Customer Reviews

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I first read about this graphic novel adaptation of Ray Bradbury's classic book about a month ago. I was immediately intrigued. The original book is one of my all time favorites and I wanted to see if a graphic adaptation could do it justice. In short: it does.

Tim Hamilton and the folks at Hill and Wang, with the blessing of Ray Bradbury, who writes the introduction to the book, have produces a beautiful and well crafted retelling of the classic story that is both true to the original and able to stand on its own.

For those unfamiliar with the story, Guy Montag is a fireman, only in his world firemen don't put out fires, they start them. Books are banned and are the target of the firemen's activity. One day, Montag meets a person who intrigues him with her joie de vivre. He has never met anyone so alive and vibrant and he wonders why. He also begins to look at his own life and realizes he is not happy, that there is something missing. The rest of the tale revolves around his struggle to find meaning in a sterile, inoffensive world where everything is brought down to a common denominator of homogeneous agreeability. I won't spoil your enjoyment by revealing more than that.

Those of us who know the story well will note a few details are missing from this adaptation. Like when a movie is made, in this graphic novel it appears that some details of the written story were sacrificed to enable a cleaner telling in the new medium. Again, to avoid spoilers I won't mention here what has been left out, but I will say that the overall structure and message remain intact and the story does not suffer from the loss. Instead, those who move from this as an initial taste will find the book richer and even more enjoyable.

What about the artwork? That is the main point here, isn't it? I loved it. The artist chose a wonderful style to convey the emotion and action that is reminiscent of the minimalism of 1940s propaganda art, with a limited color palate on each page and just enough detail to convey the main point. Please don't read that to mean the art is simple or simplistic. On the contrary, Hamilton does an amazing job of choosing which details are most important and distilling the scenes down to only those which further the plot, emotion, or scene. Extraneous information is nowhere to be seen. That can only be by design and due to the disciplined intent of the artist. Detail that is useful is everywhere, and throughout the book the art complements the text beautifully while taking nothing away from it. That is an achievement.

I confess, I am a reader. I always have several books being read concurrently, stashed here and there for convenience. Fahrenheit 451 is a book I have read several times and which I love. I admit there was some trepidation when I heard about it being adapted into a new form. In this case, none was needed. I am not only pleased by the quality of the graphic novelization, but happy to recommend it. In fact, this makes me want to request a few other classic novels to be adapted, not as replacements, but as introductions to whet the appetites of the curious in the hopes of satisfying their initial curiosity about the works as well as convince some who might not otherwise to delve in and read the originals. Now, I wonder where I put the publisher's email address?

Review of `Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation' GN
ICv2 Stars: 5 (out of 5)

"Hamilton's artwork is just realistic enough to make the scenes even more powerful, important when working with prose
as strong as Bradbury's. His version of the entertainment walls, and their contents, is even more frightening than
when huge-screen televisions were still science fiction. Soap operas, giant fish and killer clowns become
essential to lives devoid of meaning, or even thought. His depiction of the burning of books
(and occasionally their readers) is traumatic to anyone who loves the printed word."

Because of scenes of violence, this book is for teens and up.

-Review by Nick Smith

I love Fahrenheit 451- the book by Ray Bradbury. I consider it one of my favorite books. When I heard about the authorized graphic novel adaptation, I immediately ordered it. I have read it twice now and here are my thoughts.
For starters, the GN is true to the original material but takes all the artistic liberties it is afforded. This does not dilute, affect or pollute the original message in any form or manner. The art is definitely eye catching and impressive. Tim Hamilton has done an excellent job in that regard. My only qualm against the GN adaptation is that it is too dark. Agreed the source material is dark and deserves the treatment from the artist but I would have liked to see a little more color- maybe contrast the few pleasant scenes with the otherwise grim situations in the story. I see why the artist colored it the way he did and I am sure there may be a lot more readers who like this approach better.
All in all, definitely a buy from a F451 fan.

I was reluctant to get this one as I didn't think a graphic novel could do Fahrenheit 451 justice but I was pleasantly surpised to discover that this adaptation does a good job with the story, which is one of my favorites. It keeps close to the story as it was originally written. Thoroughly enjoyable.

