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Fahrenheit 451 Book Summary
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13 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 19, 2011
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April 19, 2021
Everyone NEEDS to read this book
And feel really really feel it
And feel really really feel it
May 6, 2018
Ray Bradbury - Fahrenheit 451
Il corpo dei pompieri, altro non è che un arma di distruzione del pensiero, infatti il loro compito non è spegnere incendi, ma bruciare tutti i libri. Guy Montag è un pompiere che ad un certo punto della sua missione, inizia a nutrire dubbi sui gesti che compie. Una sera rientrando a casa, dopo l'ennesima giornata a caccia di lettori sovversivi, e dopo aver bruciato i libri e una persona che non ha accettato le imposizoni della legge vigente, incontra Clarisse, la sua vicina di casa, che lo illumina su un modo diverso di vivere. La ragazza si esprime con una serenità tale che Montag non può rimanere indifferente. Il pompiere va in crisi e qualcosa in lui cambia per sempre. Un moto di ribellione incontenibile nasce in lui. Nella società distopica in cui vive, l'unico mezzo di formazione sociale e culturale consentito è la televisione, completamente gestita dallo stato che definisce regole e informazioni. Montag sarà disposto a tutto perchè i libri che ha letto di nascosto, daranno vita alla sua nuova coscienza. In seguito a gesti estremi che compirà, sarà costretto a fuggire, ma troverà una comunità particolare disposta ad accoglierlo.
Questo romanzo di fantascienza, è stato scritto nel 1953, ma alcuni concetti espressi sono di un'attualità spaventosa. Togliere il pensiero alle persone, sembra quello che oggi fanno i mezzi di comunicazione, accumunare le masse, disporne come un branco di pecore, gestirle come pupazzi senza che essi se ne accorgano, è esattamente quello che succede oggi. Mi è piaciuto molto.
Il corpo dei pompieri, altro non è che un arma di distruzione del pensiero, infatti il loro compito non è spegnere incendi, ma bruciare tutti i libri. Guy Montag è un pompiere che ad un certo punto della sua missione, inizia a nutrire dubbi sui gesti che compie. Una sera rientrando a casa, dopo l'ennesima giornata a caccia di lettori sovversivi, e dopo aver bruciato i libri e una persona che non ha accettato le imposizoni della legge vigente, incontra Clarisse, la sua vicina di casa, che lo illumina su un modo diverso di vivere. La ragazza si esprime con una serenità tale che Montag non può rimanere indifferente. Il pompiere va in crisi e qualcosa in lui cambia per sempre. Un moto di ribellione incontenibile nasce in lui. Nella società distopica in cui vive, l'unico mezzo di formazione sociale e culturale consentito è la televisione, completamente gestita dallo stato che definisce regole e informazioni. Montag sarà disposto a tutto perchè i libri che ha letto di nascosto, daranno vita alla sua nuova coscienza. In seguito a gesti estremi che compirà, sarà costretto a fuggire, ma troverà una comunità particolare disposta ad accoglierlo.
Questo romanzo di fantascienza, è stato scritto nel 1953, ma alcuni concetti espressi sono di un'attualità spaventosa. Togliere il pensiero alle persone, sembra quello che oggi fanno i mezzi di comunicazione, accumunare le masse, disporne come un branco di pecore, gestirle come pupazzi senza che essi se ne accorgano, è esattamente quello che succede oggi. Mi è piaciuto molto.
March 17, 2025
This is an incredible must-read centered around the government banning and burning all books. This is done to prevent the people from thinking, asking questions, and wanting change.
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September 12, 2017Honestly I loved the book, I found the time the story took place very interesting. I also found it very shocking to find out how society was warped from the previous one. Though the most shocking was to read about the outlaw of books and how firemen create fire instead of ceasing fires.
Read
January 25, 2018I liked this book. It was a good book to read if you like intense things. The book was hard to understand at first. Once I got farther in the book it started to make a lot more sense. I felt like this book was hard to read the whole time but it still made sense. Certain parts I didn't like to read because it was to long but still helped to read because I could understand more of the book. It wasn't that hard of a to read. I wish this book would be a series because that was a good first book. I hope to find more books like this. I enjoyed reading these books
February 17, 2019
Finished my third book of the year this morning. I read the afterward and suddenly feel oddly connected to Ray Bradbury as he lived in Venice, CA and typed up the book, that became Fahrenheit 461, in the typing room of a Library at UCLA.
October 20, 2017
This book was pretty good. Clarisse x Car is my favorite couple and rip Clarisse. :(
July 13, 2019
It is a classic for a reason - slightly prophetic and an overall an engaging story. Occasionally, Bradbury would lose me in some of his wordy descriptions.
May 30, 2017
Ray Bradbury makes many good books, like Fahrenheit 541. In the book the firefighters burn the books because they are illegal to read. The setting of the book is in the future and in a big city. Guy montag is the main character in the book. He is a firefighter and they burn books and it is illegal to have them there. It's a neat book because it's kinda futuristic, like tvs in the wall, they burned books because they are illegal. The citizens are not happy that the firefighters are burning the books, guy montag is starting to wonder why people won't give up there books. He also is thinking why are books illegal. Miss Hudson won't let the firefighters burn her books so she got burned also. Guy montag has changed then to start reading the books that is where everything changed in montags life. Mildred and her friends snitched on montag. Don't trust anyone if you tell people you have books they could turn you in just like in this book. His wife Mildred she had some challenges in her life also like using drugs.The main character has changed a lot in this book, from normal to scared to insecure. The future can be scary and very different then now.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 25, 2018
I first read 1984 by George Orwell when I was in high school. I remember thinking, "This guy has it figured out. THIS is the Dystopian Future we should fear." I guess it was easier for me to comprehend. His future was much more black and white, cut and dry. The 'bad' guys were much more obvious. People were kept down by big brother and censorship and lack of information and nothing more. The key, I thought, is keeping information accessible to the common man.
