Litsy

Farenheit 451 | Ray Bradbury, Cid Knipel

pick

A future where books are banned and firemen burn them. Firefighter Guy Montag questions if what he‘s doing is right. It really dives into the psychological mindest of the lead character and what he‘s thinking. Great moments of dialogue and suspense.

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TheSpineView

Fahrenheit 451 | Ray Bradbury

#SundayFunday @BookmarkTavern

mobill76 I've never thought of it as a political book. Maybe even anti-political. But politics has grown to encompass the question of who controls “the truth“, which F451 is very much about. But, I'm always glad to see one of my favorites in the conversation. 3mo

BookmarkTavern Oh yeah, that‘s a good pick. Thanks for sharing! 3mo

DogMomIrene Ohhh, excellent pick. Love this book🙌🏼 3mo

50 likes3 comments

Catsandbooks

Fahrenheit 451 | Ray Bradbury

so-so

2.5/5 ⭐️ This was much stranger than I remembered it being when I last read it in middle school. Still a worthy read. Thanks for hosting Sarah! #randomclassics

TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Thanks for reading with me!! I ended up with a lot of mixed feelings about this one. 5mo

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Blueberry

Fahrenheit 451 | Ray Bradbury

#ShortButPowerful. #AboutaBook

@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Eggs Absolutely 💯 5mo

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TheAromaofBooks

Fahrenheit 451 | Ray Bradbury

so-so

Hey friends!! Things got a lil busy last week and then I just honestly didn't feel like like being online much this weekend haha But I'm back for the final section of our #RandomClassic

In the end, this book was just okay for me. It felt like a weird fever dream a lot of the time. Not a lot of explanations, not a lot of character development or background, just people drifting from place to place. I was confused by some things (why did no one ⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) call the authorities when Guy had a book on the train??). Part of my ambivalent attitude is probably because I actually love info-dumping world-building 😂

To me, this book felt like a warning about what happens when we, as a society, stop valuing learning and books, more than it did a warning about government overreach, like 1984 and others. While the gov't did sanction the destruction of books in this story, it was the people who ⬇ 5mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) originally lost interest in them. I feel like this story reflected the leaps and bounds of new tech that was becoming much more widespread at the time, TV and telephones, vacuum cleaners and washing machines, faster cars and more spare time. Things can be good until they're bad.

However, as a story I just never really connected. I didn't particularly care about Guy or any of the other characters. Although I weirdly did like the odd ⬇ 5mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) ending.

So tell me your thoughts!! Did you enjoy this one? Did it go places you expected? Did you have any take-away thoughts? Did you feel like the ending was optimistic or pessimistic?

@BarbaraJean @BarkingMadRead @Catsandbooks @ChelseaM6010 @Clare-Dragonfly @Daisey @julieclair @Librarybelle @nanuska_153 @StayCurious 5mo

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Librarybelle I agree that it felt like it was the people who lost interest initially and then the government sanctioned the destruction of them. I gave it a soft pick—there are parts I‘m still not sure I fully understand—but it just hits too close to the modern debate of banning books. It‘s eerie to see the parallels between a group‘s fear of books‘ contents and the eventual signing into law of book bans and punishment for providing said books to others. 5mo

Clare-Dragonfly I agree, the worldbuilding is surprisingly thin! I don‘t think Bradbury took any time to consider the economics of his world, which makes sense when you think of it more as a warning than immersive storytelling. I think it‘s a pretty effective one. Obviously it‘s enduring. My thoughts on the ending below a spoiler tag… 5mo

Clare-Dragonfly I was surprised by the ending—even though I‘ve read this before! I remembered the group of Book People, but not the city-flattening bombs. It felt both too optimistic (the bad civilization is ended, now the good guys can restart it with the books in their head) and too pessimistic (not reading leads directly to WWIII), as well as too pat—like, Montag is the only important person, so now that he understands the world, it can be destroyed. 5mo

