Fahrenheit 451

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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

Book 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....

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This is Bradbury's best-known novel. The science fiction tale concerns censorship and anti-intellectualism, carried on in an alternate society that conducts huge book burnings as part of the social agenda. It is a spooky and yet uplifting book.

Customer Reviews:

Never Gets Old!.......2007-09-20

With what is going on in Venezuela and the Government takeover of education this book rings true today! In fact, the Firemen would be burning this book too! A great read!

Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03

Watch tv, sheeple.

In the future, books are banned, and drugs and the good old electronic screen are used to keep the population docile and uninformed. Firemen don't put out fires here, they burn books when they are found, in a big macho showy way. One such bloke begins to have doubts about his occupation and society, and breaks away.

fantastic but realistic images of censorship and happiness.......2007-08-21

If you are interested at all in literature, I think this is a must-read. To me, it centers around the notion of censorship and how culture can seemingly determine the sense of happiness which can only really be derived from within. The characters and events seem futuristic in a sense but completely current. The writing style is not 'heavy', but the content certainly is. I believe this book is extremely well written and organized, and very applicable in a time when few people examine the substance underlying the superficial perceptions that are shaped by external forces.

John Welte's Review.......2007-08-19

I started reading Fahrenheit 451 for a summer reading assignment. As I kept reading I really got in to the book. Ray Bradbury did a great job describing the characters. The book is about a future world that gives you a glimpse of what our world would be like without books. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a book with some action and a great story.

Pretentious, self-absorbed, and dull.......2007-08-13

I have infinite patience when I am personally pretentious, self-absorbed, and dull. I don't have the same patience when I read books that are that way, though.

The story is about a futuristic world where knowledge, thought, and argument have been banished in favor of momentary happiness, thrill, and pleasure. The protagonist, Guy Montag, is a fireman. In the future, instead of fighting fires, they are in charge of lighting them. They are the front line defense for society against the societal decay caused by books, so their job is to go around burning down the houses of those who own and read books. Montag, at some point, realizes the importance of books and instantly becomes an enemy of the state, a target of the same department that he worked for.

One problem with this book is in the fact that Bradbury can't create a realistic world in which these events could become a reality. Granted, he was writing 50 years ago, so he wouldn't have had knowledge of the type of entertainment which exists today, but all he seems able to conjure up is the concept of immediate, personalized entertainment as if that is the only type of entertainment that would remain. He creates a world (or just a city, because this type of environment only seems to exist in the city) where people are zombies sitting in their homes surrounded by television screens that are running all the time telling the people what they should think and feel. Conceptually he wasn't wrong, it's just his clumsy handling of the telling. He can't create a solid series of steps that lead from the present day to that future (though he tries). He can't recreate the sort of television show that these people would watch, and he can't explain clearly why anyone would want to watch it.

Beyond the setting, the characters themselves are one-dimensional. They are all archetypes, and none have the spark of life which would make them interesting. Clarisse, the dangerous intellectual adolescent; Montag, the newborn Man whose eyes have recently been open; Faber, the reluctant wise man; Beatty, the hardened symbol of the State, who is a very capable parry to the thrusts of Faber; none of the characters have any depth whatsoever.

The writing itself was a pain to read. Bradbury can't seem to figure out which word he needs to use, so he opens a thesaurus and dumps as many words as he can onto the page. In addition, he wanders off on tangents without bringing those tangents back to the main storyline. Furthermore, his dire need to make his point (a panoply of ideas is good, not bad) by either having the characters themselves soliloquize it, or by doing it himself in wandering, dull monologues. This is the sort of self-absorption I allude to in the title to this review.

To drive home the fact that Bradbury thinks he's God's gift to knowledge, the afterword and coda and interview with the author leave nothing to the imagination. According to Bradbury himself, he's got tons of ideas of how to make the story better. None of those ideas have to do with improving the writing, just making each character's monologue longer. He claims to refrain from adding those updates to this edition of the book (50th anniversary edition) because he feels the original text, as the author wrote it, is pristine and perfect. His contempt for editors is plainly spelled out at various places in the tacked-on content.

