Fahrenheit 451?

[beccaboomom]

Is this a good book worth reading? My dd book group is going to read it for this months discussion. What is the book about?

[Chanley]

YES!! I think it is on the top 20 opf books that children should HAVE to read.

[shelbean91]

I loved this book. It's sci-fi, futuristic about a society where reading and books are not allowed. The fire departments only go out to start fires to burn any found books. About censorship and freedom.


From: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/pro...=UTF8&n=283155
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....

[beccaboomom]

Thanks for the replies. The leader of the book group is really trying to get some good literature for the kids.

[applejuice]

It is a superb book with a timeless message...

Bradbury has made it into a movie and into a play.

Julie Christie was in the movie made in the 1960s.

[philomom]

It was a very good movie as well. Loved it. Some of it was very insightful in the way the world would go, more Tv and more drugs, and less connection to our families and each other. I would want my kids to read it.

[bluegreenturtle]

Yes this book is very powerful and it leaves an imprint on the mind you won't soon forget. Another worth reading along these lines is 1984 by Orwell, although the later is a bit more---shall we say---gut wrenching, but so appropriate for our time.

[AdinaL]

Throw in Brave New World and you have a list of very thought provoking literature there.

[beccaboomom]

What is interesting about this book club is the children are all from very a conservative christian homeschool group. While I'm fairly conservative, I still want my kid exposed to good thought provoking literature. I think most of the moms supports the leader for her choices. Last year she had them read Animal Farm and The Giver. I try to read some of them because I had a crappy education and I've never read some of these.

[Quinn'sMommy]

Fahrenheit 451 was a great book. I recomend it. I also really liked Brave New World and 1984. 1984 freaked me out the most. : That could so happen! lol.

But anyway, yah F 451 is worth reading.

Can anyone tell me exactly what the title means? I never figured that out and I felt kinda dumb asking.

[philomom]

It's the temp at which paper will spontaneously combust.

[applejuice]

Originally Posted by beccaboomom

What is interesting about this book club is the children are all from very a conservative christian homeschool group. While I'm fairly conservative, I still want my kid exposed to good thought provoking literature. I think most of the moms supports the leader for her choices. Last year she had them read Animal Farm and The Giver. I try to read some of them because I had a crappy education and I've never read some of these.

Good for you! I used to have races with my children when we read the Harry Potter books together...

A bit OT, and you did not ask, but I personally do not like the Giver. It is too open ended and no judgement is passed by the author on whether or not "freeing" undesireable people is moral or immoral for the betterment of society....

If this book were set in the holocaust of WWII, I doubt few people would be so blase' about its content and the way it is presented. Instead, it is futuristic and neutral...I know that the author, Lois Lowry has written holocaust fiction, so I wonder about this book.

[Cajunmomma]

applejuice, I can understnad what you mean about "The Giver", but I disagree. Have you read the other two in the series? "Gathering Blue" and "The Messenger" are all follow ups to "The Giver" and, I think, help to place it in context.

Now, back to the topic. I loved, loved, loved "Fahrenheit 451". The other two books mentioned are also terrific, but can be a lot to handle if you read them all together. My oldest dd and I did a unit on dystopian literature when she was a junior in high school, and she was really depressed by it.

The movie is really good, too, and very faithful to the book. It's worth seeing, maybe by the whole group--but I'd wait until after they've already finished reading.

[beccaboomom]

bit OT, and you did not ask, but I personally do not like the Giver. It is too open ended and no judgement is passed by the author on whether or not "freeing" undesireable people is moral or immoral for the betterment of society....

ITA What bothered me most is I can see our society leaning that way.

[shelbean91]

the temperature at which paper burns is 451 degrees fahrenheit = fahrenheit 451

[isleta]

[sinsaratea]

OH! this is one of my favorite books to teach. i was only actually able to teach it as a unit when i taught some 9th grade international baccalaureate students, but since then i have lent my personal copy out to students and read aloud some parts of it in class. it's amazing who will get into it, not always the kids you think. an amazing book. i also have teaching resources for it. if you want some questions to go along with it, i have tons!!!!

[Chanley]

Anthem by Ayn Rand is another one in the same genre that has not been mentioned yet. I did chapter 11 for dramatic interp one year at a lit competition.

Very anti-communism and authoritarianism. It is short and sweet. Very important read when you begin to read books that were written in response to the cold war.

[Zipporah]

"Fahrenheit 451" and "1984" are both great futuristic dystopian novels... may i also recommend with enthusiasm "This Perfect Day" by Ira Levin and "Mockingbird" by Walter Tevis. Another good one, more recent and on slightly different lines, is "The Fifth Sacred Thing" by Starhawk.

[AdinaL]

I adore "The Fifth Sacred Thing" - you should also read the prequel "Walking to Mercury"