An edition of Fahrenheit 451 (1953)

Fahrenheit 451

Voyager Classics (UK)
  • 3.94 ·
  • 362 Ratings
  • 2263 Want to read
  • 120 Currently reading
  • 548 Have read
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  • 3.94 ·
  • 362 Ratings
  • 2263 Want to read
  • 120 Currently reading
  • 548 Have read

Buy this book

Last edited by Lisa
June 4, 2022 | History
An edition of Fahrenheit 451 (1953)

Fahrenheit 451

Voyager Classics (UK)
  • 3.94 ·
  • 362 Ratings
  • 2263 Want to read
  • 120 Currently reading
  • 548 Have read

The terrifyingly prophetic novel of a post-literate future.

Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to burn books, which are forbidden, being the source of all discord and unhappiness. Even so, Montag is unhappy; there is discord in his marriage. Are books hidden in his house? The Mechanical Hound of the Fire Department, armed with a lethal hypodermic, escorted by helicopters, is ready to track down those dissidents who defy society to preserve and read books.

The classic dystopian novel of a post-literate future, Fahrenheit 451 stands alongside Orwell’s 1984 and Huxley’s Brave New World as a prophetic account of Western civilization’s enslavement by the media, drugs and conformity.

Bradbury’s powerful and poetic prose combines with uncanny insight into the potential of technology to create a novel which, decades on from first publication, still has the power to dazzle and shock.

--back cover

Publish Date
Publisher
HarperVoyager
Language
English
Pages
240

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Previews available in: English Chinese

Edition Availability
Cover of: Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451
2013-06, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks
Trade Paperback in English - Simon & Schuster trade paperback edition (12); 60th Anniversary Edition
Cover of: Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451
2013, HarperVoyager
Hardcover (Clothbound) in English - Voyager Classics (UK)
Cover of: 华氏451
华氏451
2005, Zhong qing chu ban she
paperback in Chinese
Cover of: Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451
2003, Simon & Schuster
hardcover in English
Cover of: Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451
1996-08, Del Rey / Random House
paperback in English - 1st trade ed. (20)
Cover of: Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451
/1993, Del Rey / Ballantine Books
mass market paperback in English - First edition, second printing (25)
Cover of: Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451
/1993, FollettBound
library binding in English - 1991 Second printing (45)
Cover of: Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451
1991, Del Rey / Ballantine Books
mass market paperback in English - First edition, second printing
Cover of: Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451
1986, Macmillan of Canada
paperback in English
Cover of: Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451
1984-06, Del Rey / Ballantine Books
mass market paperback in English - Sixty-first printing
Cover of: Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451
1960, Corgi Books
Paperback in English - Corgi edition reprint

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Book Details


Classifications

Library of Congress
PS3503.R167

The Physical Object

Format
Hardcover (Clothbound)
Number of pages
240

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL26437046M
ISBN 10
0007491565
ISBN 13
9780007491568
OCLC/WorldCat
876238933, 1028499283
amazon.co.uk_asin
0007491565
Alibris ID
9780007491568
Google
HDvHjwEACAAJ
Goodreads
17470674

Work Description

Fahrenheit 451 is a 1953 dystopian novel by American writer Ray Bradbury. Often regarded as one of his best works, the novel presents a future American society where books are outlawed and "firemen" burn any that are found. The book's tagline explains the title as "'the temperature at which book paper catches fire, and burns": the autoignition temperature of paper. The lead character, Guy Montag, is a fireman who becomes disillusioned with his role of censoring literature and destroying knowledge, eventually quitting his job and committing himself to the preservation of literary and cultural writings.

The novel has been the subject of interpretations focusing on the historical role of book burning in suppressing dissenting ideas for change. In a 1956 radio interview, Bradbury said that he wrote Fahrenheit 451 because of his concerns at the time (during the McCarthy era) about the threat of book burning in the United States. In later years, he described the book as a commentary on how mass media reduces interest in reading literature.

In 1954, Fahrenheit 451 won the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature and the Commonwealth Club of California Gold Medal. It later won the Prometheus "Hall of Fame" Award in 1984 and a "Retro" Hugo Award, one of a limited number of Best Novel Retro Hugos ever given, in 2004. Bradbury was honored with a Spoken Word Grammy nomination for his 1976 audiobook version.



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Excerpts

It was a pleasure to burn.
added by Lisa. "first sentence"

Links outside Open Library

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History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON / OPDS | Wikipedia citation
June 4, 2022 Edited by Lisa move to correct work
September 17, 2021 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
March 22, 2018 Edited by Lisa Added edition.
March 22, 2018 Edited by Lisa Added new cover
March 22, 2018 Created by Lisa Added new book.