Rating: 
Summary: Guy Montag knew what he had to do...
Review: he stopped worshipping fire and treated it like the enemy it was when it came to books, except when it came it beatty, whom he turned into a marshmallow. then he met the others who were doing their best to keep the words alive to pass along to the next generation... don't be put off by the fact that it's sci-fi. i love reading stuff that no one thinks i would read. it's not " war and peace " ( 165 pages ) you can read it in a day. and the message will stay with you for life...
don't make any more excuses....
Rating:
Summary: 'think for yourself'
Review: This was an amazing book. I loved Ray Bradbury's long sentences. (an example is the first description given of Clarisse's face) His introductions to different scenes in the book were detailed but not quite straight-forward, always realistic, which gives a third dimension to everything that Guy Montag experiences throughout the novel. Since this book was set in the future, it brings many interesting questions to mind about our own world, in the present. So many people would rather not have to think; they want everything to be explained to them, to have only one answer to every question. Fahrenheit 451 is fantastic, and every one should take the time and money to understand it...Buy this book!
Rating:
Summary: Bradbury delivers
Review: Fahrenheit 451 depicts the futuristic world that we all fear: One in which freedom of thought and speech are gone; a world where personal communication is cut down to a minimum, and machines and technology are considered friends. In this fictional (but possibly realistic world), pedestrians are few and far between, and firemen actually create fires rather than put them out. Fahrenheit 451 depicts the story of a fireman, Guy Montag, who is a typical twenty-first century citizen; self centered, obsessed with technology, and too busy to appreciate the simple things in life. After meeting a young lady named Clarisse, Montag engages in deep conversations with her, in which he learns to like the small things. Eventually, she even gets him to like the very things that he burns: Books. Meeting this girl also makes him realize how dull and boring his friends and family are, especially his wife. In a climactic ending, Montag escapes from his city after killing the fire-chief and running away with several books. He arrives at a small village of people who each have memorized one book, so as to keep the stories alive (whether or not they physically exist). This book is right next to 'The Martian Chronicles' as far as the best sci-fi books go. As is the case with all of his books, Bradbury paints a picture of a society which has much in common with ours today. He points out the various flaws in our world, but also shows us that there is still hope yet. This book is a must read for anyone, young or old, so go buy it!
Rating: 
Summary: Darkly disturbing, engrossing, kept me up past my bedtime
Review: My daughter has received this for the second time now as required reading for school (summer reading requirement). "Oh Mom this book is awful" she said, now for the second time. She read me a paragraph of the book and sure enough, it does sound awful when you read small snippets of the book. This book is not an easy read at all, not because it is overly intellectual -- it's not written very well, sorry Mr. Bradbury -- the author wrote in the afterward, that he wrote it in his early days of writing in various rooms of his house, finally ended up sequestered in his garage. I imagine that if the book was written later in Mr. Bradbury's career, that it would have been written far better than it was -- this is no literary masterpiece, but the concept it contains is a timeless one. That said, my daughter gave it to me to read and I read it in one sitting, wondering what was going to happen to the main character and how this book would end. This book is about a future society where books are illegal. The government has built a society where simple pleasure is the main goal in life, not meaningful pleasure. People live their lives around TV that takes up entire walls of their homes, no truly educational programming is allowed for the same reason that no books are allowed. The TV in this book creates not just light programming for society, but a family in the wall/screens -- it is mind numbing for that society. People become puppets where they live their lives out in simple ignorance and if you dare question the way things are or attempt to hide any books you are persecuted for it. People are simple minded and unquestioning. Enter Clarissa, the sweet teenage next door neighbor who takes simple pleasure in taking walks, letting the rain fall on her tongue, staying up late in the night actually talking to her family, no TV walls active in her home -- people actually listen to each other. The government is suspicious of her family -- not because they are subversive or publicly questioning society, but because of the way they live and think. Though Clarisse is a character in the book for a very short time, she makes an impact on the main character, Guy the fireman, who envies that she and her family talk to each other, listen to each other, and care so much for each other in a society that only cares about keeping the status quo and not getting in trouble. He begins to question what he is doing, burning books -- not so much because of the book burning itself, but for the lives of the book lovers he wrecks in the process. He begins to wonder what is inside the pages of books that people are willing to die for them and steels one of the books from a home his is destroying. He adds this book to the huge stash of books he has already hidden in the air ducts of his home and actually begins to read them and thus begins his own persecution. Though this isn't a literary masterpiece, as I said earlier, it is engrossing and very disturbing. The future society created in the pages is a nightmare. The importance of education, reading, and simply caring about your fellow man are the concepts the reader walks away with. I suspect that's the reason it is tirelessly assigned to kids at school.
