Nerdfighters discussion

Since a week ago Hank announced to us that they were bringing back the summertime Nerdfighter book club with Fahrenheit 451. I thought the book deserved a topic on the discussion boards. So how are you liking the book so far? Any comments, questions, possible concerns? Talk about it here!

I can't find it anywhere! All the library copies are out with holds, and my indie bookstore didn't have any copies. I'm going to see if I can get an ebook loan from the library, otherwise I'll have to order it. I'm sure lots of people are reading it because of Bradbury's death, but I prefer to think that I'm just surrounded by Nerdfighters :D

Done reading the first part! I really liked it (although I cannot imagine a world where books are burned to ashes- i just can't!) I'm excited for John to discuss the book. :)

I finished reading the first part a couple of days ago, and I'm kind of in love with it so far. I'm holding off from reading the rest til after the discussion video, which is so frustrating! I feel really terrible that I didn't recognize the amazing that is Ray Bradbury before now.

Sarah wrote: "I finished reading the first part a couple of days ago, and I'm kind of in love with it so far. I'm holding off from reading the rest til after the discussion video, which is so frustrating! I feel..."

Yup. Exactly how I feel.

Have you guys watched the video discussion of Fahrenheit 451 already?

Elisabeth wrote: "I can't find it anywhere! All the library copies are out with holds, and my indie bookstore didn't have any copies. I'm going to see if I can get an ebook loan from the library, otherwise I'll ha..."

I can't find it anywhere either! It's not in any of the bookshops or in any secondhand bookshops :( I think Amazon is my only hope now.

Have you found a copy yet?

I truly recommend bookdepository.co.uk as a place for ordering this book. It's where I get most of mine (in fact, I bought Fahrenheit 451 there a week ago), and it has free shipping world wide. Often that alone makes it cheaper than most places.

Sterling wrote: "I truly recommend bookdepository.co.uk as a place for ordering this book. It's where I get most of mine (in fact, I bought Fahrenheit 451 there a week ago), and it has free shipping world wide. Oft..."

Thanks!

I know that we were only supposed to read the first part, but it was so good and I couldn't stop, so I just read the whole book.

Melissa Asselin wrote: "I know that we were only supposed to read the first part, but it was so good and I couldn't stop, so I just read the whole book."

You aren't the only one. I finished the book a while ago. Can't remember the exact day, but it was so good I just had to keep reading. But it was nice to see that I'm not the only person who finds Mildred a horribly unrealistic character compared to the others.

Same here, once I started reading, I just couldn't stop. Haven't quite finished, but it is amazing and so addictive.

I think that all of the characters in this book seem unrealistic, in one sense or another. The unrealistic factor is more amplified in particular in terms of the female characters. The women are stereotypical; in one sense, you've got the crazy, overly emotional wife; in another, the manic pixie dream girl. But, honestly, the stereotypical and unrealistic features of the characters haven't taken anything away from the enjoyment of the story for me. I still have greatly enjoyed delving into this world, and, although I agree with Hank that thinking that the Farenheit 451 world is an imminent future for this world is as unrealistic as the characters, there are features of the Farenheit world that resonate. The book accomplishes what it sets out to do- it is entertaining, and it makes one examine the features of the culture and world we live in.

I completely agree with you, Camryn. My reading so far is much more like Hank's than John's, and I feel like both the characters and the setting are completely unrealistic but serve as devices for cultural comparison. I don't know that I would call the book entertaining (it's not so much to my personal taste so far), but it does seem to highlight those features of our society that compare/contrast with Montag's. It's more of a thinky book than a fun book (not that books can't be both, but for me this one isn't so far).

Also, I haven't finished the book yet, so maybe these problems are remedied, but it does seem like the book takes a rather blunt view of its main themes. Its notions about the usage of technology and the distracting power of inane media are addressed rather simplistically, despite being very complex issues. That certainly doesn't make the book bad, but it feels like kind of a one-sided argument, so to speak. This is especially annoying to me due to the world being (as you said, Camryn, and as Hank said) intentionally unrealistic to serve as contrast. This seems like it's reducing a series of viewpoints to strawmen, which is a dangerous thing to do.

There are things I like about the book, too, so I don't want to sound like I'm just being a Negative Nancy, but the positive features of the book are less interesting to me because I've seen them done similarly or addressed just as well in other media (Dollhouse analyzes technology with much more nuance, Brave New World expresses similar ideas about drowning in cultural inanity, etc.).

I loved this book!! I finished the entire book in two days!! The characters are so interesting and so complex. I love the way it is a very realistic fiction. Though our world is not this bad yet, if this were to happen one day it would not be the government who did this. It would be ourselves who made this happen.

I'm so glad I'm finally taking the opportunity to read this, and the vlogbrothers make it so much more interesting since I'll never take another English course again.
I'm waiting to continue reading until the next videos come out because I find myself learning so much more than if I just went through it in a day. I have more to reflect on now, through the videos.

When is the book club continuing? Can't remember if/when they said which videos would be about Fahrenheit 451.

Maja wrote: "When is the book club continuing? Can't remember if/when they said which videos would be about Fahrenheit 451."
Both of them already posted a video each about their thoughts on Part one. No idea when the next one is due to be up:)

Absolutely love it! I actually couldn't wait to finish it sooo..... I read ahead :) Sorry John and Hank but your videos regarding Fahrenheit 451 were too inconsistent! I just couldn't wait

I gave up waiting for their videos, I'm almost finished with the book now. It's almost the end of summer and, otherwise, I won't have time to get it done before I start school.

it was super hard to get hold of, the library could only give me a study guide!

Spoilers!!!

The thing that I am really mad about in this book is that Clarisse dies. It doesn't concretely say but one can assume. I think what would have been great if Montag met her at the hobo camp and they were reunited.