The Modern Library 100 Best Novels Challenge discussion

November 2009 - Post comments here.

Just finished and after reading this I have learned one important thing...I am not a bradbury fan. Not much else to say.

I haven't read this book in YEARS, so I am anxious to see what I think about it after my next reading. He definitely has his own style, that's for sure. I tried reading another book by him in college (not Dandelion Wine) that I just could NOT get into at all.

Eric wrote: "Just finished and after reading this I have learned one important thing...I am not a bradbury fan. Not much else to say."

I'll join you in the non-fan group, Eric. I read this years ago.

I read bits and pieces of this last year, more like spark note blurbs, because my son wrote an 8 page paper, an author synopsis, a "world of the works" paper and a powerpoint presentation on Fahrenheit 451. By the time I reviewed his work, I felt like I had read the book.

Today, I was packing books off my son's bookcase to ready for the carpet layers tomorrow and I came across this title. I actually had planned to read it for the seasonal reading challenge group, so I slipped it aside and started it this afternoon.

I'm really enjoying this one so far. There's something about Bradbury's writing.. its magical, full of hope and expectancy. I keep waiting for what's going to happen next; it has that sense of an impending "something" just on the next page. I find all of his books to be this way to some degree. Its been years since I've read Bradbury, and I'm glad this group steered me back to him again.

I finished Fahrenheit 451 a few days ago and really liked it. For such a small book, Bradbury said a lot about society. It's honestly frightening how on target he was with some of the technology and how it's revered. Large wall-to-wall t.v.'s which broadcast interactive programming that replace relationships and real family; whereas books are dangerous because they incite readers to think, observe and feel rather than be fed mind-numbing drivel. Yikes! My house would go up in seconds if those firemen paid me a visit.

I finished this one today and liked it a lot. I agree with Lisa about how "on target" Bradbury was back in '62 about future technology and its influence on society.

Reading all the positive reviews you're giving, maybe I have to go back and re-read this. It was quite a few years ago that I first read it.

I couldn't put this down. Maybe because I didn't have to read it in high school, I had no expectations. I found the characters interesting, the mind-switch of firemen being agents of destruction, and the comments on society, mass soporification, and war really interesting.

I just picked this up from the library today, and I'm really excited to start reading it! I didn't have to read it in high school either... but just from reading the synopsis on the back, it sounds cool. Hopefully it will live up to expectations!

I read this one for a second time this past week - I am a little behind in my posting. I really enjoyed the story, and repeatedly found myself horrified at the ideas presented in the book. What did everyone think of some of the themes? (I don't want to get too specific, but I guess that since we're at the end of the month it's okay.)

Also, many of you did not enjoy Something Wicked This Way Comes. Did you like this Bradbury more? Less? What are your thoughts?

I liked them both, but actually thought SWTWC was better. It seemed a bit more "magical" to me. The passages were more descriptive, and the sense of anticipation was greater for me than in Fahrenheit 451. That being said, both were very good IMO.

I think Something Wicked is better, also. I agree with the comments Garlan made -- with the exception of the last sentence! LOL

I like both of these Bradbury books that we read and both were equally as disturbing as the other but in different ways. I cannot imagine living in a time when all books were eliminated from society, although with the methods various forms of media take for presenting information to us, it is almost the same thing.

I finished the book in one day, but not because I liked it, but because it was short...If it would had been longer I probably would had not finished it.

The ideas presented in the book didn't have any impact on me. It may be because I just read 1984 where ALL the aspects of your living, and the past, are controlled by the state. A book that engrossed me and made me think.

I didn't feel a connection with any of the characters. I didn't get to know them.

I felt tense reading the book. Not because of the plot but of the way the author narrates the story. Does anybody else felt that way while reading it?

Maybe, I enjoyed this book because I was listening to it as an audio book. Bradburry's prose seem really good when you listen to them. He seems to me a good oral storyteller. I guess if I had read it I would have not liked it as much. Sometimes the format in which we read the book creates a totally different experience.