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  • Fahrenheit 451

  • Written by: Ray Bradbury
  • Narrated by: Tim Robbins
  • Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (1,310 ratings)

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Fahrenheit 451

Written by: Ray Bradbury
Narrated by: Tim Robbins
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Publisher's Summary

Ray Bradbury's internationally acclaimed novel Fahrenheit 451 is a masterwork of 20th-century literature set in a bleak, dystopian future, narrated here by Academy Award-winning actor Tim Robbins.

Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television "family". But then he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn’t live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television. When Mildred attempts suicide and Clarisse suddenly disappears, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known. He starts hiding books in his home, and when his pilfering is discovered, the fireman has to run for his life.

©1951 Ray Bradbury (P)2014 Audible Inc.

What the critics say

"Bradbury's iconic novel about the dangers of complacency and the value of curiosity gains a solid new voice with this audio performance. Tim Robbins puts his acting prowess to use here, creating superb dialogue and striding confidently through powerful speeches that celebrate books and warn against the lure of technology. Protagonist Montag burns with all the earnestness of a man eager for change; Faber's aged scholar simmers with cautious hope; Mildred's vacuous presence echoes emptily. Robbins provides the theatrical with the expected confidence, but he also makes good use of quiet in this production. He makes Bradbury's words even more powerful by remembering to pause at opportune moments to let them sink in." (AudioFile)

How Science Fiction Keeps Us Connected to Our Curiosity

You love Science Fiction and all of the wonderfully imaginative landscapes it conjures in your mind's eye. You can't wait for the big budget remakes of both Frank Herber's Dune and H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man hitting theatres later this year, but in the meantime, why not explore the genre's best with this list of incredible titles. Featuring The Testaments by Margaret Atwood, the titles mentioned above, and several other great listens, our list will remind you about that incredible feeling of curiosity, aspiration, and wonder you get every time you tune in. Find out how science fiction keeps us connected to our curiosity on our blog, Audible Explore.

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What listeners say about Fahrenheit 451

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • Tee
  • 2018-06-13

A dystopian tale relevant today

A story about a dystopian society in which books are banned and firemen burn books. I didn’t realise it when I was listening to it, but Ray Bradbury had published this story in 1953! His insight into the future is amazing and all the more relevant today - over 60 years later.

For me, two things stand out in this story: Capt Beatty’s reflections (in the first part) about the history of how their society came to reject books, and the mindless contents on the Wall Panels (Mildred’s “Family”). Today, on the one hand, we are observing the shortening attention span of the society, and on the other hand, people are hooked on mindless social or entertainment media. Online videos including instructional ones are tightly edited to several minutes (eg on YouTube); news / documentaries are summarized to a few crisp lines and soundbites or made entertaining; we shut down if a speech is long so TED Talks are ~15 min and need to be “fun”. Meanwhile we get perpetually stuck on all kinds of modern gadgets - social media, computer games, entertainment etc. Is the future of our society already heading towards that described in this story...?

After the initial burst, the pace of the story slows. This brings about a reflective mood, but could be difficult to go through.

Tim Robbins is a superb reader. He captured the mood and texture of the story. For example you can feel the denseness of the dialogues between Guy Montag and Mildred, and the dreariness of existence. Most spellbinding was his reading of Matthew Arnold’s poem “Dover Beach”, which struck a chord deep in me. If only I had a literature teacher back in school who read like this, I could have grown up loving poetry!

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

compelling, but a product of its time

Compelling story, although a bit dated. The premise is very interesting and Bradbury has a remarkable sense for striking prose. The story itself moves sometimes very quickly, sometimes aggressively poetically, and sometimes slows down completely to a philosophical dialogue. You can see why this book is high school English class bait. Some of the things it does, it does very beautifully. Bradbury writes with a sharp abandon at times, and there are some stunning passages.

There is some deeply-embedded sexism to engage with, however. Listening to this story, you might be forgiven for thinking that only men write stories or have been influential authors. You might also think that women come in just 2 varieties: "vapid nag" and "manic pixie dream teen". But if we are to believe Bradbury's own thesis, as we repeat stories over and over, not all of that story will survive, but hopefully enough of the important things will. So perhaps we can discard some of that sexism and inherrent racial bias when we tell this story anew.

Also: Do not let this narrator read for any more female characters, please. He was grating and whiney, and not just for the characters who were portrayed textually as vapid.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant Novel. Brutal Narrator.

This novel is rightly celebrated as a great example of thought-provoking dystopian literature. Bradbury tackles censorship, psychological angst, overbearing government, war, and societal misinformation. The prose is fantastic, with phrase choices that show Bradbury's wordsmith genius.
Dialogue is powerful, plot events are gripping, and characters are remarkably memorable. Unfortunately, the text is a little too dramatic/poetic at times for my tastes

Tim Robbins is a brilliant actor with incredible range and a distinctive voice.
He sucks at reading.
He takes poorly-timed deep breaths and frequently runs out of breath before he runs out of sentence. He nearly shouts and annoyingly races through some passages. His choice of voices for some characters (e.g. Mildred) are nails-on-blackboard grating. Beatty morphs into an impression of Rush Limbaugh by Part III.

This amazing novel has a justified 'Classic' designation. It should easily be worth 5 out of 5 stars. I give this recording 2.5.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

No Books!

Great book, very similar feel of other Dystopian type books which makes it very enjoyable to read. Worth the time and $.

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5 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
  • Kim
  • 2020-02-09

Was not what I expected...

Well, I thought this was going to be about a dystopian world where they burn books... it is, to some degree. But I would say it's more a book about a man in the world. It was lacking depth, and somewhat boring. The narration wasn't great either. For some reason the narrator makes everyone who's not the main character sound drunk or high. And maybe it was justified in the story, but he YELLS A LOT, which isn't great for people with anxiety.
I almost quit half way through... I wanted to say I've read it though. Honestly, I wasn't missing anything.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

One of the greatest books ever written.

And one of the most hit and miss performances. Tim Robbins is exceptional fully half of the time and the other half sounds like he's trying to voice a new Gremlins movie. Read, this book, but perhaps read a physical copy, because the irreverent, childish reading of half of this book will pull you out of the masterful and thought provoking narrative.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

absolute masterpiece

I loved the performance and story I had me captivated from start to finish. h

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Incredible!

Even though this book was written in 1953 you would never know it. Its message is timeless and very important. It was incredibly well written and entertaining. Not a dull moment in the entire book! Also, I can't say enough about the narrator. He was absolutely fabulous! He brought the book to life. His reading and acting are praiseworthy! Highly recommend this book with this particular narrator! Loved it!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Compelling!

This famous sci-fi novella was written in the 1960’s. It centres on Guy Montag who, like all firemen, is now responsible for burning any books that may be found, now that buildings are all incombustible. Indeed, video entertainment and propaganda have replaced all printed words. Various episodes bring Montag to a reckoning.

Though soberly written, the work is instilled with suspense. It is all the more captivating, and disturbing, that in our Internet-suffused universe, totalitarian dystopias do not look as outlandish as they used to.

Easily read and thought-provoking, this work is more pertinent than ever and warmly recommended to all.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Superb!!

A must! If you only read one book in life, it should be this one.

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