I really can't recommend this book to anyone who has already graduated from high school. The story is poor. The writing is poor. The author's point is all it's got of value, and even that is nothing special. It may be helpful to know the character of Guy Montag in case it ever comes up in conversation, but other than that, I can't think of any reason to spend time with this book. 2 stars

Banned Books: Literature Suppressed on Religious Grounds, Revised Edition (2006)

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Banned Books: Literature Suppressed on Religious Grounds, Revised Edition (2006)
Margaret Bald
Manufacturer: Facts On File
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ASIN: 0816062692

Literature Suppressed on Political Grounds (Banned Books)

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Literature Suppressed on Political Grounds (Banned Books)
Nicholas J. Karolides
Manufacturer: Facts on File
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0816062706

A Kids' Guide to America's Bill of Rights: Curfews, Censorship, and the 100-Pound Giant

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Great way to get started!
Vibrant writing makes a sometimes dull topic sparkle
fairly readable, sometimes good, a bit biased.
Sloppy research and Slanted Data
Rights for Teen Revealed!

A Kids' Guide to America's Bill of Rights: Curfews, Censorship, and the 100-Pound Giant
Kathleen Krull
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0380974975
Release Date: 1999-10-05

Book Description

Which 462 words are so important that they've changed American history more than once? The Bill of Rights: the first ten amendments to the Constitution, the crucial document that spells out how the United States is to be governed.

Find out what the Bill of Rights is and how it affects your daily life in this fascinating look at the history, significance, and mysteries of these laws that protect the individual freedoms of everyone -- even young people.

Why did early American founders (like James Madison, Congressman from Virginia) argue that individuals needed a Bill of Rights to protect them from government?

Why is freedom of speech so thrilling and so controversial?

What is religious intolerance, and when can it be fatal?

What does it really mean to take the Fifth?

And how does the Bill of Rights affect the rights of kids?

Packed with anecdotes and sidebars, case studies, and humorous illustrations, innovative author Kathleen Krull's introduction to the Bill of Rights brings a little understood topic vividly to life.

Customer Reviews:

Great way to get started!.......2005-09-29

My son in 6th grade had to write an essay regarding the 7th amendment, its history, impact today, legal cases regarding etc. I was unable to find sources for him to read that I didn't have to decipher legalese for him to understand frustrating him and me. My cousin, a librarian, recommended the book and once he read about his amendment he really began to enjoy his topic and easily wrote his paper without any more assistance from me. He even wanted to read about the 5th amendment which someone else in his class had to do. This book was a Great way to learn about a complicated amendment.

Vibrant writing makes a sometimes dull topic sparkle.......2003-08-04

In this well researched, well-written book, Krull describes the history of the Bill of Rights and remarks on its significance, historically and for our future. She begins by giving props to James Madison, the "100 pound giant" responsible for creating the Bill of Rights and goes on to relay the explanation behind each amendment, and weaving in recent issues to show how relevant the 462 words of the Bill of Rights still are today.
Krull is a strong youth advocate. Many of the court cases she mentions revolve around kids: censorship of school newspapers, illegal locker searches, prayers at school functions, and banned books. Krull points out that the words are open to interpretation, and explains how some amendments were interpreted differently in the past to show the true staying power of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Krull devotes a separate chapter to the other 17 amendments, with a date and brief explanations for each. She includes a quick explanation of the ratification process, and speculates on what sorts of proposed amendments the future might bring. The final chapter acknowledges problems with the Bill of Rights.
Divito's illustrations are whimsical, and the lettering for the amendments that head each chapter is elegant and dignified. Bullets, quotes, and drawings break up the text. See-also type entries on influential people, precedent setting court cases, and other appear in different fonts and separated from the narrative with bars. These sections are always related to the subject, and surprisingly don't interrupt the flow of the writing.
Krull has a knack for finding little known gems of information and relating them with enthusiasm. Her writing style is very engaging. This is a great book to browse or read in one sitting, and the thorough index can be used to look up just one fact. U.S. history teachers will no doubt find it useful. The list of further reading is contemporary and extensive. Websites are mentioned throughout the book and not compiled in a single list. Every library should own this book that brings history alive and makes the daily impact of the Bill of Rights real.

fairly readable, sometimes good, a bit biased........2002-02-22

Actually, we have her "lives of the Presidents" book, too, and I'd give a review of it about the same title!