I later read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley as an adult. I obviously made comparisons in my mind to 1984. Upon my first reading, I *still* thought that 1984 was a much better novel. Again, the bad guys were easier to fear and picture in my mind. However, as I thought about fictional futures in both of these books---I started to realize that maybe Aldous Huxley was right. Neil Postman summed up my final conclusions in this quote: “What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egotism."
Here we live in an age where we have access to more information, books, articles, and thoughts than ever before in human history. Has it made us more educated? Better informed? I would argue no. In fact, I would argue it has done the exact opposite. We seem to have become a shallow society that focuses on narcissism and egotism. Terrible tragedies happen around the world, yet our newscasts are filled with news about the Kardashians. We focus on how many "likes" we have on facebook as opposed to our own family and friends who surround us in "real life". Kids are handed out iPads in school where they essentially have access to more books and novels than can ever be read in a lifetime. However, what do MOST do with that access to information? Play Minecraft and hit up facebook. What has all of that information done to society in the United States? Did you know that most Americans haven't read a SINGLE book in the last year? What good is being literate when you never read? It has nearly the same effect as not being able to read. We are a society clouded in ignorance and self-absorption.
That is why I found the book Fahrenheit 451 so interesting. I first read the book when I was in 6th grade. I think it was assigned reading. I thought it was interesting but completely unrealistic and unlikely. However, after reading Brave New World, I am starting to think that Bradbury had it right.
What if it isn't some evil plot from Big Brother to keep information from the people? What if we as a society simply choose to stop reading? What if we become overwhelmed with so much information, that we start to doubt the validity or importance of any of it? What if we choose to ignore wars, as in Fahrenheit 451, and focus on our "Parlor Families" like the Kardashians? What if we all become obsessed with youth and leisure and passive entertainment so that we are essentially giant infants walking around? That is the future that is presented in Fahrenheit 451. No one forces people to stop reading, they do it to themselves. It is only later that it is exploited by people in power.
Of course, there are people fighting this swing in our culture. I see more and more people turning towards homeschooling, for example, as a method of reviving the classics and the old way of doing things. I see more and more people attempting to self-educate and focus on deeper ideas and thoughts. However, the danger is that we all become like poor, confused John the Savage (from Brave New World)--clinging to "our religion and Shakespeare" and the "harder" ways of doing things.
I later read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley as an adult. I obviously made comparisons in my mind to 1984. Upon my first reading, I *still* thought that 1984 was a much better novel. Again, the bad guys were easier to fear and picture in my mind. However, as I thought about fictional futures in both of these books---I started to realize that maybe Aldous Huxley was right. Neil Postman summed up my final conclusions in this quote: “What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egotism."
Here we live in an age where we have access to more information, books, articles, and thoughts than ever before in human history. Has it made us more educated? Better informed? I would argue no. In fact, I would argue it has done the exact opposite. We seem to have become a shallow society that focuses on narcissism and egotism. Terrible tragedies happen around the world, yet our newscasts are filled with news about the Kardashians. We focus on how many "likes" we have on facebook as opposed to our own family and friends who surround us in "real life". Kids are handed out iPads in school where they essentially have access to more books and novels than can ever be read in a lifetime. However, what do MOST do with that access to information? Play Minecraft and hit up facebook. What has all of that information done to society in the United States? Did you know that most Americans haven't read a SINGLE book in the last year? What good is being literate when you never read? It has nearly the same effect as not being able to read. We are a society clouded in ignorance and self-absorption.
That is why I found the book Fahrenheit 451 so interesting. I first read the book when I was in 6th grade. I think it was assigned reading. I thought it was interesting but completely unrealistic and unlikely. However, after reading Brave New World, I am starting to think that Bradbury had it right.
What if it isn't some evil plot from Big Brother to keep information from the people? What if we as a society simply choose to stop reading? What if we become overwhelmed with so much information, that we start to doubt the validity or importance of any of it? What if we choose to ignore wars, as in Fahrenheit 451, and focus on our "Parlor Families" like the Kardashians? What if we all become obsessed with youth and leisure and passive entertainment so that we are essentially giant infants walking around? That is the future that is presented in Fahrenheit 451. No one forces people to stop reading, they do it to themselves. It is only later that it is exploited by people in power.
Of course, there are people fighting this swing in our culture. I see more and more people turning towards homeschooling, for example, as a method of reviving the classics and the old way of doing things. I see more and more people attempting to self-educate and focus on deeper ideas and thoughts. However, the danger is that we all become like poor, confused John the Savage (from Brave New World)--clinging to "our religion and Shakespeare" and the "harder" ways of doing things.
February 11, 2024
NOTA: 8'9 / 10
Cuando me toca reseñar una novela de peso, un clásico que se ha convertido en referente y cuya calidad queda fuera de toda duda, siento un pequeño escalofrío. Cuando además el autor es Bradbury, la cosa empeora. Y es que reseñar a Bradbury es mucho reseñar.
