Farenheit 451 / What Is a Dictatorship?: Paired Set

by Ray Bradbury, Nick Hunter

This paired set, along with a comprehensive learning guide, inspires student inquiry and invites critical thinking with paired fiction and nonfiction texts.

Genres: Dystopia, Classics

Library Binding

Published August 15, 2016

About the author

Ray Douglas Bradbury was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and realistic fiction.

Bradbury is best known for his novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and his short-story collections The Martian Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951), and The October Country (1955). Other notable works include the coming of age novel Dandelion Wine (1957), the dark fantasy Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962) and the fictionalized memoir Green Shadows, White Whale (1992). He also wrote and consulted on screenplays and television scripts, including Moby Dick and It Came from Outer Space. Many of his works were adapted into television and film productions as well as comic books. Bradbury also wrote poetry which has been published in several collections, such as They Have Not Seen the Stars (2001).

The New York Times called Bradbury "An author whose fanciful imagination, poetic prose, and mature understanding of human character have won him an international reputation" and "the writer most responsible for bringing modern science fiction into the literary mainstream".

Reviews

[Clwaddoups · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found Farenheit 451 scary in how relevant this book is in 2016! I love Ray Bradbury's gift for juxtaposed and unique descriptions, especially of emotions. I appreciate how tight he writes. His characters are 3-dimensional and stand alone. An articulate, disturbing read.

[Annabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, I only read Fahrenheit 451 because that's all I had to read. BUT I thought it was terrible. I mean, the fact that I had to read it for school was already bad, but the book itself made no sense to me. I think it was because of the way Bradbury wrote the book, his style of writing and the ideas he illustrated in it that made barely any sense to me. It was written in the 1950's right? And it was talking about a year past 2050 where books are being burnt because they are banned. Because I have to analyze this book for school, I can actually say a lot about it, but the thing that really connects to it the most for me (what makes it make sense to me) is this quote by Lucien Carr: "To be reborn, you have to die first." That quote right there relates to the book in the way that society has to collapse completely so that the hidden population of book lovers can start over and build a proper society from scratch. I don't know, other than that the book barely made sense to me.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think this is the worst book I've ever read, but it was pretty close. This book offers headaches to everyone who picks it up. I would spend way too much time trying to decipher his figurative language that the book wasn't as impactful as it should've been. Sometimes I wonder what mental state Bradbury was in when he wrote this because there is no way that you can twist the meaning of words so easily. I think this book was written for students, English teachers, and people who feel like they don't fit in. I think if you enjoy constant imagery and figurative language this would be one of your favorites though.

[Kyle Kology · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guy Montag is a fireman. His job isn't to put out fires though, it's to start fires and throw books into them. Books are a source of unhappiness, but Guy is still unhappy. If books are hidden in your house, a mechanical hound flanked by helicopters is ready to track down everyone who tries to keep books and defy the law. This book has many levels to it, filled with vivid emotions of Guy's hiding of books behind a wall, to failing to love his wife. I loved it and I would recommend it.
Kyle Kology

[Pamela Mathur · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never read this book in high school, having grown up reading mostly British authors. Maybe that is why I found it so thought-provoking and uncomfortable that I cannot stop thinking about it. Like Orwellian classics, this is not a book you can reread but it stays with you long after you have finished it. The fact that the society we live in today is eerily reminiscent of the dystopia laid out in this book is like a punch to the gut. If you read it in high school and didn't like it, give it about fifteen years and try again - you won't feel the same way.

[Gus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jusque tard dans ma lecture, j'hesitais a mettre trois étoiles, car le livre étant bien écrit, rien ne se passe réellement avant la page 150-160, cependant je me suis étonné a le lire facilement et rapidement, sans me forcer, sans y trouver grand interet, jusqua la fin qui ma agréablement surprise, elle est bien différente des fins de la plupart des autres dystopies de science fiction, bien qu'on se sache pas ce qu'adviens clarisse, ce qui laisse un gout d'inachevé a la fin du livre
Dans l'ensemble le livre est bon, mais rien de transcendant.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was about the main character guy, who lives in a dystopian world where the government burns books in order to control dangerous ideas and unhappy concepts. I think that this book was very necessary to write because it expresses how depressing dystopias are for society. I also liked this book because it was very interesting to me to see how the world can go into such a dark place such as that. I recommend this book for you if you like to read about dystopian societies.

[Letícia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has so many references that I think I didn't get all of them, it was really smart the parallels and I was touched by the characters and the development. Montag's neighbour, boss and wife was definitely essential points for me for what they represented.
Thinking about the time it was published I can see why this book can be so important. Definitely 10/10 for me.

[Mariam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found Farenheit 451 scary in how relevant this book is in 2016! I love Ray Bradbury's gift for juxtaposed and unique descriptions, especially of emotions. I appreciate how tight he writes. His characters are 3-dimensional and stand alone. An articulate, disturbing read.

[Sudarshana · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing story filled with an imaginative dystopia. there exists a feeling of unease in the mind of reader when reading this. i was introduced to the world of Ray via this masterpiece, would recommend everyone to give this a read .

[Ariana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Books were only one type of receptacle where we stored a lot of things we were afraid we might forget. There is nothing magical in them, at all. The magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us. - Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

[Dante · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book because of how it really portrayed censorship but in a sort of child friendly way. I also liked how it showed how the government controls everything using books, a very interesting choice. Overall I would give this book an 8/10, only because it was a bit difficult to read.

[Alex]

this book is a deserved classic. Should be read by every person who enjoys to push themselves far in thought and read books that explore controversial ideas present in our time. This books calls us out.

[Cecilia Del · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sé que es un clásico futurista y cuyo trasfondo es enseñarnos las consecuencias de los regimenes totalitarios, pero quizá por eso mismo, me choquea leer el tema. Y sobre todo por la quema de libros. Yo no podría imaginar que haría.

[Saurabh Kadam · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you looking for audiobook on this one, I would recommend Tim Robbins narration.

[Laura Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first book of the dystopia genre

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Modern-day poetry and despite being hard to read it is totally worth it once you start understanding

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ray Bradbury successfully portrays a dystopian society in which firemen burn. Guy Montag, firemen, interacts with various characters to unravel the society and its propaganda.

[Bennett Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was ok, it was a little bit boring at first. Towards the end of the book it became more exciting and fun to read

[Erick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rereading classics: Bradbury's dystopian yet uncannily relevant tale of truth, knowledge, and defiance.

[Anita Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this but not entirely sure I understood it. Worth a read.

[Ava · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was an amazing read that truly made me appreciate the life I have with amazing novels that I can read every day.

[kate gruetter · Rating 4 out of 5]

hard to get into but amazing themes and overall ideas

[ing · Rating 4 out of 5]

i liked this a lot because it was like interesting and like fun idkdkkf. i would definitely read it again just because its fun and like yes.

[Areo · Rating 1 out of 5]

booty cheeks, i feel like he hates women, and the ending isn't good.

[Ashley DaCosta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book can be boring to read BUT the overall novel is a masterpiece in the themes it’s portraying. An intellectual dive into current issues!

[Luna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy bueno para reflexionar.

[Susan Mchugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

INteresting read in today's world!

[Rcpgpugh · Rating 1 out of 5]

What an unhappy story.