This is a fairly readable book, appropriate for interested fifth to seventh graders (or younger, if they like to read, or maybe older if they need a simple introduction)

It's a great topic and Krull uses a nice approach, with lots of illustrative cases that kids might find engaging -- Some are famous Supreme Court decisions, others are recent news stories, many involve minors.

The writing style is ok, nothing great "One day in 1925, John Scopes, a biology teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, decided to do something daring..." Lots of term-paper-like usage of "many", "some", etc.: "Today, many view school prayer as a way to promote values and ethical behavior in children. Others insist that the teaching of moral values does not require the removal of the wall between church and state."

I find it a little plodding in spots, but my nine year old son didn't seem to notice. And it does provide a good starting point for our own discussions.

Lots of very sensitive political issues are touched on -- and the author definitely has a liberal bias. It's most noticable in the second amendment discussion, but you don't have to look very hard to find it elsewhere. Sometimes I have no idea where she's coming from. In the eighth amendment discussion, just before some predictable stuff on capital punishment, she says "Recently, however, many have come to feel that depriving liberty to any but the most violent criminals may be inappropriate punishment." I think the point about prison conditions is worth making, but I'm not sure I've ever heard it expressed this way before. The restriction to only the *most* violent criminals is a particularly startling touch.

And, I wonder who she means by:
"There are some who see the interests of government as more important than the rights of the people. They can be actively hostile to the Bill of Rights and would just as soon undermine it." Somehow, I don't think she's talking about the Environmental Protection Agency's lack of concern for the takings clause of the fifth amendment. Incidentally, her discussion of the fifth amendment skips that clause completely.

And of course, she has little good to say about the tenth amendment, though she mentions that Bob Dole made a point of quoting it in his presidential campaign.

Despite my last few paragraphs, I actually do like this book, mostly. I *definitely* approve of the concept -- a book about real government issues in a style accessible to kids. And it has led to some interesting conversations with my son, which I find very rewarding (he seems to like them, too).

Sloppy research and Slanted Data.......2001-08-12

I was less then impressed by Ms Krull's work. Taking the 2nd amendment as an example, her information was less then accurate.

PP81 where Ms. Krull claims that "by 1999 about 16 American children a day were being killed by guns.." is even higher than an often quoted figure from HCI. The HCI figure has been shown wrong numerious times.

pp84 Ms Krull states without James Madison to explain himself, people have been arguing about these words since written. When James Madison's good friend Tench Coxe wrote to explain all the amendments in the Bill of Rights he indicated "..The people are confirmed in the next article (2nd amendment) in their right to keep and bear their private arms. Madison told Coxe that "he was indebted to the co-operation of your pen" for helping to explain the amendments to the public. Madison's support of like explainations clearly indicates that the 2nd is an individual right.

pp84 "Lawyers and legal prfessors usually have taken the narrower view: the right to own guns is a collective one..". Really?? why then do 29 out of 32 legal reviews of the 2nd amendment since 1980 indicate the 2nd is an individual right? Why has even famed socialist legal scholar Lawrence Tribes changed his mind and says its an individual right?

I could go on and on. Ms Kull's indication that gun control could prevent crime has been disproven so many times its sad. Even her pointing to England as a place of control providing low crime has been proven wrong since this book was written in 1999. Since then England has experienced a dramatic increase in crime. British Government studies point to the banning of firearm ownership in 1999 as the cause of the problem.

Ms. Kull has high praise for the Brady Bill. However, in the 8/2/00 issue of the AMA anti-gun researchers where forced to admit that there was no data to support the Brady Bill as having reduced crime.

Two issues are clear to anyone who honestly reviews the 2nd amendment: (1) It is an American right to privately own and carry arms (2) Gun control mearly makes it easier for criminals to commit crimes and turns "We the People" into "We the sheep/victum".

