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Fahrenheit 451 (Ave Fenix)
by: Ray Bradbury

Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9789506440299
ISBN: 9506440298
Label: Plaza y Janes
Manufacturer: Plaza y Janes
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 175
Publication Date: 2004-06
Publisher: Plaza y Janes
Studio: Plaza y Janes
Sales Rank: 732275

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:
Nowadays firemen start fires. Fireman Guy Montag loves to rush to a fire and watch books burn up. Then he met a seventeen-year old girl who told him of a past when people were not afraid, and a professor who told him of a future where people could think. And Guy Montag knew what he had to do....

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

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- A dash of cold water, please
Our book club recently decided to make every other book choice a "classic" book which, for one reason or another, none of us has read. Fahrenheit 451 was this month's choice. After plowing through Bradbury's self-aggrandizing Foreward AND Introduction, I was ready to be enthralled. No such luck. This had to be one of the most abysmal books of all time. I suspect there's a bit of The Emperor's New Clothes (a much better read, by the way) going on here. In other words, if you dare to criticize Bradbury, then you must be one of the mindless rubes who hate books and philosophy and creativity and yadda yadda yadda. Fine, whatever. To put it delicately, this book stunk like yesterday's diapers. I have nothing but sympathy for the poor students who are forced to read this drivel for class- ... Read More

Rating:

- Dated screed
I am frustrated by the sloppiness of this book. From what I understand, Bradbury sat in a library and wrote it in a few weeks, and it shows. Montag is introduced as a man happy in his job. The meeting with Clarisse blows his mind! But then Bradbury throws in numerous details indicating that his dissatisfaction has been mounting for some time. Although Montag is purportedly of a divided mind, the development of his character is very abrupt and unconvincing. But why develop what is essentially a mouthpiece for your own ranting? Blech. Bradbury's ideas have come to fruition in our time, but, ironically, his own work is not literature at all. I do not understand why this work is lauded as a classic.

Rating:

- Prophetic, but Immature
This was one of my favorite books in high school, and reading it again had a certain charm, but my issue with it can be summed up in a small quote from an interview included in the final pages.

"DEL RAY: In the introduction to the recently published Bradbury: An Illustrated Life", a wonderful book which I have spent hours immersed in--

RAY BRADBURY: Isn't that an incredible book?"

I had the same issue with Brave New World. Even though these science fiction romps are interesting and at times exciting, the authors are so in love with themselves and their prophetic ideas, it hurts; sometimes it even cramps the writing. The ham-fisted emotions of Guy Montag are bizarre and nonsensical to say the least--the other characters suffer a similar sort of cartoonishness. ... Read More

Rating:

- A thrilling combination of 50's pulp sci-fi and reflective commentary
By my count, this'll be the 1,218th review for this book on amazon, so what could I possibly say that the other 1,217 haven't?

But for those few who dare dig this deep to read: I loved the book. I've read numerous novels and thrillers for fun, and also dabbled in more serious, non-fiction as well (check my profile if you want), but this one book managed to bridge the two meta-genres. In Ray Bradbury's comments he mentions that he wrote the book on typewriters that charged a dime per hour in a university library, driven there by the distractions of two young daughters in his house; as a result (imho) the work comes fast and furious and makes no apologies for failing to artistically create a subtle and symbolic background.

The characters are few and the scenes sparse but ... Read More

Rating:

- Fahrenheit 451: A Novel
Excellent Service! Book came promptly, even faster than I ever expected! I never thought this one would be available in hardcover.
Many thanks.

Books : Fahrenheit 451 (Ave Fenix)