Respecto a la novela que hoy toca, debo decir que es una de las más sobrecogedoras del genial autor, más mordaz y agresiva que sus Crónicas marcianas, en el que el mensaje es parecido pero no la forma. Una distopía auténtica, como debe ser, sin el menor rayo de luz más allá de las llamas que arden en las hogueras. Empecemos con un breve resumen para situarnos.
Una civilización donde la libertad no está permitida, donde todo el mundo se ve obligado a ser feliz. Un país donde tener un libro es delito y leerlo, un crimen. Montag, el protagonista, es bombero. Su tarea no es apagar incendios sino provocarlos. Persigue aquellos que tienen libros en casa y los quema para que no puedan ser leídos. Mientras, la sociedad se avoca al hedonismo más despiadado, incapaz de pensar por si sola, abandonada en su ignorancia.
Nos encontramos ante una obra maestra del género. Bradbury escribió esta novela cuando la televisión estaba en auge, cuando varias voces autorizadas proclamaban el fin de los libros y el peligro de un medio de comunicación con tanto poder. Sin duda alguna, se sintió influenciado por este momento, viéndose empujado a escribir una historia oscura, negra, pero a la vez un cántico a la libertad con mayúsculas.
En la forma que está escrita se hace evidente que ya tiene sus años, pero no queda desmerecida gracias a la acción plasmada en su justa medida, a su tono poético y a la gran cantidad de metáforas que contiene. Lo mejor de Bradbury, siempre, es su magnífica prosa poética, instrumento quirúrgico que sacude el alma. Y con esta novela vuelve a conseguirlo.
Es así como considero Fahrenheit 451 como una novela de obligada lectura para cualquier lector, necesaria en las escuelas y de rabiosa actualidad a pesar de sus años. Una joya literaria que nos advierte de un inquietante futuro no muy lejano.
Cuando me toca reseñar una novela de peso, un clásico que se ha convertido en referente y cuya calidad queda fuera de toda duda, siento un pequeño escalofrío. Cuando además el autor es Bradbury, la cosa empeora. Y es que reseñar a Bradbury es mucho reseñar.
Respecto a la novela que hoy toca, debo decir que es una de las más sobrecogedoras del genial autor, más mordaz y agresiva que sus Crónicas marcianas, en el que el mensaje es parecido pero no la forma. Una distopía auténtica, como debe ser, sin el menor rayo de luz más allá de las llamas que arden en las hogueras. Empecemos con un breve resumen para situarnos.
Una civilización donde la libertad no está permitida, donde todo el mundo se ve obligado a ser feliz. Un país donde tener un libro es delito y leerlo, un crimen. Montag, el protagonista, es bombero. Su tarea no es apagar incendios sino provocarlos. Persigue aquellos que tienen libros en casa y los quema para que no puedan ser leídos. Mientras, la sociedad se avoca al hedonismo más despiadado, incapaz de pensar por si sola, abandonada en su ignorancia.
Nos encontramos ante una obra maestra del género. Bradbury escribió esta novela cuando la televisión estaba en auge, cuando varias voces autorizadas proclamaban el fin de los libros y el peligro de un medio de comunicación con tanto poder. Sin duda alguna, se sintió influenciado por este momento, viéndose empujado a escribir una historia oscura, negra, pero a la vez un cántico a la libertad con mayúsculas.
En la forma que está escrita se hace evidente que ya tiene sus años, pero no queda desmerecida gracias a la acción plasmada en su justa medida, a su tono poético y a la gran cantidad de metáforas que contiene. Lo mejor de Bradbury, siempre, es su magnífica prosa poética, instrumento quirúrgico que sacude el alma. Y con esta novela vuelve a conseguirlo.
Es así como considero Fahrenheit 451 como una novela de obligada lectura para cualquier lector, necesaria en las escuelas y de rabiosa actualidad a pesar de sus años. Una joya literaria que nos advierte de un inquietante futuro no muy lejano.
January 25, 2016
When people ask me what my favorite book is, this has been my answer for nearly 15 years. I absolutely love it; its message is so important and its story is unforgettable. With its dystopian prophecy about a society that has not only stopped reading but burns books in favor of entertainment in the form of immersive audiovisual environments (especially four-walled reality TV) and fast cars, Bradbury warns against the slippery slope of discounting the value of books that present challenging ideas to individuals and society. Freedom of the press and speech is so very important to our society, and yet, there continues to be talk to curb these freedoms in response to texts and ideas that upset certain groups of people. The surest way to demonstrate opposition to a book/idea/etc. is to ignore it; not ban it/burn it. Controlling access and press is not the solution and it never will be.
The story of a "fireman" who has a crisis of conscience leading to his rebelling against a totalitarian regime in which he is a cog in the wheel of enforcement is one I thoroughly enjoy. The descriptions of "futuristic" mind-numbing entertainment over intellectual reading and reasoning feels jarringly familiar. This, perhaps the third or fourth, time I read this book was out loud and it was very fun to read and then discuss. Huzzah for books and for the freedom to read, write, and express oneself freely!
The story of a "fireman" who has a crisis of conscience leading to his rebelling against a totalitarian regime in which he is a cog in the wheel of enforcement is one I thoroughly enjoy. The descriptions of "futuristic" mind-numbing entertainment over intellectual reading and reasoning feels jarringly familiar. This, perhaps the third or fourth, time I read this book was out loud and it was very fun to read and then discuss. Huzzah for books and for the freedom to read, write, and express oneself freely!
