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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 809
EAN: 9781586634018
Edition: Stg
ISBN: 1586634011
Label: SparkNotes
Manufacturer: SparkNotes
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 72
Publication Date: January 10, 2002
Publisher: SparkNotes
Studio: SparkNotes
Alternate Versions: Click to Display
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com Review:
In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury's classic, frightening vision of the future, firemen don't put out fires--they start them in order to burn books. Bradbury's vividly painted society holds up the appearance of happiness as the highest goal--a place where trivial information is good, and knowledge and ideas are bad. Fire Captain Beatty explains it this way, "Give the people contests they win by remembering the words to more popular songs.... Don't give them slippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things up with. That way lies melancholy."
Guy Montag is a book-burning fireman undergoing a crisis of faith. His wife spends all day with her television "family," imploring Montag to work harder so that they can afford a fourth TV wall. Their dull, empty life sharply contrasts with that of his next-door neighbor Clarisse, a young girl thrilled by the ideas in books, and more interested in what she can see in the world around her than in the mindless chatter of the tube. When Clarisse disappears mysteriously, Montag is moved to make some changes, and starts hiding books in his home. Eventually, his wife turns him in, and he must answer the call to burn his secret cache of books. After fleeing to avoid arrest, Montag winds up joining an outlaw band of scholars who keep the contents of books in their heads, waiting for the time society will once again need the wisdom of literature.
Bradbury--the author of more than 500 short stories, novels, plays, and poems, including The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man--is the winner of many awards, including the Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America. Readers ages 13 to 93 will be swept up in the harrowing suspense of Fahrenheit 451, and no doubt will join the hordes of Bradbury fans worldwide. --Neil Roseman
Product Description:
Get your "A" in gear!
They're today's most popular study guides-with everything you need to succeed in school. Written by Harvard students for students, since its inception SparkNotes™ has developed a loyal community of dedicated users and become a major education brand. Consumer demand has been so strong that the guides have expanded to over 150 titles. SparkNotes'™ motto is Smarter, Better, Faster because:
· They feature the most current ideas and themes, written by experts.
· They're easier to understand, because the same people who use them have also written them.
· The clear writing style and edited content enables students to read through the material quickly, saving valuable time.
And with everything covered--context; plot overview; character lists; themes, motifs, and symbols; summary and analysis, key facts; study questions and essay topics; and reviews and resources--you don't have to go anywhere else!
Average Rating: 
Rating: -
While a good read with strong themes, I struggle to grasp why this book is considered such a "classic" by so many. I'll admit - I am no one to judge what a "classic" is, but it would be nice if someone could explain it to me - as there are other books out there that drive at similar points but are considered far less noteworthy.
That being said, there were some strong themes running through this book that seem very prophetic - the book was written in the 1950s, and I caught myself more than once drawing on Bradbury's "exaggerations" (at the time) to current society. Such as the mass media (or propaganda) and mind control - crippling people's ability to think for themselves - and in fact doing the "thinking" for them. This is a central theme and one of the reasons behind the burning of books - as books make you think and loosen one's ability to control. And similarly, the (television) media's creation of short attention spans (immediately looking for the climax of a story ... Read More
Rating:  -
I'm no advocate of book burning, but burn this book! It was terribly disappointing--lots of hype over a cheesy science-fiction novel. There are two major problems with it. One is poor language usage--lousy descriptive word choices, lousy metaphors and similes that make inappropriate comparisons--and two, not enough attention paid to societal problems that give rise to things like book burning in the first place: the threat of the individual to the group; government control over the sheep-like masses; the modern epidemic of people's lack of interest in anything intellectual; the timeless epidemic of a fear of anything that goes against group mentality or upsets the status quo, and so on. Bradbury touches on some of these issues, but leaves them largely undeveloped.
Rating:  -
When I first encountered this book at the age of 13, I was more accustomed to 'choose your own adventure' books or pulp science fiction. I'd never heard of Bradbury, but realized as I fought through the first few chapters that I was in over my head. I stuck it out however, and when I was done, my life had changed forever. Since then I have read this book many times, and it is always with a particular fondness because this is the book that taught me to read. To read as more than someone who desires nothing more than to be entrained.
That is not to say that Bradbury isn't entertaining. I've always found him to be one of the most successfully entertaining science fiction writers of all time. FAHRENHEIT 451 is on of his best. Conceptually simple (books are outlawed and the world has become a dreary, dystopian place where cheap thrills and wars fought with disease bombs are the norm) but wise and deep in substance, Bradbury successfully weaves characters and plot into a profound ... Read More
Rating: -
This book blows my mind. It says so many things that I've been believing for years (and that's before I read it) about human nature: the tendency of the masses to follow and do what they're told; how easily humans waste their capacity for critical thinking; the difference between pleasure and true joy; the true meaning of freedom. Many people don't search for a deeper meaning to life than what tradition gives them, and that's okay; it's their choice. But when those people assume that everyone is that way, and they start restricting people's freedom because they think it will make everyone happy - well, that's when you get Fahrenheit 451. The character of Millie, especially, strikes me with her utter devotion to meaningless trivialities. We all know a Millie, or two or three. And this book is the story of how Montag discovers he really isn't like Millie at all, even though he thought he was, and how he fights the law and becomes a renegade, just to discover who he really is.
Rating: -
If ever there is a formula for the perfect novel, 451 has the ingredients. It would be one part science fiction masked in a glaze of poetic impulse, settled on a bed of classic literature soaking up the juices of vast philosophical thought. The burning of books is a horror to any who love the written word and our freedom to dream. It would be our worst nightmare for society to regress to a state of anti-intellectualism so staunch that ideas themselves have become the enemy. Ray Bradbury not only captures our fears in this post nuclear world but also touches upon our often forgotten love for the stories that have captured our hearts. This is a must read for anyone who has ever loved a book.
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