Paperback, 215 pages
portuguese language
Published Dec. 31, 2012 by Globo.
Imagine uma época em que os livros configurem uma ameaça ao sistema, uma sociedade onde eles são proibidos. Para exterminá-los, basta chamar os bombeiros - profissionais que outrora se dedicavam à extinção de incêndios, mas que agora são os responsáveis pela manutenção da ordem, queimando publicações e impedindo que o conhecimento se dissemine como praga. Para coroar a alienação em que vive essa nova sociedade, as casa são dotadas de televisores que ocupam paredes inteiras de cômodos, e exibem "famílias" com as quais se pode dialogar, como se estas fossem de fatos reais.
Este é o cenário em que vive Guy Montag, bombeiro que atravessa série crise ideológica. Sua esposa passa o dia entretida com seus "parentes televisivos", enquanto ele trabalha arduamente. Sua vida vazia é transformada quando ele conhece a vizinha Clarisse, uma adolescente que reflete sobre o mundo à sua volta e que o instiga a fazer o …
Imagine uma época em que os livros configurem uma ameaça ao sistema, uma sociedade onde eles são proibidos. Para exterminá-los, basta chamar os bombeiros - profissionais que outrora se dedicavam à extinção de incêndios, mas que agora são os responsáveis pela manutenção da ordem, queimando publicações e impedindo que o conhecimento se dissemine como praga. Para coroar a alienação em que vive essa nova sociedade, as casa são dotadas de televisores que ocupam paredes inteiras de cômodos, e exibem "famílias" com as quais se pode dialogar, como se estas fossem de fatos reais.
Este é o cenário em que vive Guy Montag, bombeiro que atravessa série crise ideológica. Sua esposa passa o dia entretida com seus "parentes televisivos", enquanto ele trabalha arduamente. Sua vida vazia é transformada quando ele conhece a vizinha Clarisse, uma adolescente que reflete sobre o mundo à sua volta e que o instiga a fazer o mesmo. O sumiço misterioso de Clarisse leva Montag a se rebelar contra a política estabelecida, e ele passa a esconder livros em sua própria casa. Denunciado por sua ousadia, é obrigado a mudar de tática e a buscar aliados na luta pela preservação do pensamento e da memória.
Una novela infantiloide. Y no me refiero a los personajes, que viven en un sistema que los quiere idiotizados, me refiero a la forma en la que está escrita, parece un libro dirigido a niños o a gente de derecha (que ya sabemos que no le da la cabeza para mucho). Si quieres una buena distopía: 1984.
It's been years since I read this, years before being online and years before newspapers started folding. It's a different world now, and this short novel, written in the early 1950s, is eerily prescient. Ray Bradbury did not predict the internet, exactly, but something very much like it; many people are addicted to sitting in their "parlors," places in their houses in which meaningless conversation is piped, soap opera like, to keep people senselessly occupied. There are no educational programs, and books are burned. Suspect someone of hoarding books? Send an alarm! The firemen will come and burn down the guilty person's house and arrest him/her.
Books cause thinking and different opinions. Some books make people uncomfortable. Many books would belie the history that's been rewritten for the masses. Therefore, books are poisonous--away with them all!
This story focuses on one fireman named Guy Montag, and his yearning for life …
It's been years since I read this, years before being online and years before newspapers started folding. It's a different world now, and this short novel, written in the early 1950s, is eerily prescient. Ray Bradbury did not predict the internet, exactly, but something very much like it; many people are addicted to sitting in their "parlors," places in their houses in which meaningless conversation is piped, soap opera like, to keep people senselessly occupied. There are no educational programs, and books are burned. Suspect someone of hoarding books? Send an alarm! The firemen will come and burn down the guilty person's house and arrest him/her.
Books cause thinking and different opinions. Some books make people uncomfortable. Many books would belie the history that's been rewritten for the masses. Therefore, books are poisonous--away with them all!
This story focuses on one fireman named Guy Montag, and his yearning for life and curiosity about what came before and what else there could be--which leads him to books.
Meanwhile, there is a war going on--somewhere. No one knows anything about it, or anything about other countries, or the plight of other people. People aren't even raising their own children. There is little empathy to be found, but certainly enough violence--children are killing children. Among these young people is a girl named Clarisse, who is labeled as an outcast for asking the wrong sorts of questions and being so--social. Guy never hears exactly what becomes of her.
Guy Montag's main adversary is Captain Beatty, a fireman who has obviously read many books. He's an interesting character, one who must be conflicted, and yet he's more adamant about destroying books than anyone around him. For most, it's a job. For Beatty, it's a philosophy and a mission. Meanwhile, Montag's wife, Mildred, is a study in boredom, depression, and emptiness.
Bradbury painted a scary mirror all those years ago--in just about 172 pages. Incredible.
I've finally read this, after it has been sitting on my shelf forever. It is a fast read, only a couple hundred pages and didn't take me longer than two hours and I must be honest: I didn't particularly like it. It definitely wasn't bad. The writing is engaging, the concept and premise is fascinating but it just didn't grab me like I expected it would. It's my first Bradbury novel and I'm curious to see if his language is as poetic in his other work.
If you're a fan of dystopian novels then definitely read this one next to Brave New World and 1984.
It is clear why this book is considered a classic. Truly a great read!
451°F is certainly a classic science fiction book. I re-read it since I'd just re-read Starship Troopers but it didn't seem to "age" as well as that book. The philosophy is just as important, but didn't seem to be delivered as effectively. There is a much increased use of imagery in Fahrenheit 451, and that makes it a much different read than books like Starship Troopers. Still, a critical book in the science fiction canon.