October 5, 2025
Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian, prophetic novel set in the year 2049 about a fireman named Montag who lights fires rather than quelling them. It’s the future and his job, in this authoritarian society, is to burn books, no matter if the owner is inside the house or not. The whole lot goes up. However, like a true hero Montag secretly stores saved books in his home. He portrays a certain guilty pleasure of keeping this habit from his boss Captain Beatty, and also his wife, Mildred. Mildred appears to be a little off the rails, taking an overdose of sleeping tablets and lazily watching people’s lives in the parlour. (It’s some sort of surround sound TV?). ©
The burning of books is a constant throughout the novel, a theme that is reminiscent of a checkered past when the Nazis burnt books in the 1930’s, and “hello” in 2025 the USA (although not as drastic) bans certain books. The Trump/GOP regime viewing them as DEI, not in keeping with white supremacy and Christian fundamentalist values, blah, blah, blah. During the war they were seen as subversive and prominently written by Jewish authors. ©
In this review, I prefer to keep the storyline simple. Readers can take what they will from this article and hopefully will read the book and compare Bradbury’s prophetic writing to current times. Like the strike of a match things can suddenly get out of hand and rights and freedoms are abolished. Moreover, I am more interested in the science fiction aspects of the novel, which I shall discuss further on. Ray Bradbury did confess that he didn’t like to call himself a science fiction author, but did admit to Fahrenheit 451 as his only one. Herein lies the rub. He brilliantly predicted future technology in a way that’s kind of scary. ©
First published in 1953, when colour television was in its burgeoning stage, Bradbury, in an uncanny sense, saw into the future of how people might react with robotics. In the narrative, Montag has to put up with a Mechanical Hound. ©
It made a single last leap into the air, coming down on Montag from a good three feet over his head, it’s spidered legs reaching, the procaine needle snapping out its single angry tooth. Montag caught it with a bloom of fire a single wondrous blossom that curled in petals of yellow and blue and orange about the metal dog clad it in a new covering as it slammed into Montag and threw him ten feet back against the bole of a tree, taking the flame gun with him. p.116
In later scenes when Montag is on the run from police he senses the Mechanical Hound chasing him. Montag knows that this electric dog can pick up two scents at once, sniff out the last trail or the whiff of death.
He could feel the hound, like autumn, come cold dry and swift, like a wind that didn’t stir grass, that didn’t jar windows…The Hound did not touch the world. It carried its silence with it, so you could feel the silence building up a pressure behind you all across town. p.132
As previously mentioned it appears the Bradbury took the early days of the verbiage of TV to new heights. Mildred has three walls in the parlour and wants a fourth. She writes scripts and talks to people. This is some kind of interactive entertainment and perhaps Bradbury thought about virtual reality way before its time? ©
She didn’t look up from her script again. “Well, this is a play comes on the wall-to-wall circuit in ten minutes. They mailed me my part this morning. I sent in some box-tops. They write the script with one part missing. It’s a new idea. The home-maker, that’s me, is the missing part. When it comes time for the missing lines, they all look at me out of three walls and I say the lines.” p.26
Apart from meeting a young girl named Clarisse at the front of his house, Montag also befriends an old university Professor called Faber. They secretly discuss books, eg. the Bible (The Book of Job), Shakespeare and Plato, Jefferson and Thoreau. And then Milton and poetry. Faber claims, “A little learning is a dangerous thing.” p. 105 ©
Faber becomes Montag’s only ally helping him to escape jail time and also the Hound. ©
What is interesting from a science fiction aspect is how Faber and Montag help each other communicate along this fraught journey. Established in the novel early on is a listening device called the Seashell. She (Mildred) had both ears plugged with electronic bees that were humming the hour away…She was an expert at lip-reading from ten years of apprenticeship at Seashell ear-thimbles. p. 25 ©
While the Seashell is rudimentary, Professor Faber has developed a more sophisticated ear device. In his bedroom he has a small chamber with a table set with metal tools among a welter of microscopic wire-hairs, tiny coils, bobbins, and crystals. Says Faber, I’ve lived alone so many years, throwing images on walls with my imagination. Fiddling with electronics, radio transmission, has been my hobby. My cowardice has been such a passion contemplating the revolutionary spirit that lives in its shadow, I was forced to design this… He picked up a small green-metal object no larger than a .22 bullet. ©
Montage says,’ ‘It looks like a Seashell radio.’
‘And something more, It listens. If you put it in your ear Montag, I can sit comfortably at home, warming my frightened bones, and hear and analyse the fireman’s world, find its weaknesses, without danger. I’m the Queen Bee, safe in the hive. You will be the drone, the travelling ear.’ p.90 ©
NOTE: Faber tells Montag to escape along the disused railway tracks. I’ve heard there are still hobo camps all across the country, here and there; walking camps they call them, and if you keep walking far enough and keep an eye peeled they say there’s lots of old Harvard degrees on the tracks between here and Los Angeles. p.127 ©
I wonder how many 2025 Harvard Professors have read FAHRENHEIIT 451?
