LumiScore
Taste Test
← Back to books

Fahrenheit 451

by Ray Bradbury

First published 1953

LumiScore—

Insufficient ratings

Your Match—

Take the Taste Test or rate books to see your match.

About this book

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.

Read more

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.

---

Also contained in:

- [451° по Фаренгейту: Рассказы](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL17811384W/Fahrenheit_451_stories) - [451° по Фаренгейту: повести и рассказы](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL27741633W) - [Works](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL28185143W)

Source: Open Library

YOUR RATING

Rate this book

Sign in to add your rating. Browsing remains open without an account.

Book information

Author
Ray Bradbury
First published
1953
Publisher
Simon & Schuster
ISBN-13
9781607511663