Rights for Teen Revealed!.......2000-10-13

My high school senior students love this book as a jumping off place for their study of the Bill of Rights. The minute they read about the drug-sniffing dog, or Mary Beth Tinker, they begin to understand the importance of their own rights under the law. By using cases involving teens, the author brings the language and beliefs of the 18th century into the lives of 21st century teens. A great classroom resource, especially for reluctant readers.

Literature Suppressed on Social Grounds (Banned Books)

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Literature Suppressed on Social Grounds (Banned Books)
Dawn B. Sova
Manufacturer: Facts on File
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0816062714

Books under Suspicion: Censorship and Tolerance of Revelatory Writing in Late Medieval England

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Books under Suspicion: Censorship and Tolerance of Revelatory Writing in Late Medieval England
Kathryn Kerby-Fulton
Manufacturer: University of Notre Dame Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0268033129

Book Description

"Kerby-Fulton has given us a book that is alert, wide-ranging, learned, and refreshingly, beautifully spacious: received accounts of literary and theological controversy in late-medieval England now, by contrast, look paltry and blinkered. Books under Suspicion shows how cosmopolitan, how edgy and intense and unpredictable, the intellectual culture that generated this writing was; she honors its seriousness by this treatment, and raises the bar for the rest of us." —Steven Justice, University of California, Berkeley

Books under Suspicion: Censorship and Tolerance of Revelatory Writing in Late Medieval England examines the censorship issues that propelled the major writers of the period toward their massive use of visionary genres. Kathryn Kerby-Fulton suggests that writers and translators as different as Chaucer, Langland, Julian of Norwich, "M.N.," and Margery Kempe positioned their work to take advantage of the tacit toleration that both religious and secular authorities extended to revelatory theology. The book examines controversial ideas as diverse as the early experimental humanism of Chaucer, censured beatific vision theology and the breakdown of Langland's A Text, the English reception of M.N.'s translation of Marguerite Porete's condemned book, Julian's authorial suppression of her gender, and the impact of suspect Continental women's activism on Kempe.

Kerby-Fulton also narrates success stories of intellectual freedom, tracing evidence of ecclesiastical tolerance of revelation, the impossibility of official censorship in a manuscript culture, and the powerful, protected reading circles for radical apocalypticism and mysticism, such as those of the Austins and the Carthusians. Until now, Wycliffite works have been seen as the only significant unorthodox or radical body of writings in late medieval England. Books under Suspicion is the first comprehensive study of banned non-Wycliffite materials in Insular writing during the period of the Avignon and Great Schism papacies.

"In her monumental Books under Suspicion, Kathryn Kerby-Fulton offers a brilliantly nuanced, sharply revisionist account of intellectual freedom in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. She presents us with a far less insular England than we are used to seeing—an England swept by fierce, invigorating, often stormy theological winds from across the Channel. In this narrative Lollards rub shoulders with Joachite prophets, Free Spirit mystics, Continental visionaries, and radical Ockhamists, and the most threatening targets of censure or censorship are not necessarily the ones we would have guessed. Kerby-Fulton brings unparalleled precision to her study of tolerance and repression directed at 'the left wing of orthodoxy.' " —Barbara Newman, Northwestern University

Customer Reviews:

a must read.......2000-09-21

I had to read this for government, it is worth the time. It goes in depth about books banned; art of love, casndide, dubliners, the handmaid's tale, judge the obscure, lolita, madame bovary, and women in love. The sad fact is that there are millions of book lost by the surpression of a few, with it went our first amendment rights!

Perverse Midrash: Oscar Wilde, Andre Gide, And Censorship Of Biblical Drama

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Brilliant scholar

Perverse Midrash: Oscar Wilde, Andre Gide, And Censorship Of Biblical Drama
Katherine Brown Downey
Manufacturer: Continuum International Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0826416225

Book Description

Oscar Wilde's Salome and Andre Gide's Saul have been considered critically in the traditional contexts of authorial oeuvre, biography, or "thought." These plays have been treated with embarrassed respect, dealt with only because of the importance of their authors. That Wilde and Gide made use of biblical material seems to discomfit their critics; that they had done so at a time when biblical drama was prohibited has rarely been addressed. Traditional critical treatments seek to smooth over the plays' aberrant qualities. This study takes them seriously as aberrations and investigates Wilde's and Gide's claims that these plays are works of faith, by considering them as participating in the history of biblical drama.

