Fahrenheit 451
by Ray Bradbury
Reviewed by Ted Gioia
If there were ghettos in the literary world, they would
be occupied by science fiction writers, the most
scorned and marginalized players in the whole realm
of fiction. All you need to do is look at the covers—I’m
embarrassed to be seen holding these gaudy
realizations of adolescent wish-fulfillment—to know
what the publishers think about these books and their
intended audience.
Yet somehow Ray Bradbury crossed
over from sci-fi to mainstream fiction.
And no book did more to secure his
passage out of the ghetto than this
compact volume, which is now
routinely assigned in high school
and college classes and was recently
selected by the National Endowment
for the Arts (NEA) for its “Big Read”
program. What a great choice—to
promote reading with a book that
showed the dangers of a bookless society!
Bradbury’s crossover success is well-
deserved. Of the great dystopian classics about an imagined
future—1984, Brave New World, The Road—this book has
the most relevant things to say to us today. Orwell’s classic is
bold and chilling in its depictions, but after the Berlin Wall
came down (in 1989, five years after the symbolic title date),
the political situation which gave rise to the novel no longer
seemed quite so current. There are fewer "Big Brothers" in
positions of power these days, but the book-free (and
newspaper-free) society seems just around the corner.
But the brilliant move in Fahrenheit 451 was Bradbury’s co-
opting the firefighters to become the censors in his dystopia.
Instead of putting out fires, they start them . . . in order to
eradicate books from society—the novel’s title is simply the
temperature at which paper burns. The functionaries who
once protected us now enslave us. This would be a masterful
touch of irony if we didn’t have so many historical examples
of precisely this type of corruption of once benevolent
institutions. The Hegelian concept of things turning into their
opposites in a dialectical process may sound like
philosophical mumbo-jumbo, but Bradbury's key insight here
is that these reversals are now a recurring phenomenon in
contemporary life and represent a dangerous juncture—a
danger amplified by the powers conferred by modern
technologies.
Just re-read Bradbury’s book and ask yourself how much of it
describes what we see around us? Recall that the book-
burning in Fahrenheit 451 did not begin until the dumbing
down of media and education had been long entrenched.
Sound familiar? And in the world of Bradbury’s novel people’
s thinking skills have been enervated by their obsession with
their home entertainment centers. Sound familiar? And
Bradbury describes the shifts in these forms of mass
entertainment that allow individuals to immerse themselves
in customized and interactive stories that soon come to
replace their interest in day-to-day reality. Can anyone here
spell C-Y-B-E-R-S-P-A-C-E?
No, Bradbury doesn’t get credit for inventing the Internet,
but his depiction of a society degraded by its own forms of
mass entertainment could very well be a description of your
own neighborhood. Recently Panasonic thrilled the
Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas by unveiling a TV
screen that was more than six feet high. We aren’t quite at the
four walls of surround-television of Bradbury’s book, but
does anyone doubt it is coming?
Yet Bradbury also deserves praise for the quality of his prose.
Among the pacesetters of the post-WWII generation of sci-fi
writers, Bradbury was the one who was most determined to
break away from the constraints and formulas of pulp fiction
writing. Even the finest books by Heinlein, Asimov and Dick
are often marred by dialogue and writing hopelessly
compromised by dime novel phraseology. They may be
writing about the future, but too much of the prose sounds
like watered down Raymond Chandler or worse.
In contrast, there is not a single hackneyed line in Fahrenheit
451 . None of the characters talk like rejects from a Bogart-
Bacall movie. If you didn’t know that Ray Bradbury was more
influenced by Herman Melville than by Hugo Gernsback, you
might guess it just by reading this book. Yet the story has all
of the exciting conceptual content, imagination and plot
twists that distinguish the best science fiction writing. After
all, this story first appeared in Galaxy, then another version
appeared in Playboy—two periodicals that required (for
different reasons) stories that grabbed their readers’ attention
and didn’t let go.
Bradbury worked over the idea of book-burning censors in a
number of stories written in the 1940s. In “Usher II”—
included in the first edition of The Martian Chronicles, then
removed in a later printing, then finally reinstated—he
describes a fanatical fan of Edgar Allan Poe who plots revenge
against the censors using methods drawn from Poe’s stories.
In “The Exiles,” included in The Illustrated Man, Edgar Allan
Poe actually appears (along with a host of other deceased
writers) to get his own share of vengeance. Both these stories
are incongruously set on Mars. Perhaps the most interesting
angle here is Bradbury’s depiction of a book-burning
mentality focused on tales of horror and imagination. A
reader approaching these Bradbury works today can’t help
but be reminded of the outraged religious groups complaining
about the malicious influence of Harry Potter.
