Rating: 
Summary: "A book rich with literary devices"
Review: "Fahrenheit 451", written by Ray Bradbury, is the chilling, prophetic, science fiction novel of the future. About censorship, it portrays a world where books are outlawed by a totalitarian goverenment, it shows how society's only goal is to achieve "pleasure" through the senses. It tells of a world where petty facts are more valued than knowledge and ideas; a place and time where no one questions what they are doing and why, but just doing it by rote. Guy Montag is a fireman of the future. Ironically, his job is to start fires, to burn everything, especially "corrupt" books that contradict the government, and society's way of life; books that make people think and learn to question things. Like all others, he doesn't ask questions, and enjoys his job, enjoys burning things, because "fire is bright and fire is clean." He lives oblivious to the frightening realities of life until his next-door neighbor, Clarisse, a young girl of seventeen, teaches him to ponder what might be behind the books that he burns, to learn to ask the question "why?" This causes him to undergo a "crisis of fiath." Examining his life for the first time, he sees how empty and meaningless it is. His wife cares for nothing else than her "television family" and is sucked into a world of endless chatter, movement, and moving images. He realizes the terrible horror of what society is doing; watching the tube, "oohing" and "aahing" but not really talking nor communicating with one another. Montag grows to recognize what a corrupt society he is living in. When clarisse mysteriously disappears, Montag is motivated to make some changes in his life. During nighttime "calls," he starts hoarding books away in his home, determined to understand what is behind those pages. Montag also tries to ignore Captain Beatty who tries to confuse him in his search for the meaning of books. Pondering the questions of life, his futile search for the ultimate "truth" leads him to Faber, a retired English professor. With Faber's help, Montag finds the road to justice and restoring the "past" where people are not afraid. Written in third-person, this book is an excellent portrayal of human nature; the good, the bad, and the in-between. Ray Bradbury, the author, paints a vivid picture of a future with no books, and makes the reader realize that without books, creativity and thought would be stifled. Literary devices such as similes, metaphors, and rich symbolism (example: "seashells" are the future generation's discmans) are used by the author to enrich the story. There are many types of conflicts shown in "Fahrenheit 451;" person vs. self, person vs. society, and person vs. person. Montag struggles with himself and tries to distinguish between right and wrong. He also battles with the society around him, and tries to make them realize that books are not to be feared, but worshipped. This is evident when he reads the poem to Mildred and her friends while they are in the "parlor" watching the "walls." But becuase of their lack of understanding and depth, they do not udnerstand the purpose and meaning behind the poem and regards Montag as being "crazy." Montag'ss struggles with Captain Beatty is the person vs. person conflict represented in the book. Since the world declining to conditions recounted in the book is hgihly possible, the novel has an "aura of chilling prophecy," which I like. A sense of the "not so distant future," with fantastic magical realism such as "spacecrafts"are common in all of Ray Bradbury's work, such as the "Illustrated Man" and "Fahrenheit 451." I enjoyed reading this "thought-provoking novel," about the future and censorship. It is no small wonder why there are over four and a half million copies in print all over the world.
Rating: 
Summary: The Hearth and the Salamander
Review: Bradbury creates a world of extreme censorship that is our future, where firemen burn books and houses in which they are hidden. I first read this book in 8th grade (not because I had to, but because I WANTED to), and it had a profound effect on my life. Guy Montag is an anticonformist at heart caught in a world where conformity is the only path to survival. I respect those who gave it 1 or 2 stars, though, because if you are forced to read any book in school that you don't want to, you are going to be inclined to dislike it. But, if you read it once, try it again. You will see the underlying tale about society in general. A very depressing, but very moving book, I recommened it for all, young ones for the plot about anti censorship, and older people for the underlying plots.
