Fahrenheit 451...

PurpleBee

just because a book turns out to be prophetic doesn't mean its good.

It's one of the worst books I've ever read. As a book it is divisive, the divide is between those who say it's good because it was right and those who say it's bad because it's terribly written derivative pulp trash.

Ugh.

Pandoras Twist

That is a point, its not just good because they ended up being right.

I still enjoyed the book though

Denerick

I thought it was an excellent book... But it was written absolutely dreadfully. I mean Ray Bradbury just hasn't got a clue how to construct a decent narrative.

On an abstract level and as a cultural criticism it is top notch however, its more a novel of ideas than an actual novel, which might annoy some people.

Valmont

I completely disagree that it was written dreadfully. Bradbury is an excellent writer, as evidenced by this and his other works, especially Dandelion Wine. I found Bradbury's descriptions and metaphors to be delightful and off the top of my head I can remember my favourite one from Fahrenheit 451:...confused like butterflies in Autumn. The scenes conjured up throughout the novel are very powerful and have left an indelible print upon my mind, especially his confrontation with the police chief, the dark windy streets where he meets the girl at the beginning, and the final scenes of the chase as Montag is pursued by the terrifying mechanical hound.

Prophetic, reflective, exciting, I loved Fahrenheit 451. To those of you who enjoyed it, please pick up the The Great Explosion by Erik Frank Russell.

Denerick

Valmont wrote: »

I completely disagree that it was written dreadfully. Bradbury is an excellent writer, as evidenced by this and his other works, especially Dandelion Wine. I found Bradbury's descriptions and metaphors to be delightful and off the top of my head I can remember my favourite one from Fahrenheit 451:...confused like butterflies in Autumn. The scenes conjured up throughout the novel are very powerful and have left an indelible print upon my mind, especially his confrontation with the police chief, the dark windy streets where he meets the girl at the beginning, and the final scenes of the chase as Montag is pursued by the terrifying mechanical hound.

Prophetic, reflective, exciting, I loved Fahrenheit 451. To those of you who enjoyed it, please pick up the The Great Explosion by Erik Frank Russell.

It was like he had just taken creative writing 101 or something... I haven't read his other books so I can't comment. The way the characters literally fell on top of each other, and the contrived plot devices... Frankly I thought the narrative was rubbish, the idea excellent.

PurpleBee

well the idea is a reformulation of 1984 and Brave New World, his most compelling character, Beatty, is O'Brien from 1984, without the subtlety and as for his writing... he's got to be the most pretentious writer in the world. He talks now of how he had no idea of the power of what he was doing at the time, how important it would be and best of all he thanks Montag for writing the book for him! ha well that bit I can believe.

ZorbaTehZ

Valmont wrote: »

I completely disagree that it was written dreadfully. Bradbury is an excellent writer, as evidenced by this and his other works, especially Dandelion Wine. I found Bradbury's descriptions and metaphors to be delightful and off the top of my head I can remember my favourite one from Fahrenheit 451:...confused like butterflies in Autumn. The scenes conjured up throughout the novel are very powerful and have left an indelible print upon my mind, especially his confrontation with the police chief, the dark windy streets where he meets the girl at the beginning, and the final scenes of the chase as Montag is pursued by the terrifying mechanical hound.

You should read "Something wicked this way comes". His style is so unique, and I'd agree with you, I can still remember some of the scenes from his books vividly.

Blush_01

I'm currently reading The Illustrated Man, perhaps Bradbury is a better short story writer? I really like his concept with The Illustrated Man, and though the writing isn't flawless I don't necessarily think it's as poor as others have found his other writing to be.