Yes, the zeal to censor and subjugate minds—especially young
minds—continues to be a relevant issue. I look forward to a
day when Fahrenheit 451 will no longer be quite so up-to-
date. If that glorious time of tolerance and open-mindedness
ever arrives, we will have Ray Bradbury to thank, at least in
some small degree, for prodding us in the right direction.
by Ray Bradbury
Reviewed by Ted Gioia
If there were ghettos in the literary world, they would
be occupied by science fiction writers, the most
scorned and marginalized players in the whole realm
of fiction. All you need to do is look at the covers—I’m
embarrassed to be seen holding these gaudy
realizations of adolescent wish-fulfillment—to know
what the publishers think about these books and their
intended audience.
Yet somehow Ray Bradbury crossed
over from sci-fi to mainstream fiction.
And no book did more to secure his
passage out of the ghetto than this
compact volume, which is now
routinely assigned in high school
and college classes and was recently
selected by the National Endowment
for the Arts (NEA) for its “Big Read”
program. What a great choice—to
promote reading with a book that
showed the dangers of a bookless society!
Bradbury’s crossover success is well-
deserved. Of the great dystopian classics about an imagined
future—1984, Brave New World, The Road—this book has
the most relevant things to say to us today. Orwell’s classic is
bold and chilling in its depictions, but after the Berlin Wall
came down (in 1989, five years after the symbolic title date),
the political situation which gave rise to the novel no longer
seemed quite so current. There are fewer "Big Brothers" in
positions of power these days, but the book-free (and
newspaper-free) society seems just around the corner.
But the brilliant move in Fahrenheit 451 was Bradbury’s co-
opting the firefighters to become the censors in his dystopia.
Instead of putting out fires, they start them . . . in order to
eradicate books from society—the novel’s title is simply the
temperature at which paper burns. The functionaries who
once protected us now enslave us. This would be a masterful
touch of irony if we didn’t have so many historical examples
of precisely this type of corruption of once benevolent
institutions. The Hegelian concept of things turning into their
opposites in a dialectical process may sound like
philosophical mumbo-jumbo, but Bradbury's key insight here
is that these reversals are now a recurring phenomenon in
contemporary life and represent a dangerous juncture—a
danger amplified by the powers conferred by modern
technologies.
Just re-read Bradbury’s book and ask yourself how much of it
describes what we see around us? Recall that the book-
burning in Fahrenheit 451 did not begin until the dumbing
down of media and education had been long entrenched.
Sound familiar? And in the world of Bradbury’s novel people’
s thinking skills have been enervated by their obsession with
their home entertainment centers. Sound familiar? And
Bradbury describes the shifts in these forms of mass
entertainment that allow individuals to immerse themselves
in customized and interactive stories that soon come to
replace their interest in day-to-day reality. Can anyone here
spell C-Y-B-E-R-S-P-A-C-E?
No, Bradbury doesn’t get credit for inventing the Internet,
but his depiction of a society degraded by its own forms of
mass entertainment could very well be a description of your
own neighborhood. Recently Panasonic thrilled the
Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas by unveiling a TV
screen that was more than six feet high. We aren’t quite at the
four walls of surround-television of Bradbury’s book, but
does anyone doubt it is coming?
Yet Bradbury also deserves praise for the quality of his prose.
Among the pacesetters of the post-WWII generation of sci-fi
writers, Bradbury was the one who was most determined to
break away from the constraints and formulas of pulp fiction
writing. Even the finest books by Heinlein, Asimov and Dick
are often marred by dialogue and writing hopelessly
compromised by dime novel phraseology. They may be
writing about the future, but too much of the prose sounds
like watered down Raymond Chandler or worse.
In contrast, there is not a single hackneyed line in Fahrenheit
451 . None of the characters talk like rejects from a Bogart-
Bacall movie. If you didn’t know that Ray Bradbury was more
influenced by Herman Melville than by Hugo Gernsback, you
might guess it just by reading this book. Yet the story has all
of the exciting conceptual content, imagination and plot
twists that distinguish the best science fiction writing. After
all, this story first appeared in Galaxy, then another version
appeared in Playboy—two periodicals that required (for
different reasons) stories that grabbed their readers’ attention
and didn’t let go.
