Fahrenheit 451

Hardcover, 191 pages

English language

Published Oct. 6, 1967 by Simon and Schuster.

OCLC Number:
7050586

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5 stars (1 review)

From the front and back flaps:

Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature at which book paper burns. Fahrenheit 451 - published originally in 1953 and probably Ray Bradbury's most famous work - is a short novel set in the (perhaps near) future when "firemen" burn books forbidden by the totalitarian "brave new world" regime. The hero - as Mr. Bradbury writes in his new Introduction - is "a book burner who suddenly discovers that books are flesh and blood ideas and cry out, silently, when put to the torch." Today when libraries are once more burning across the world, Fahrenheit 451 is a work of even greater impact and timeliness.

Included in this re-publication are two of Mr. Bradbury's finest stories, "And the Rock Cried Out" and "The Playground." Fahrenheit 451 itself has, of course, been recently made into a film by Francois Truffaut.

43 editions

Do your own bit of saving, and if you drown, at least die knowing you were heading for shore.

5 stars

There are so many quotes that I have taken away from this book and that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I think one of the main (or, most impactful) ones is 'if you drown, at least die knowing you were heading for shore' - such a beautiful way of saying die doing what's right. It reminds me of the quote from Stéphane Charbonnier who stated, 'I'd rather die standing than live on my knees' (he was later killed by Islamic terrorists who did not agree with the viewpoints he published). I know that many people reading this review might argue that I should have read this book earlier in my life (and they're likely right) but I want to attempt to rebut this by saying that I think, if I were to read Fahrenheit 451 at any younger age, I might not have been …

Subjects

  • State-sponsored terrorism -- Fiction
  • Totalitarianism -- Fiction
  • Book burning -- Fiction
  • Censorship -- Fiction

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