Helen Hagemann MBA (Wrtg) Cowan
Fiction Books - available at Barnes & Noble & Amazon
Poetry Books - available at Barnes & Noble & Amazon
The burning of books is a constant throughout the novel, a theme that is reminiscent of a checkered past when the Nazis burnt books in the 1930’s, and “hello” in 2025 the USA (although not as drastic) bans certain books. The Trump/GOP regime viewing them as DEI, not in keeping with white supremacy and Christian fundamentalist values, blah, blah, blah. During the war they were seen as subversive and prominently written by Jewish authors. ©
In this review, I prefer to keep the storyline simple. Readers can take what they will from this article and hopefully will read the book and compare Bradbury’s prophetic writing to current times. Like the strike of a match things can suddenly get out of hand and rights and freedoms are abolished. Moreover, I am more interested in the science fiction aspects of the novel, which I shall discuss further on. Ray Bradbury did confess that he didn’t like to call himself a science fiction author, but did admit to Fahrenheit 451 as his only one. Herein lies the rub. He brilliantly predicted future technology in a way that’s kind of scary. ©
First published in 1953, when colour television was in its burgeoning stage, Bradbury, in an uncanny sense, saw into the future of how people might react with robotics. In the narrative, Montag has to put up with a Mechanical Hound. ©
It made a single last leap into the air, coming down on Montag from a good three feet over his head, it’s spidered legs reaching, the procaine needle snapping out its single angry tooth. Montag caught it with a bloom of fire a single wondrous blossom that curled in petals of yellow and blue and orange about the metal dog clad it in a new covering as it slammed into Montag and threw him ten feet back against the bole of a tree, taking the flame gun with him. p.116
In later scenes when Montag is on the run from police he senses the Mechanical Hound chasing him. Montag knows that this electric dog can pick up two scents at once, sniff out the last trail or the whiff of death.
He could feel the hound, like autumn, come cold dry and swift, like a wind that didn’t stir grass, that didn’t jar windows…The Hound did not touch the world. It carried its silence with it, so you could feel the silence building up a pressure behind you all across town. p.132
As previously mentioned it appears the Bradbury took the early days of the verbiage of TV to new heights. Mildred has three walls in the parlour and wants a fourth. She writes scripts and talks to people. This is some kind of interactive entertainment and perhaps Bradbury thought about virtual reality way before its time? ©
She didn’t look up from her script again. “Well, this is a play comes on the wall-to-wall circuit in ten minutes. They mailed me my part this morning. I sent in some box-tops. They write the script with one part missing. It’s a new idea. The home-maker, that’s me, is the missing part. When it comes time for the missing lines, they all look at me out of three walls and I say the lines.” p.26
Apart from meeting a young girl named Clarisse at the front of his house, Montag also befriends an old university Professor called Faber. They secretly discuss books, eg. the Bible (The Book of Job), Shakespeare and Plato, Jefferson and Thoreau. And then Milton and poetry. Faber claims, “A little learning is a dangerous thing.” p. 105 ©
Faber becomes Montag’s only ally helping him to escape jail time and also the Hound. ©
What is interesting from a science fiction aspect is how Faber and Montag help each other communicate along this fraught journey. Established in the novel early on is a listening device called the Seashell. She (Mildred) had both ears plugged with electronic bees that were humming the hour away…She was an expert at lip-reading from ten years of apprenticeship at Seashell ear-thimbles. p. 25 ©
While the Seashell is rudimentary, Professor Faber has developed a more sophisticated ear device. In his bedroom he has a small chamber with a table set with metal tools among a welter of microscopic wire-hairs, tiny coils, bobbins, and crystals. Says Faber, I’ve lived alone so many years, throwing images on walls with my imagination. Fiddling with electronics, radio transmission, has been my hobby. My cowardice has been such a passion contemplating the revolutionary spirit that lives in its shadow, I was forced to design this… He picked up a small green-metal object no larger than a .22 bullet. ©
Montage says,’ ‘It looks like a Seashell radio.’
‘And something more, It listens. If you put it in your ear Montag, I can sit comfortably at home, warming my frightened bones, and hear and analyse the fireman’s world, find its weaknesses, without danger. I’m the Queen Bee, safe in the hive. You will be the drone, the travelling ear.’ p.90 ©
NOTE: Faber tells Montag to escape along the disused railway tracks. I’ve heard there are still hobo camps all across the country, here and there; walking camps they call them, and if you keep walking far enough and keep an eye peeled they say there’s lots of old Harvard degrees on the tracks between here and Los Angeles. p.127 ©
I wonder how many 2025 Harvard Professors have read FAHRENHEIIT 451?
Helen Hagemann MBA (Wrtg) Cowan
Fiction Books - available at Barnes & Noble & Amazon
Poetry Books - available at Barnes & Noble & Amazon
January 22, 2015
"Some books are to be tasted; others swallowed; some few to be chewed and digested." -Sir Francis Bacon
This is one of those books that must be chewed and digested. Slowly. When I first read the book, I remember putting it down and thinking: "Well. I didn't hate it."
The second time: "Not bad, actually."
By now I've read it dozens of times and I love it. It's truly one of my favorite books. It certainly takes multiple reads and time for processing, but when you pick up on all his little details, references, metaphors, and sly wit, you truly begin to appreciate the book for what it is: a genius allegorical representation of society.
Everyone should read it and pay attention to what Bradbury has to say. I honestly believe we've already displayed some of the more disturbing aspects of this allegory in today's society.
This is one of those books that must be chewed and digested. Slowly. When I first read the book, I remember putting it down and thinking: "Well. I didn't hate it."
The second time: "Not bad, actually."
By now I've read it dozens of times and I love it. It's truly one of my favorite books. It certainly takes multiple reads and time for processing, but when you pick up on all his little details, references, metaphors, and sly wit, you truly begin to appreciate the book for what it is: a genius allegorical representation of society.
Everyone should read it and pay attention to what Bradbury has to say. I honestly believe we've already displayed some of the more disturbing aspects of this allegory in today's society.