Clare-Dragonfly The declaration of war probably served as foreshadowing for Bradbury‘s 1950s readers, but it didn‘t for me. Montag makes a comment to Faber about the war seeming far away, like something that is going to happen to someone else. Well, as a USAmerican born in the 1980s, that *is* my experience of war. I honestly didn‘t expect it to mean anything to the characters, especially after all the bombers flying past meant nothing to them. 5mo

Susanita I wonder if I would have gotten more out of it if I‘d read it for a class, but then again maybe not. I‘m glad I read it though and can check it off my list. 5mo

julieclair Didn‘t get to it, and since it‘s a re-read, based on the comments, I probably won‘t. 😎 5mo

TheAromaofBooks @julieclair - I still think it's a worthwhile read (and it's less than 200pgs so not a huge commitment). I'm wondering if it's a book I would get more from reading it a second time, because it just wasn't at all what I was expecting. 5mo

julieclair @TheAromaofBooks Oh… interesting! I‘ll keep it on my list, then. And of course I can follow the discussion at any time, due to the magic of Litsy! 5mo

Catsandbooks I wonder why I liked this when I was younger because I find it kind of strange now. I do wish there was more world building. And also the ending seemed too simple. Like oh a bomb hits the city now things are all better to go back??? I am glad I read it though. I might check out the HBO movie version of it they made a few years ago. 5mo

BarbaraJean Popping in late—it‘s been a necessary introverting week for me! Fever dream is such a good description. I read this in the early 2000s, and re-reading it, I couldn‘t believe how little I remembered. Maybe that's because so much of the story feels like just vibes. 😆 The ideas are intriguing, but it‘s sketched out rather than fleshed out. I did enjoy it—the ideas & concerns it raises are still so relevant, both the lack of value for books or ⬇ 5mo

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) ...real ideas and the book-banning side of it. The only part I really remember is the ending and the idea of “being” a book—I loved that so much!! Like you @Clare-Dragonfly I remembered the group of people but not the rest of it. I did feel like it was an optimistic ending, in a weird, apocalyptic, wipe-it-out-and-start-again-but-also-carry-the-torch kind of way. 5mo

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Clare-Dragonfly

Fahrenheit 451 | Ray Bradbury

pick

I had to include my water bottle in the photo because it matches the book 😂

I do love this book. I didn‘t remember the ending and I‘m not sure I appreciate it—but I won‘t spoil that here! Bradbury‘s characters and world are thinly but sharply drawn. The vision of a world in which books are illegal because everyone is afraid to think is dark and all too real. When I compare the TV-wall parlor with social media, I want to throw away my phone.

31 likes

Clare-Dragonfly

Fahrenheit 451 | Ray Bradbury

Oh, that‘s why this edition seems to be so much bigger than the tiny book I remember 😂

dabbe That part 😱 me! 😂😂😂 5mo

30 likes1 comment

Librarybelle

Fahrenheit 451 | Ray Bradbury

pick

This is a light pick for me—I got the overall gist of the story, but sometimes struggled with what exactly was going on. Dystopian is not my typical genre, but given its ties to current day issues, I knew I had to read this with the #RandomClassics group. I am glad I read it. #192025 #1953

TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks I'm getting ready to finish this one today, but on the whole it's a little too much like a weird dream for me to really like it 😂 5mo

Librarybelle @TheAromaofBooks I like that analogy! 😂 5mo

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TheAromaofBooks

Fahrenheit 451 | Ray Bradbury

(thru part 1) What an intriguing beginning! This section felt slow, yet weirdly addictive. I definitely wanted to find out more about this culture and what is happening, and found Beatty's “lecture“ to be very interesting. What do you think so far? What do you think of Guy as a character? What do you think happened to Clarisse?

I think I've always thought of this one, Brave New World, and 1984, as being the “classic“ dystopian novels. Are ⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) there others you would add (or remove) from this list? I feel like both the other two books gave us more detail about the world-building at the beginning, while 451 seems to be feeding us just a little at a time.

