the actual book!
Rating: Summary: FAHRENHEIT 451 Review: Fahrenheit 451 in my mind is a very well-written book by Ray Bradbury. Sometimes this book did get very weird, but it all had a purpose towards the end of the book. The author of this book had a very good idea for a story like this and he wrote it very well. Guy Montag has had his job for ten years as a fireman, but books were for burning and the houses in which they were hidden. This man goes out on midnight, runs and watches pages become inflamed in fire. Then he meets a professor that tells him in the future when people could think, and then he realizes what he has to do. I enjoyed this book quite a bit and I would recommend this book for you if you like Science Fiction.
Rating: Summary: Fahrenheit 451 Review: At one point Firefighters put fires out, now they start fires. Books are illegal, when found with books in your house, your house is burnt down. The protaganist, Montag is a firefighter who never questioned his job until he met Clarisse. Clarisse makes him think about why books are so wrong. Montag decided to rebel from his job and read books. This is all fine until his plan backfires. His house is burnt down, he loses his friends and his wife leaves him. Now Montag is running from the law... One character that stands out in my mind is Clarisse. Clarisse is a seventeen year old who enjoy reading. She meets Montag and tells him that at one point books were legal. She explains to him why she reads and tries to convince Montag to read. She changes Montag's opinion on books. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in futuristic books. This book may get a little confusing at points but it makes you think. You wonder what a world without reading would be like and if a world like this could ever exist.
Rating: Summary: This was a terrible book! Review: I had to read this book for school and I abolutely hated it. To start off with, it wasn't very well written and the characters and situations were unbelieveable and boring. Montag was a very odd character and hard to relate to and it bugged the [STUFF] out of me how he cried about everything! The book didn't really have a very powerful message either. It was basically don't watch TV, read books. The world will be lost without them! And the whole thing about the stupid Harvard degrees on the railroad tracks was cheesy and stupid. If you can memorize a piece of literature so easily, what's the point for books? I compared this book to Orwell's 1984, which I read last year, and there was no comparison. This book was not nearly as chilling and thought provoking and failed horribly in getting it's point across. With all the talk of firemen burning books, you were tempted to put a match to this one. I also disagree with a major point of the book that implies with the loss of literature comes the loss of morality. The book took place in the future but not that far in the future. I got the idea that it took place only one or two generations after it was written. The morality of the world could not be lost in that amount of time.
Rating: Summary: Written in the basement of the UCLA library Review: One big rift between the book and the movie [Fahrenheit 451 (1966) -- Oskar Werner, Julie Christie] is that in the movie the "written word" was completely removed (even from the credits), where as in the book the state was against literature and not technical writing. Books are just symbols of ideas that could have been on the screen also. There is a deference between training and education. Among other reasons the book was a symbol of one mans superiority over another in a world of equals. I do not want to tell much of the story, as the unfolding is part of the intrigue. However now that houses are fire proof the purpose of firemen are performing a service by burning books to maintain the happy social order. Naturally One fireman goes awry after several emotional incidences that run counter to his carrier. This leads to all kinds of deviant things like reading. What are you doing now?
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