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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 (1,309 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.

What listeners say about Fahrenheit 451

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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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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

classic

the narration didn't grip me 100% but still great.
a classic story. I'm glad to have consumed it again

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    5 out of 5 stars
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kudos to Tim Robbins.

Who knew Tim Robbins could do different voices? I first thought it was a different speaker.

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Fantastic classic!!

Can't beleive it took me this long to read this classic. Also can't beleive how relevant the story is even today! I highly recommend this book to anyone who beleives in freedom and democracy. Unless you are happy being blissfully ignorant!

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my assessment of the book

it was a good story I kept me engaged he's a good writer too might go into my favorite

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    3 out of 5 stars
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fantastic book Terrible production

the extremely leaps of volume up and down by a production engineer that doesn't understand how to normalize sound really makes this a piece that is difficult to enjoy. furthermore the narrators choice of voices and inflections at times make it extremely difficult to understand what is being said

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Good

I am appreciative of my book club, because otherwise I might not have ever listened to this, as it’s not my usual genre. Overall, good dystopian fiction, could have been written yesterday but is from the 60’s. Well narrated.

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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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    5 out of 5 stars
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A Perfect Blend

Tim makes Ray's words come to life. An amazing read/listen. Definitely one of my favourite novellas.

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optional heading

wished there was even more to it, the concept was cool but the world building leaves me with more questions than answers, I guess I hoped that a lot more of the world is not just left to the readers to imagine, how does the outside world affect the supposedly enclosed "joyful" world of America? how can the amercians devolve to the point of banning knowledge as a whole? because everyone wanted to? does immigration and traveling outside of Amercia not exist anymore? was the internet never a thing during this time? Or was the freedom of speech banned? Isn't that what amercia is built upon anyways? I think I'm just picky with it as it is a story focused around Montag, but I would love to to know how the actual dystopia step by step became what it is beyond just a history speech from Beatty

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