Rating:
Summary: THIS FUTURE IS COMING SOON, IF NOT HERE ALREADY! A MUST READ
Review: This book is very hmm how can I say this? Well, there are acutally no words at all to describe the great masterpiece that Mr.Bradubry conjured up over 50 years ago. Many of the kids nowadays ( I am a freshman in high school!) are saying "This book sucks, etc etc." Well, don't you see it? The kids of today are ALREADY turning into the Mildreds and Firemen of tommorow! They are putting this book down because THEY are the firemen and Mildreds of today.....This book shows a prfound truth in today's culture and generation, our generation. Mr.Bradbury has showed us a future, no not a future, but of a PRESENT to us that if we stand around idly this future will occur. Remember Faber'sline......"I saw the way things were going, a long time back. I said nothing. I'm one of the innocents who could have spoken up and out when no one would listen to the 'guilty,' but i did not speak and thus became guilty myself." I believe this is one of the most moving and truthful and insightful lines in this book, for it shows what will happen in our tommorow. This is a plea for help, if anyone is reading this, do all you can to proclaim this book to the masses. If we do not spread this around, we will crumble. All of the freethinkers and people that think "Outside the box" will be crushed by the fiery hand and ax of tommorow's society. We are a dying race, the rebels, the freethinkers, all of us. Do not give in. If they burn our houses, burn with them. Do not cave in to pop-culture's ideals and guildlines we must follow. Is America truly "A land of the Free?" I think not. We are slowly simmering in this melting pot and we will slowly begin to melt away.... For example, the other day at lunch, my friend and i were talking, and i asked him,"Josh, if a new machine was invented would you ask, 'How it works?' or, 'What's its purpose'. He replied 'How?'. I asked him a myriad of questions like this and i realized what our world is coming to. Yes, like Josh, all of the smart ones of the world are becoming mechanical, ruled under the constraints of society, sub-conciously. All of our intellects are starting to perish. Our smarts will be used for inventing Seashell radio's and TV walls and the Robot Dogs of the future. No more will we be appreciated for our philosophies, thoughts, our ideas, insights; No, but we will be appreciated for how happy we can make the masses and how happy we are will be our number one priority. Please, if you have children, please please do not let them be swayed by commercial jingles or catch phrases or tunes. I am a kid, only one kid, but if this message gets accross to another, i will have succeeded in spreading this message of a scary new world. I believe this new world is an apocalypse to freethinkers, and we must unite before anything happens, we must not sit idly, as Faber's costly mistaken took its toll. Mr.Bradbury's best book ever, a must read.
Rating: 
Summary: Frightening Realism
Review: This book was neither good, nor was it bad. I admit, it was a difficult read...it was very slow paced...but the story had a frightening realism to it. It depicts a society where books are burned and knowledge is, in essence, controlled by a government out of control. The premise was very interesting, but the paistagging detail in which everything was described left me fairly bored with it. It has a nice moral...if you can stick out the bordom.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting...
Review: It is very interesting and strange. I never has been read this kind of book before. It have very strong words inside. It makes me think about our future. Hopefully it won't happen in the future.
Rating:
Summary: Metaphor and Reality collide
Review: When I began teaching three years ago, I was required to teach this book. Having never read it before, I began reading it just before our winter break. As I soaked up the story of the book, I realized my students were already living it. They begged me daily, "Ms. Hill, why do we have to read this stupid book? Can't we just watch the movie?" As I got deeper and deeper into the book, I grew increasingly depressed about the future of the world. Then I realized: Bradbury has given me a picture of what might be, if we are not careful. His book written nearly fifty years ago peers just twenty minutes into the future now. Technological developments he had no name for then are very real today. For example, his seashell radio is clearly the walkman many of us see pressed in the ears of teenagers daily. TV screens are growing larger and larger and flat screens with HDTV are on the market now. The next step is clearly the full wall television of Mildred's parlor. Robot dogs like Aibo are just a hop skip and a jump away from the dreaded hound. But this is a future preventable. Maybe. But if popular culture is constantly valued above thoughtful consideration and education, we'll march right into a land of burning books and intellectualism on the run. Bradbury's book made me feel defiant. They could never take my books from me. They could burn me with them if they want, but that's what it'll take before I give up my freedom to think for myself. And as for my students, they remind me every day what an uphill battle I have been sent to fight.
Rating:
Summary: A good read
Review: I think that this book is a very interesting book because it has some very interesting characters. For instance Mildred, I think that she is a very brainwashed characte. My favorite part in this book would have to be when Montag is outrunning society. I like it because it shows in great detail what Guy is feeling, and seeing.
Rating: 
Summary: This is not a good or bad book, but its O.K
Review: I don't like this book very much. This is the most boring book I have ever read. I will not recommend this book to my friends because it's boring. "Fahrenheit 451" is about Guy Montag, a fireman, who starts fire but does not putout fires. In this society, the fireman has to set up fires and burn the books. Usually when we hear "fireman", we always think about that their job is to put out fires. It is totally different than we thought, right? This book is about censorship, that is, people does not have the right to read. In that society, the firemen have the rights to burn. Not only books, but also the houses and people. In this book, an innocent woman who has being burn in her house with her books. How can the fireman has the right to burn a human life, a human life! Especially a book lover, How?
Rating:
Summary: 451
Review: Fahrenheit 451, I am not a huge fan of science ficion, but I decided to read this book for class. It was really distubring book about future socitey. Something really disturbs me about this book;it is that fire fighters are starting the fires but their true job is to put fires out. What I like about this book is that Clarisse helps Montag to understand about books, so that's why montag starts hiding books in his house. My opinion to you is that whatever you do,try not to read this book. I know you won't like it. I know I didn't.
Rating:
Summary: Fahreneit 451...the future without books!
Review: I think that the vision of Fahreneit 451 of the future is too pessimistic, but it can be an exaggeration of the present. The people are not interested anymore in reading books, but they prefer to watch movies. The books during these last years have lost a lot of importance, and the tecnologies have been more important for the human beings. I don`t think that our future is the same as the one in the book, but it can be a warning for everybody who loves the smell of books, touching their pages, holding them. The author I think tried to tell us that we are not going to miss the books until we have lost them.
|