December 19, 2016
Very short and to the profound point. Great classic on censorship. But What i REALLY like was the author's notes at the end. He discusses how the novel came to be and his general thoughts on any kind of censorship. He points ironically to the schools that have attempted to censor his book by cutting out all the parts that may possibly offend young minds. He firmly rejects these attempts! I look forward to teaching this novel and sharing the authors thoughts on these matters.
December 6, 2023
I know this is a classic, but it was more of a chore than a pleasure. The movie deviates from the original text in SO MANY WAYS.
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June 1, 2018Fahrenheit 451
Ray Bradbury
Reviewed by Autumn Brown
In the story Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury he tells of the life of a man named Guy Montag, whom is a fireman but not the kind that we think of now. They would start fires instead of put them out, but they would only start fires if there were books involved. Guy Montag is the main character of this book; he is the one that we follow through the story. This story is science fiction; it is set in the future and in a large city with different technology that we have now. However, some of the things that I read about in this book can describe some technology that we have now such as the seashell which looks like earbuds without a cord, the parlors which are large TVs that sit on the walls of the house, and the smaller TVs that they have, which look like iPads that have a larger and thicker back.
When I read about these things in Fahrenheit 451 I was surprised that this man who lived in 1953 could imagine things that could be possibly be made in the future and get so accurate on some of the details that he describes in his story.
The character Montag, even though he is a fireman who burns books, also reads them because they interest him and make him wonder: Why would someone go through the trouble of being caught or killed because of a book with words in it? When he reads them though he starts to understand in a small way that those words on the page give him meaning and a purpose in a world of numbness and blank faces. Also they help him push through that numbness of the pills that the people take to sleep and the tv shows that have a story or background that makes it mean something to the viewers.
What I think of this book is that it is a good book, but there are some things that just threw me off. The things that did this were the things that the people would talk about. They never really actually talked that much but it’s the things that they did that was strange to me because we never think that those things can happen. An example is when (Montag’s wife) Mildred’s friends are over and they are talking about the war that is going on and how one of their husbands was called to go to war and they say that he will be back within the month. To me that sounds crazy because when I think of war it lasts for a long time and some people are deployed for years at a time but he will only be gone for a month or two. That to me is odd because they aren’t even worried about what might happen. Another thing is when they were talking about children. The women say that they don’t really like having them, they also talk about the c-sections that they get so then they don’t have to go through the pain of birth. That to me is just sad and cruel because they don’t really care about their children either and to say that they are so much work and that they need so much attention and that you don’t want to give it to them is wrong in my eyes as teenager. Because children need to be loved and cared for, not left alone or neglected. So to me Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury showed me how these people lived and why their society is so messed up to begin with.
The point of this review is that the book teaches you a lesson. What with Montag hiding books to him speaking to Beatty, it tells you to be your own person and to not conform to society or the people around you. It also tells you that books are important and that they give you depth and individuality. This is why I think that you should read Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
Ray Bradbury
Reviewed by Autumn Brown
In the story Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury he tells of the life of a man named Guy Montag, whom is a fireman but not the kind that we think of now. They would start fires instead of put them out, but they would only start fires if there were books involved. Guy Montag is the main character of this book; he is the one that we follow through the story. This story is science fiction; it is set in the future and in a large city with different technology that we have now. However, some of the things that I read about in this book can describe some technology that we have now such as the seashell which looks like earbuds without a cord, the parlors which are large TVs that sit on the walls of the house, and the smaller TVs that they have, which look like iPads that have a larger and thicker back.
When I read about these things in Fahrenheit 451 I was surprised that this man who lived in 1953 could imagine things that could be possibly be made in the future and get so accurate on some of the details that he describes in his story.
The character Montag, even though he is a fireman who burns books, also reads them because they interest him and make him wonder: Why would someone go through the trouble of being caught or killed because of a book with words in it? When he reads them though he starts to understand in a small way that those words on the page give him meaning and a purpose in a world of numbness and blank faces. Also they help him push through that numbness of the pills that the people take to sleep and the tv shows that have a story or background that makes it mean something to the viewers.
What I think of this book is that it is a good book, but there are some things that just threw me off. The things that did this were the things that the people would talk about. They never really actually talked that much but it’s the things that they did that was strange to me because we never think that those things can happen. An example is when (Montag’s wife) Mildred’s friends are over and they are talking about the war that is going on and how one of their husbands was called to go to war and they say that he will be back within the month. To me that sounds crazy because when I think of war it lasts for a long time and some people are deployed for years at a time but he will only be gone for a month or two. That to me is odd because they aren’t even worried about what might happen. Another thing is when they were talking about children. The women say that they don’t really like having them, they also talk about the c-sections that they get so then they don’t have to go through the pain of birth. That to me is just sad and cruel because they don’t really care about their children either and to say that they are so much work and that they need so much attention and that you don’t want to give it to them is wrong in my eyes as teenager. Because children need to be loved and cared for, not left alone or neglected. So to me Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury showed me how these people lived and why their society is so messed up to begin with.
The point of this review is that the book teaches you a lesson. What with Montag hiding books to him speaking to Beatty, it tells you to be your own person and to not conform to society or the people around you. It also tells you that books are important and that they give you depth and individuality. This is why I think that you should read Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
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May 31, 2018Fahrenheit 451
Ray Bradbury
Review by Mariah Kiefer
Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury is set in the future in a major city. Guy Montag is the main character and is a firefighter, but in the future firefighters don’t save homes and people. They burn books and homes containing the books. Clarisse is a young girl who reads and is an outcast in school and is a neighbor to Montag. Mildred is a house wife to Montag. She stays home and watches television and cleans. Beatty is Montag’s captain at the fire station. The retired professor Faber, is someone who Montag had met and just had a very interesting experience with.