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant scholar.......2005-07-24

Dr. Downey confronts the little-understood censorship of Biblical drama that continued into the twentieth century. She has done immense research and synthesized it well. Read her book!

Howl on Trial: The Battle for Free Expression

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A fascinating examination of the battle for free speech

Howl on Trial: The Battle for Free Expression

Manufacturer: City Lights Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0872864790

Book Description

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Howl and Other Poems, with nearly one million copies in print, City Lights presents the story of editing, publishing, and defending Allen Ginsberg's landmark poem within a broader context of obscenity issues and censorship of literary works.

This collection begins with an introduction by publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who shares his memories of hearing "Howl" first read at the 6 Gallery, of his arrest, and the subsequent legal defense of Howl's publication. Never-before--published correspondence of Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti, Kerouac, Gregory Corso, John Hollander, Richard Eberhart, and others provides an in-depth commentary on the poem's ethi-cal intent and its social significance to the author and his contemporaries. A section on the public reaction to the trial includes newspaper reportage, op-ed pieces by Ginsberg and Ferlinghetti, and letters to the editor from the public, which provide fascinating background material on the cultural climate of the mid-1950s. A timeline of literary censorship in the United States places this battle for free expression in a historical context.

Also included are photographs, transcripts of relevant trial testimony, Judge Clayton Horn's decision and its ramifications, and a long essay by Albert Bendich, the ACLU attorney who defended Howl on constitutional grounds. Editor Bill Morgan discusses more recent challenges to Howl in the late 1980s and how the fight against censorship continues today in new guises.

Customer Reviews:

A fascinating examination of the battle for free speech .......2006-11-05

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the publication of Allen Ginsberg's "Howl and Other Poems", Howl on Trial: The Battle for Free Expression presents the inside story of editing, publishing, and defending the poem Howl in the context of censorship of literary works, and the 1957 obscenity trial in San Francisco that supposedly represented "the people" versus City Lights, the bookshop that published and sold "Howl and Other Poems." Howl on Trial includes correspondence between Allen Ginsberg and numerous others concerning the poem and efforts to censor it; a selection of newspaper reportage, magazine essays, cartoons, photographs, and letters to the editor that reveal the cultural climate of the mid-1950s; excerpts from the trial transcript; ACLU defense counsel Albert Bendich's reflections on the Howl case; and much more. A fascinating examination of the battle for free speech in microcosm, offering insights into the ongoing struggle for the right to express ideas without fear or harassment.

120 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World Literature

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A list of books banned over the years

120 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World Literature
Nicholas J. Karolides , Margaret Bald , and Dawn B. Sova
Manufacturer: Checkmark Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0816060436

Customer Reviews:

A list of books banned over the years.......2006-05-27

In "120 Banned Books" the authors pull together a collection of books that have been banned at some point in history for Political, Religious, Sexual, and/or Social grounds.

I found this book very interesting in two ways. First, it offers a nice synopsis of 120 books, a few of which are somewhat obscure. And as it is unlikely that many have read all of these, this book provides enough information, along with Amazon reviews, of course ;), about the subject books for the reader to make the decision about investing the time to read it.

Following each book synopsis is a short history of when, where, why, etc that book was banned. I will admit that, after a few dozen times, I got tired of which local school board voted to remove a book from a reading list or library shelf. The local school board bannings are generally motivated by someone in the community finding a book offensive or insulting or age-inappropriate. And with the political correctness/hypersensitivity of today, I am only suprised that we do not see a vastly increasing number of complaints for various left- and right- of center reasons.

But I DID find the discussions of book bans at the national level quite interesting. The read can see how some governments through history have attempted control the thoughts of the citizens by controlling the printed material (and other media as well, of course) available. This book includes examples from all over the world and is very interesting.

This is a good book to add to your library.

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