Fahrenheit 451

Hardcover, 151 pages

English language

Published April 30, 1979 by Del Rey.

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5 stars (1 review)

BOOKS ARE DANGEROUS— THEY MAKE YOU THINK!

Montag is a fireman—a fireman of a future time when books are forbidden and reading is the greatest crime. For books lead to thinking, thinking leads to dissatisfaction, and dissatisfaction can lead to a desire for change—a thing the government will do anything to pre- vent. Montag's job is not to extinguish fires but to set them: to burn the homes (occupied or not) of bookowners and, above all, to burn the books. He ac- cepts unquestioningly the necessity for his work; what he cannot understand is the criminals who persist in hiding, preserving, and even distributing the banned material.

And then one day Montag begins to read one of the books he has been destroying, and his life changes forever....

106 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 …