Montag is a firefighter and doesn’t read books but burns them. In this future society they don’t read, they watch pointless television shows and don’t really have anything worthwhile in life. Not even marriage, as Mildred, Montag's wife can’t even remember how they met. Montag burns books all day and finally decides to read one to see why anyone in their right mind would read a stupid little book and risk everything. After Montag reads his first book he can’t stop stealing books from places he visits as a firefighter to burn theses exact books he’s stealing. Montag has to face Beatty: who finds out Montag is reading books and pushes Montag along to make a choice, the choice between being a criminal and reading books, or to live his normal life the way he used to. Montag faces a series of events to make him pick his poison.
Although there are many different themes people can take away from this book, I believe Bradbury's theme for Fahrenheit 451 is stay true to yourself even if your standing alone. Fight for yourself because no one else will do it for you. This is shown by Montag picking books and standing up for himself against the firemen and captain.
I recommend this book to anyone and everyone; it shows what may happen if we try to conform everyone to the same person, and why it would be such a bad thing for society. It has real life aspects like suicide and depression. It helps portray how sometimes everyone in this day and age walks through life without really feeling anything, and how we are so addicted to technology. We rely on technology more than we should; if we ever were under cyber attack and lost all technology we as a society wouldn’t be able to function as we don’t have real conversations. That is exactly what this book shows, but instead of under cyber attack it’s an over controlling government. Although it was written in 1953, this we are still able to relate to this to our time and age. It’s a true eye opener for everyone.
Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury is an incredible book. Although it’s science fiction it has many different aspects of real life. It was a thrilling on the edge of your seat book. It’s very intriguing how what we do today can affect everything tomorrow. I highly recommend this book.
Ray Bradbury
Review by Mariah Kiefer
Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury is set in the future in a major city. Guy Montag is the main character and is a firefighter, but in the future firefighters don’t save homes and people. They burn books and homes containing the books. Clarisse is a young girl who reads and is an outcast in school and is a neighbor to Montag. Mildred is a house wife to Montag. She stays home and watches television and cleans. Beatty is Montag’s captain at the fire station. The retired professor Faber, is someone who Montag had met and just had a very interesting experience with.
Montag is a firefighter and doesn’t read books but burns them. In this future society they don’t read, they watch pointless television shows and don’t really have anything worthwhile in life. Not even marriage, as Mildred, Montag's wife can’t even remember how they met. Montag burns books all day and finally decides to read one to see why anyone in their right mind would read a stupid little book and risk everything. After Montag reads his first book he can’t stop stealing books from places he visits as a firefighter to burn theses exact books he’s stealing. Montag has to face Beatty: who finds out Montag is reading books and pushes Montag along to make a choice, the choice between being a criminal and reading books, or to live his normal life the way he used to. Montag faces a series of events to make him pick his poison.
Although there are many different themes people can take away from this book, I believe Bradbury's theme for Fahrenheit 451 is stay true to yourself even if your standing alone. Fight for yourself because no one else will do it for you. This is shown by Montag picking books and standing up for himself against the firemen and captain.
I recommend this book to anyone and everyone; it shows what may happen if we try to conform everyone to the same person, and why it would be such a bad thing for society. It has real life aspects like suicide and depression. It helps portray how sometimes everyone in this day and age walks through life without really feeling anything, and how we are so addicted to technology. We rely on technology more than we should; if we ever were under cyber attack and lost all technology we as a society wouldn’t be able to function as we don’t have real conversations. That is exactly what this book shows, but instead of under cyber attack it’s an over controlling government. Although it was written in 1953, this we are still able to relate to this to our time and age. It’s a true eye opener for everyone.
Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury is an incredible book. Although it’s science fiction it has many different aspects of real life. It was a thrilling on the edge of your seat book. It’s very intriguing how what we do today can affect everything tomorrow. I highly recommend this book.
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June 1, 2017In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Guy Montag is the main character in the story. The events that he goes through take place in the future in a big city. Montag is a fireman, but unlike the real world, these firemen start fires. In the novel reading is bad and prohibited and books are burned by firemen. The main idea I got from reading Fahrenheit 451 is that happiness doesn't have to come from technology and the things that society thinks they need.
Montag meets new people like Clarisse and Faber that inspire him to have a new view on life. He realizes there is more to life than just things like work. There is a bigger picture to the world than some may think. He ends up being very curious about books, which is something that shocks him along with his wife Mildred. After watching the lady burn herself with her books Montag wonders if there really is a special meaning behind books. Mildred doesn't accept the fact that Montag reads books. The head fireman, Beatty tries to get Guy to confess to reading books. In the society Montag lives in, everybody is obsessed with technology and needs it in order to be happy. Mildred is obsessed with TV and never stops watching it. She thinks it'll make her happy.There are people in the society that are obsessed with television, but still can't find their happiness and are depressed. He is content. Montag becomes very interested and goes through many major events to get revenge and prove that books aren't bad. He ends up finding his happiness through ways he never thought he would.
You have to find your own happiness. Montag goes through events to find his happiness. Guy realizes his happiness when he steps out into nature. At the end of the book it talks about how he has found himself as one with nature. They events all lead up to him being with people who understand him and he gets to be away from the rest of the world. In regards to happiness, Montag's character changes drastically from the beginning of the book to the end. Reading Fahrenheit 451 might help a person learn to not get caught up in work, new technology, and the things that society thinks they need.
