Fahrenheit 451

The story is good but the narration is awful. It is narrated by the author, but he is often unclear and muffled with almost no attempt to give the characters a unique voice. My recommendation is to find a different audio version.
Even though the novel was written more than 50 years, the lessons and themes are very applicable today. It is worth the read, just try to find a different version or at least test this one before you buy it.

My daughter had to read this for school and I wanted to be able to answer any questions she may have. I initially bought this version, but could not listen to it due to the narration. I purchased the other version instead, which was much easier to listen to and made it an enjoyable book. The story itself is good, just not the narration of this version.

**

a great man a great book. i was at first sad that a stroked out ray would narrate this book. i grew to love that voice as the voice of my youth from the ray bradbury's theater. if the author can't read his own book, stroke or not, who can?

**

I love it when an author reads his own work. They tend to bring a nuance that is sometimes missed by all but the best narrators. Sadly, in this instance, there are some occasions when Ray Bradbury is indistinct and difficult to follow. Not big sections but there were a couple of times that I had to rewind to get the exact phrasing clearly. That said, I really enjoyed this book. It is fairly short but complete and generates interesting ideas and raises interesting questions without trying too hard to answer them for you.

Apparently, I am not alone in my critique, in that it is difficult to listen to Mr. Bradbury read his book. His enunciation is at times slurred, his pace halting, his inflection monotone. Had I listened to a portion of the narration prior to purchasing, I would not have purchased. This is not meant to be disrespectful, only an honest evaluation. However, one does grow accustomed to Mr. Bradbury's reading, at least I did.

A first time reader/listener to this book, it reminds me of a couple of others which I would place in the same genre... that of social conscience: namely, Orwell's "1984" and Huxley's "Brave New World" All three envision society gone wrong in its extreme, a would-be world if we allow things to go unchanged.

Unfortunately, I didnt read the reviews before getting this Audiobook for me Ipod.. He constantly sounds out of breath, its sometimes hard to tell the characters from each other due to his monotonous voice and stuff.. Its probably a great book.. A classic.. And Im gonna pick up the old fashioned paper version instead.. This audiobook is just too... not good:D..

I am always so excited to hear author's read their own work, but frequently (and this time was no exception), the reading is a task best left to a professional actor. Bradbury's rhythmic cadence is hypnotic, but his articulation and speed doesn't match that of a professional. I am glad that I have this in my archive though because there is something very special about it, but, it certainly wouldn't be my preferred method of taking in this book -- especially for the first time.

As much as I adore audiobooks, I'd stick to reading this one on the page.

This audio book is narrated by the author (Ray Bradbury). I should have previewed before purchasing. I was unable to listen to more than the first 2 - 3 minutes. Great author, horrible narrator. The worst narration I've heard out of the 200+ audio books I've purchased from Audible.com over the last 5 years. I don't know if I'll get it, but I'll be asking for a refund on this one.

The story is gripping. I read it years ago, and listening to it again now, just a few months after reading "1984" for the first time (yeah, I'm a little behind the curve), I was intrigued by the parallels. It's far fetched at times, frighteningly accurate at others.

"Something Wicked This Way Comes" is one of the reasons I write myself. I agree with another reviewer that in listening to this I'm reminded of Ray's many appearances on TV. Ray had a soft ambling voice, and when he spoke, you heard a hint of the magic he lived with every day. Somehow he managed to put that magic into words, and I feel fortunate that he shared his magic with the rest of us.

Sadly, this is not a good recording. It IS muffled. It IS hard to listen to.

Personally, listening to Ray was a challenge. It's like listening to your parent when they're heavily medicated. You listen because you love them. You listen because you know this is someone you love, and they are trying, with all their heart, to be there with you.

There is emotion, but it is labored. A few times, a precious few (usually when Ray is reading some back and forth dialog) I heard a hint of Ray's magic. It's hard to listen to this, though, for those few times.

Listen to this only if you want to hear Ray one last time.

The narrator/author's speech is slured. Very difficult to understand due to narrator's speech.