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 …
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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OpenLibraryIdentifiers
- LibraryThing key:
- 4248
- GoodReads:
- 304023
- BNF ID:
- 150707007
Editions of Fahrenheit 451
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Fahrenheit 451
Paperback
German language
Published Aug. 6, 1981 by Diogenes.
- ISBN:
- 978-3-257-12904-5Copied ISBN!
Fahrenheit 451
hardcover
Published Aug. 28, 2013 by Diogenes Verlag AG.
- ISBN:
- 978-3-257-26104-2Copied ISBN!
Fahrenheit 451 ; Chroniques martiennes ; Les pommes d'or du soleil
French language
Published July 21, 2012
- ISBN:
- 978-2-298-05530-6Copied ISBN!
Fahrenheit 451
audio cd
Published Dec. 15, 2005 by Blackstone Audio, Inc..
- ISBN:
- 978-0-7861-7627-4Copied ISBN!
Fahrenheit 451
perfect paperback
Published July 1, 2005 by Cornelsen Verlag GmbH.
- ISBN:
- 978-3-06-031135-4Copied ISBN!
Fahrenheit 451
perfect paperback
Published Sept. 19, 1953 by BALLANTINE BOOKS.
- ISBN:
- 978-3-453-31029-2Copied ISBN!
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