Like I said, this is my first time reading this one and I actually have no real idea what happens at all, so I'm quite intrigued to keep reading!! Let me know your thoughts!! 5mo

TheAromaofBooks #RandomClassics @BarbaraJean @BarkingMadRead @Catsandbooks @ChelseaM6010 @Clare-Dragonfly @Daisey @julieclair @Librarybelle @nanuska_153 @StayCurious 5mo

Susanita I think Guy is a very interesting, conflicted character. I‘m afraid to know what happened to Clarisse. This book is a “classic,” but for some reason I never read it until now. 5mo

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Librarybelle This is also my first time reading it, and it is considered a classic. I‘m not the biggest reader of dystopian fiction—I did like The Handmaid‘s Tale—so I‘m still putting together in my mind how this society operates. I like Guy so far, and I‘m afraid something bad happened to Clarisse. 5mo

ChelseaM6010 First time read for me as well! I agree with what‘s been said about Clarisse—I‘m scared to know what happened 🫣 5mo

KAO Such a good book! I enjoyed teaching this one many times over the years. So many great discussion points! 5mo

dabbe Loved teaching this! One of his best IMHO. #themechanicalhound 😱 5mo

Daisey It did feel kind of slow, but also very much building tension with only bits of information at a time. I read this once before very quickly and don‘t remember the details, so I‘m very much looking forward to reading it again with discussion. 5mo

BarbaraJean I've read this before & thought I remembered it, but apparently not—I'd completely forgotten Clarisse!! I love the way Bradbury sketches out the world, slowly bringing out small but key parallels to our own. Beatty's lecture hits on so many cultural trends that I can see happening now, that have been happening for a while—it's so interesting to think back to what society was like when this was written vs. now. 5mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I agree with your idea of a classic dystopian trilogy! Like @Librarybelle I would add Handmaid's Tale to the list. I find it interesting how all four of those books have a slightly different take on a dystopia—Brave New World and this one kind of emphasize how entertainment masks the dystopia, then the other two are more clearly oppressive without a panacea to distract. 5mo

TheAromaofBooks @Librarybelle @BarbaraJean - I've never read Handmaid's Tale, although it's on my list. It would definitely be the most recent of the group (Brave New World is actually the earliest - 1932) so it's also interesting to see what “fears“ have changed or stayed the same. 1984 was published emerging from WWII (1949) and you can feel that in the writing. 451 was published 1953, an era where home advancements were happening rapidly (TV, phones, etc) ⬇ 5mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) so I wonder how much of this was a response to the idea that new and different media might “kill“ reading and books? @Susanita @ChelseaM6010 @Daisey 5mo

Catsandbooks Last time I read this was in 8th grade and all I remember was I liked it. It's interesting to see the world he created and then comparing it to now. When Mildred puts the "seashells" in her ears I thought of airpods. I know there's lot of people who don't read and are definitely more interested in media and tech but I'm also glad that's there's still a ton of us who love books. 5mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Yes, I definitely see this as a response to the rise of media like TV. I wonder what Bradbury would've woven in about smartphones & streaming platforms if he'd written this later on?! @Catsandbooks I was thinking similarly & comparing the world we see here with present-day media trends. It's encouraging that there are still lots of book-lovers & large swathes of society who highly value the written word & books through the ages. (edited) 5mo

TheAromaofBooks @BarbaraJean @Catsandbooks - To me this one has a vibe of being more of a warning about what happens if people stop reading/learning more than it is about government overreach (like the other dystopian novels we mentioned), but it's definitely good to know that there are still communities of us who still embrace books and use modern media to make them more widely available and to share our love of them with one another!! 5mo

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LitsyEvents

Fahrenheit 451 | Ray Bradbury

Via @TheAromaofBooks
https://www.litsy.com/web/post/2755060
August's #RandomClassic is Fahrenheit 451. l've never read this one and honestly know very little about it, so l am going in almost completely blind.
The book is divided into three parts, so rather than following a chapter a day, we'll be reading one part per week. Since the 1st is on a Thursday, I'll try to post discussion posts on August 8, 15, and 22.

TheAromaofBooks Thanks for reposting!! 6mo

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