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May 30, 2017Ray Bradbury is a very famous author. One of his books is Fahrenheit 451. In this book, in the future, firemen burn books instead of putting out fires. Books are illegal to have and if you have some, the firemen burn your house down. Guy Montag is a fireman in a big city and he goes through a change in the story. He starts to defy society by reading the books he is supposed to burn. In society, people are brainwashed when they are very young and are told to think what the government wants.
In the book, society is empty and bland. People don't socialize at all with each other. They watch televisions and programs to occupy themselves and they also believe just about anything that comes through the wall.
Montag used to be like that before he met an English professor named Faber. He opened Montag's eyes to see the world as it really is. Faber also talks about the 3 things to undo the brain wash of society. The first one was quality of reading
After Montag realized something was wrong with society, he started to wonder how it came to be like the way it was. One event that made him think was when his wife, Mildred, overdosed on sleeping pills. On other event is when Mildred would sit in front of the TV and watch "the family" for hours on end. She would refer to them as if they were in the flesh.
Reading Fahrenheit 451 was a very long task, but it was well worth it. Trying to change society would be a very monumental task. Even today society is still suppressed and empty. People are brainwashed to believe what other people say and not take into consideration what other people believe. People need to learn to think for themselves.
In the book, society is empty and bland. People don't socialize at all with each other. They watch televisions and programs to occupy themselves and they also believe just about anything that comes through the wall.
Montag used to be like that before he met an English professor named Faber. He opened Montag's eyes to see the world as it really is. Faber also talks about the 3 things to undo the brain wash of society. The first one was quality of reading
After Montag realized something was wrong with society, he started to wonder how it came to be like the way it was. One event that made him think was when his wife, Mildred, overdosed on sleeping pills. On other event is when Mildred would sit in front of the TV and watch "the family" for hours on end. She would refer to them as if they were in the flesh.
Reading Fahrenheit 451 was a very long task, but it was well worth it. Trying to change society would be a very monumental task. Even today society is still suppressed and empty. People are brainwashed to believe what other people say and not take into consideration what other people believe. People need to learn to think for themselves.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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May 30, 2017Fahrenheit 451
By: Ray Bradbury
Review: Eli Schwartz
In the novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury sets the book into the future. It's about a firefighter Guy Montag he burns books and one day he get curious and starts reading them. It is illegal to own/read books because the government thinks it's bad for you. Don't do what society says, if society is wrong rebel.
The message in this book is don't do what other people are doing. Guy Montag breaks from society and does his own thing. He wonders why society is like that and starts to question it. Guy Montag did his own thing and that's what we should do, we should do our own thing.
Guy Montag is a firefighter who burns books and then starts to read them cause he gets curious. He reads books because there's knowledge in the good and he wants to know what's in them. Favor said three things that factors Montag's decisions they were qualities of a decision, leisure time to make the decision, then making the decision. The lady that burned herself with her books did those three things. Mildred did the same thing but in a different way when she called the firefighters on Montag and they went to his house.
The main point is to do your own thing and don't stay in a routine. Don't do what society says, do what you want to do. If society is wrong rebel on it.
By: Ray Bradbury
Review: Eli Schwartz
In the novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury sets the book into the future. It's about a firefighter Guy Montag he burns books and one day he get curious and starts reading them. It is illegal to own/read books because the government thinks it's bad for you. Don't do what society says, if society is wrong rebel.
The message in this book is don't do what other people are doing. Guy Montag breaks from society and does his own thing. He wonders why society is like that and starts to question it. Guy Montag did his own thing and that's what we should do, we should do our own thing.
Guy Montag is a firefighter who burns books and then starts to read them cause he gets curious. He reads books because there's knowledge in the good and he wants to know what's in them. Favor said three things that factors Montag's decisions they were qualities of a decision, leisure time to make the decision, then making the decision. The lady that burned herself with her books did those three things. Mildred did the same thing but in a different way when she called the firefighters on Montag and they went to his house.
The main point is to do your own thing and don't stay in a routine. Don't do what society says, do what you want to do. If society is wrong rebel on it.
July 5, 2019
I'd been wanting to read this book for so long and I'm very glad I finally did. It was such an interesting concept of what the world could look like with censorship and total immersion in media, without authentic relationships. In particular, I found the life of his wife sad because of her lack of connection with her husband or any real relationships with others. It also made me think about moments in censorship and propoganda throughout history and the motivations behind it by different groups.
June 29, 2019
In addition to the story being good, the author's afterward, coda and 50th Anniversary interview in the back of the book make this edition overall an excellent read. The extra material enhance an already thought provoking story; especially when the author explains why Beatty has knowledge of books and burns them.
May 5, 2017
My daughter was reading this classic for her English class, and I had this on my shelf. Written in the 1950's and so relevant to today. Modern technology, consumerism, instant gratification, to name a few of the thoughts provoked by this book.
May 30, 2017
Never read this book before. Interesting view of a future I certainly hope we do not decline to.
June 9, 2022
I gave this book a 5 when I was a teenager but now it seems very odd as well
March 16, 2023
wow, a little confusing, I think I need to reread...
June 22, 2023
4,5⭐️
wow. the similes, the metaphors, the criticism…wow. beautiful
wow. the similes, the metaphors, the criticism…wow. beautiful
November 27, 2023
Very well done! I enjoyed it a lot and read it in a few hours. It is incredibly accurate to nowadays.
June 30, 2024
Great easy read I can see why it has lasted throughout time and still applies.
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