Rating:
Summary: An inspiring book
Review: Obviously, some people are so ignorant and stupid that this book doesn't make any sense to them, for instance that insulting reader from New Jersey. The person didn't even spell the characters names correctly! How could he/she even comprehend the book's meaning? I think that the book would do him/her some good if he/she even tried to fully understand it. That person is an example of all the mindless people in the story who are more content watching TV "families" than learning anything. The book helped me to more fully think about why we read and why we write books. I hope that more people out there will read this book and be uplifted as I was.
Rating:
Summary: A Chilling Critique of Our Modern Life.
Review: This book is simply the tale of a fireman, Guy Montag, whose job it is to burn books. Life for Guy is a routine--the same lifeless relationship with his wife, the same job day in and out, the same shallow fullfillment of time. There must be something else. The humanity in Guy is writhing and struggling, but Guy knows not what he lacks. Montag is forced to choose between what he knows is right and what he feels. And the consequences make all the difference. In this novel, Ray Bradbury, in this novel of a futuristic world eerily similar to our own, critiques censorship and the education in America. Bradbury holds up a mirror to our ordinary lives, and for just 200 some odd pages, shows us how much better life truly can be. An excellent short read.
Rating: 
Summary: DON'T READ THIS MIND-NUMBING DRIVEL!
Review: This book doesn't deserve one star. It deserves negative 1000 stars. This was the WORST book I have ever read. The book moved to slow, and the characters are stupid. Guy Montag, the main character, is a fireman who sets books on fire, becuase homes are fireproof. Then he meets this crazy girl nmaed Clairese who rambles about dumb stuff of the past that is not important like (Did you know that one time billboards were only 20 feet long, instead of 200) WHO CARES?!?! If there is one book that deserves to be burnt it is this.
Rating:
Summary: "I'm seventeen and crazy"... but I loved this book
Review: Bradbury has created a shockingly realistic future for us, where the desire to be happy overrules the need to be informed. The most frightening part, perhaps, is that this style of censorship is practiced in high schools across the country. As a high school senior, I have witnessed several instances of attempted "book bannings" from school libraries, mostly led by misinformed parents who could not see through the 4-letter words or "disturbing" situations to the true worth of the novel. Unlike 1984 or Brave New World before him, Bradbury's world is closer to ours, and much more attainable. The theme of Fahrenheit 451 is seeing through the clutter and propaganda to what is truly important. Not necessarily books in particular, but the essence of life which they capture and present in sometimes startling ways. Guy Montag, Clarisse McClellan, Faber, and few others can see that butterfly in a landfill essence of truth, and their contrast against the rest of the world shocks the most disillusioned reader into realizing that, in literature, there is truth. In a world where science and technology are increasingly more important, Fahrenheit 451 is a far-sighted message from the past telling us, indeed, the arts are what puts us above the primates.
Rating: 
Summary: Overrated
Review: I've just finished reading this book and although the premise behind it is intriguing, the books feels unfinished and rushed...Also, Bradbury's elegant and descriptive style of writing feels like a shroud that covers the rather poor character development and lack of interesting characters. This book also needs a large section (that should basically precede the book as it stands now) dedicated towards describing the overall setting and government climate in order to set the proper mood.....Therefore I cannot recommend this title.
Rating:
Summary: eerily familiar
Review: Bradbury's classic "Farenheit 451" seems to become more true all the time (although it was not intended as a prediction) for example, one of the characters mentions students shooting eachother as if it was an everyday occurence. Beyond that, the plot of "Farenheit 451" is intriguing, poignant, and fun to read. Anyone who has not yet read this classic should pick it up.
|