Bradbury worked over the idea of book-burning censors in a
number of stories written in the 1940s. In “Usher II”—
included in the first edition of The Martian Chronicles, then
removed in a later printing, then finally reinstated—he
describes a fanatical fan of Edgar Allan Poe who plots revenge
against the censors using methods drawn from Poe’s stories.
In “The Exiles,” included in The Illustrated Man, Edgar Allan
Poe actually appears (along with a host of other deceased
writers) to get his own share of vengeance. Both these stories
are incongruously set on Mars. Perhaps the most interesting
angle here is Bradbury’s depiction of a book-burning
mentality focused on tales of horror and imagination. A
reader approaching these Bradbury works today can’t help
but be reminded of the outraged religious groups complaining
about the malicious influence of Harry Potter.
Yes, the zeal to censor and subjugate minds—especially young
minds—continues to be a relevant issue. I look forward to a
day when Fahrenheit 451 will no longer be quite so up-to-
date. If that glorious time of tolerance and open-mindedness
ever arrives, we will have Ray Bradbury to thank, at least in
some small degree, for prodding us in the right direction.
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Follow Ted Gioia on Twitter at
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Conceptual Fiction:
A Reading List
(with links to reviews)
Home Page
Abbott, Edwin A.
Flatland
Adams, Douglas
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Amis, Martin
Time's Arrow
Asimov, Isaac
The Foundation Trilogy
Asimov, Isaac
I, Robot
Atwood, Margaret
The Handmaid's Tale
Banks, Iain M.
The State of the Art
Ballard, J.G.
Crash
Ballard, J.G.
The Crystal World
Bester, Alfred
The Demolished Man
Bradbury, Ray
Dandelion Wine
Bradbury, Ray
Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray
The Illustrated Man
Bradbury, Ray
The Martian Chronicles
Bradbury, Ray
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Burgess, Anthony
A Clockwork Orange
Card, Orson Scott
Ender's Game
Chabon, Michael
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Chiang, Ted
Stories of Your Life and Others
Clarke, Arthur C.
Childhood's End
Clarke, Arthur C.
A Fall of Moondust
Clarke, Arthur C.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Clarke, Susanna
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Danielewski, Mark Z.
House of Leaves
Dick, Philip K.
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Dick, Philip K.
The Man in the High Castle
Dick, Philip K.
Ubik
Doctorow, Cory
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Gaiman, Neil
American Gods
Gibson, William
Burning Chrome
Gibson, William
Neuromancer
Haldeman, Joe
The Forever War
Hall, Steven
The Raw Shark Texts
Harrison, M. John
Light
Heinlein, Robert
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Heinlein, Robert:
Stranger in a Strange Land
Heinlein, Robert
Time Enough for Love
Herbert, Frank
Dune
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Lathe of Heaven
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Leiber, Fritz
The Big Time
Leiber, Fritz
Conjure Wife
Leiber, Fritz
Swords & Deviltry
Leiber, Fritz
The Wanderer
Lem, Stanislaw
His Master's Voice
Lem, Stanislaw
Solaris
Lethem, Jonathan
The Fortress of Solitude
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Márquez, Gabriel García
100 Years of Solitude
McCarthy, Cormac
The Road
Miéville, China
Perdido Street Station
Miller, Jr., Walter M.
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Mitchell, David
Cloud Atlas
Niffenegger, Audrey
The Time Traveler's Wife
Niven, Larry
Ringworld
Noon, Jeff
Vurt
Okri, Ben
The Famished Road
Pohl, Frederik
Gateway
Pynchon, Thomas
Gravity's Rainbow
Robinson, Kim Stanley
Red Mars
Rowling, J.K.
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
Saramago, José
Blindness
Shelley, Mary
Frankenstein
Silverberg, Robert
Dying Inside
Silverberg, Robert
Nightwings
Simak, Clifford
City
Simak, Clifford
The Trouble with Tycho
Smith, Cordwainer
Norstrilia
Smith, Cordwainer
The Rediscovery of Man
Stephenson, Neal
Snow Crash
Stross, Charles
Glasshouse
Sturgeon, Theodore
More Than Human
Sturgeon, Theodore
Some of Your Blood
Van Vogt, A.E.
The World of Null A
Verne, Jules:
Around the Moon
Verne, Jules:
From the Earth to the Moon
Verne, Jules:
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Wallace, David Foster
Infinite Jest
Wells, H.G.
The First Men in the Moon
Wells, H.G.
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Wells, H.G.
The Time Machine
Zelazny, Roger
Lord of Light
Special Features
Notes on Conceptual Fiction
Ray Bradbury: A Tribute
Remembering Fritz Leiber
Curse You, Neil Armstrong!