I think all of Ray Bradbury's stories are difficult to capture in movies. I think most of them have bombed. It's a shame that a writer that captures the imagination and illustrates it so well can't be translated into movies (so far). However, after reading this graphic novel, I believe Tim Hamilton was able to capture the visual magic of Bradbury's best novel in pictures. My message to younger people who have never read 451 (the book), but are picking up this graphic novel for the first time, need to read the book! Although this graphic novel is brilliant and works wonderfully as a graphic novel, it is abridged from the book. Since the whole subject of 451 is about the value of a book and it's ideas, the graphic novel should never replace the book, only add to its color and life! Have fun leafing through the pages of this great graphic version of 451!

This is a good book, beautifully illustrated. My grandnson and I read this book after reading the original Fahrenheit 451 as part of his required summer reading. He liked seeing the illustrations and reading the text. Very well done.

I read the original novel while on a 6 hour train ride to Chicago 6 years ago. While in the book store browsing for a book to read while on a similar trip to Chicago, I discovered this graphic novel on the bookshelf and thought it'd be fun to re-read it in graphic novel form.

Let me say, I loved it! I was impressed to see that the illustrations in the graphic novel were able to match up completely with the images I a imagined the first time I read it. :)

In Guy Montag's world, firemen have always started fires, not prevented them. Books, declared illegal for the ideas they represent, are promptly destroyed whenever found. Those caught hoarding books are arrested, while their books are burned along with their houses. So what happened when one of these firemen brings a book home out of curiosity? How can he escape from an oppressive society where watching television and popping pills are the only encouraged form of entertainment? First envisioned in Bradbury's 1953 novel, Hamilton's adaptation brings this passionate defense of reading and ideas roaring to life. Montag's surreal, nightmarish world emerges on the page in the form of vibrant ink drawings, with the bold, primary colors of the firemen's infernos often clashing with the soft, sepia tones of the domestic world. Those who have trouble with Bradbury's writing style will have no trouble getting through this beautiful adaptation. Recommended for Ages 16-Up for Mature Themes and Some Violence.

Great story i love it really, i've never been big on reading books had to many pushed down the throat in school so when it comes to reading it take alot to get my interest which is why i read alot of graphic novels. To me it's just the same as watching a movie i see the characters and the emotions the artist instilled in them. I've got a bit of a photographic memory and not a super active imagination when it comes to reading books which makes this story even better to me, seeing the imagery of a page i left off on helps me remember what was going on much easier then when reading a book. I can only hope more like this come out i like Ray Bradbury and would like to see "Martian Chronicles" or "Something Wicked This Way Comes" in graphic novel form, and not just cause i know i'd enjoy them but i'm sure a younger generation could also grab hold. Well thats my rant for the evening and i recommend this to anyone interesting is Sci Fi or stories about alternate realities or anyone against censorship.

As a devoted lover of books, the novel "Fahrenheit 451" is one that I find most disturbing. In general, books and learning have been banned from the public arena; people are now entertained by multiple wall-sized screens showing very simple-minded scenes. The new laws are of recent vintage, for there are still ex-professors in existence and they talk about teaching from books. Firefighters now start fires, when a cache of books is reported; they race to the location and burn the house and books. War is also a constant thing, as is always the case; it is used by the government to justify many of the things it does.
Guy Montag is a fireman that has for years been a loyal soldier in the fight to eradicate books. However, his chance encounter with a young and free thinking girl causes him to have doubts as to the rightness of his cause. Those doubts grow and he tries to enlist the aid of his wife, an action of little value for she is an empty intellectual vessel. Eventually, Guy becomes a full member of the "opposition", largely the remaining intelligentsia, where the goal is to preserve the literary heritage of humanity.
Hamilton does an excellent job in capturing the essence of the novel in his images and the selection of the abbreviated dialog. The images are dark and unpleasant, exactly what should be used to depict such a dark and foreboding society. People are fundamentally unhappy, yet they are so doped by the mindlessness of their daily experience that they have even lost their ability to openly express unhappiness and resentment.