Robert Heinlein at 100
Links to related sites
The New Canon
Great Books Guide
Postmodern Mystery
Ted Gioia's web site
SF Site
io9
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
Los Angeles Review of Books
Jospeh Peschel
The Misread City
Reviews and Responses
SF Signal
True Science Fiction
Disclosure: Conceptual Fiction and its
sister sites may receive review copies
and promotional materials from
publishers, authors, publicists or other
parties.
www.twitter.com/tedgioia
Conceptual Fiction:
A Reading List
(with links to reviews)
Home Page
Abbott, Edwin A.
Flatland
Adams, Douglas
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Amis, Martin
Time's Arrow
Asimov, Isaac
The Foundation Trilogy
Asimov, Isaac
I, Robot
Atwood, Margaret
The Handmaid's Tale
Banks, Iain M.
The State of the Art
Ballard, J.G.
Crash
Ballard, J.G.
The Crystal World
Bester, Alfred
The Demolished Man
Bradbury, Ray
Dandelion Wine
Bradbury, Ray
Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray
The Illustrated Man
Bradbury, Ray
The Martian Chronicles
Bradbury, Ray
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Burgess, Anthony
A Clockwork Orange
Card, Orson Scott
Ender's Game
Chabon, Michael
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Chiang, Ted
Stories of Your Life and Others
Clarke, Arthur C.
Childhood's End
Clarke, Arthur C.
A Fall of Moondust
Clarke, Arthur C.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Clarke, Susanna
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Danielewski, Mark Z.
House of Leaves
Dick, Philip K.
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Dick, Philip K.
The Man in the High Castle
Dick, Philip K.
Ubik
Doctorow, Cory
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Gaiman, Neil
American Gods
Gibson, William
Burning Chrome
Gibson, William
Neuromancer
Haldeman, Joe
The Forever War
Hall, Steven
The Raw Shark Texts
Harrison, M. John
Light
Heinlein, Robert
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Heinlein, Robert:
Stranger in a Strange Land
Heinlein, Robert
Time Enough for Love
Herbert, Frank
Dune
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Lathe of Heaven
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Leiber, Fritz
The Big Time
Leiber, Fritz
Conjure Wife
Leiber, Fritz
Swords & Deviltry
Leiber, Fritz
The Wanderer
Lem, Stanislaw
His Master's Voice
Lem, Stanislaw
Solaris
Lethem, Jonathan
The Fortress of Solitude
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Márquez, Gabriel García
100 Years of Solitude
McCarthy, Cormac
The Road
Miéville, China
Perdido Street Station
Miller, Jr., Walter M.
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Mitchell, David
Cloud Atlas
Niffenegger, Audrey
The Time Traveler's Wife
Niven, Larry
Ringworld
Noon, Jeff
Vurt
Okri, Ben
The Famished Road
Pohl, Frederik
Gateway
Pynchon, Thomas
Gravity's Rainbow
Robinson, Kim Stanley
Red Mars
Rowling, J.K.
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
Saramago, José
Blindness
Shelley, Mary
Frankenstein
Silverberg, Robert
Dying Inside
Silverberg, Robert
Nightwings
Simak, Clifford
City
Simak, Clifford
The Trouble with Tycho
Smith, Cordwainer
Norstrilia
Smith, Cordwainer
The Rediscovery of Man
Stephenson, Neal
Snow Crash
Stross, Charles
Glasshouse
Sturgeon, Theodore
More Than Human
Sturgeon, Theodore
Some of Your Blood
Van Vogt, A.E.
The World of Null A
Verne, Jules:
Around the Moon
Verne, Jules:
From the Earth to the Moon
Verne, Jules:
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Wallace, David Foster
Infinite Jest
Wells, H.G.
The First Men in the Moon
Wells, H.G.
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Wells, H.G.
The Time Machine
Zelazny, Roger
Lord of Light
Special Features
Notes on Conceptual Fiction
Ray Bradbury: A Tribute
Remembering Fritz Leiber
Curse You, Neil Armstrong!
Robert Heinlein at 100
Links to related sites
The New Canon
Great Books Guide
Postmodern Mystery
Ted Gioia's web site
SF Site
io9
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
Los Angeles Review of Books
Jospeh Peschel
The Misread City
Reviews and Responses
SF Signal
True Science Fiction
Disclosure: Conceptual Fiction and its
sister sites may receive review copies
and promotional materials from
publishers, authors, publicists or other
parties.