Editing Fahrenheit 451 (section)

==Reception==

In 1954, ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' reviewer [[Groff Conklin]] placed the novel "among the great works of the imagination written in English in the last decade or more."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Conklin|first=Groff|author-link=Groff Conklin|date=February 1954|title=Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf|journal=Galaxy Science Fiction|page=108}}</ref> The ''[[Chicago Sunday Tribune]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[August Derleth]] described the book as "a savage and shockingly prophetic view of one possible future way of life", calling it "compelling" and praising Bradbury for his "brilliant imagination".<ref>{{cite news|last=Derleth|first=August|author-link=August Derleth|title=Vivid Prophecy of Book Burning|newspaper=Chicago Sunday Tribune|date=October 25, 1953}}</ref> Over half a century later, [[Sam Weller (journalist)|Sam Weller]] wrote, "upon its publication, ''Fahrenheit 451'' was hailed as a visionary work of social commentary."<ref>{{cite book|last=Weller|first=Sam|author-link=Sam Weller (journalist)|title=Listen to the Echoes: The Ray Bradbury Interviews|year=2010|publisher=Melville House|location=Brooklyn, NY|page=124}}</ref> Today, ''Fahrenheit 451'' is still viewed as an important [[cautionary tale]] about [[conformity]] and the evils of government censorship.<ref>{{cite journal|last=McNamee|first=Gregory|title=Appreciations: Fahrenheit 451|journal=Kirkus Reviews|date=September 15, 2010|volume=78|issue=18|page=882}}</ref>

When the novel was first published, there were those who did not find merit in the tale. [[Anthony Boucher]] and [[J. Francis McComas]] were less enthusiastic, faulting the book for being "simply padded, occasionally with startlingly ingenious gimmickry, ... often with coruscating cascades of verbal brilliance [but] too often merely with words."<ref>"Recommended Reading", ''[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction|F&SF]]'', December 1953, p. 105.</ref> Reviewing the book for ''[[Analog Science Fiction and Fact|Astounding Science Fiction]]'', [[P. Schuyler Miller]] characterized the title piece as "one of Bradbury's bitter, almost hysterical diatribes," while praising its "emotional drive and compelling, nagging detail."<ref>"The Reference Library", ''[[Analog Science Fiction and Fact|Astounding Science Fiction]]'', April 1954, pp. 145–46</ref> Similarly, ''The New York Times'' was unimpressed with the novel and further accused Bradbury of developing a "virulent hatred for many aspects of present-day culture, namely, such monstrosities as radio, TV, most movies, amateur and professional sports, automobiles, and other similar aberrations which he feels debase the bright simplicity of the thinking man's existence."<ref>{{cite news|title=Nothing but TV|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 14, 1953}}</ref>

''Fahrenheit 451'' was number seven on the list of "Top Check Outs OF ALL TIME" by the [[New York Public Library]]<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/nypl-most-checked-out-books-ever|title = These Are the NYPL's Top Check Outs OF ALL TIME|date = January 13, 2020|access-date = January 13, 2020|archive-date = January 13, 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200113215347/https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/nypl-most-checked-out-books-ever|url-status = live}}</ref>

===Censorship/banning incidents===

In the years since its publication, ''Fahrenheit 451'' has occasionally been banned, censored, or redacted in some schools at the behest of parents or teaching staff either unaware of or indifferent to the inherent irony in such censorship. Notable incidents include:
*In [[Apartheid]] [[South Africa]], the book was burned along with thousands of banned publications between the 1950s and 1970s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://theconversation.com/how-the-apartheid-regime-burnt-books-in-their-tens-of-thousands-102355|title = How the apartheid regime burnt books -- in their tens of thousands| date=October 24, 2018 }}</ref>
*In 1987, ''Fahrenheit 451'' was given "third tier" status by the [[Bay District Schools|Bay County School Board]] in [[Panama City, Florida|Panama City]], [[Florida]], under superintendent Leonard Hall's new three-tier classification system. Third tier was meant for books to be removed from the classroom for "a lot of vulgarity". After a resident class-action lawsuit, a media stir, and student protests, the school board abandoned their tier-based censorship system and approved all the currently used books.<ref name=karolides2011_p501_502>{{cite book|last1=Karolides|first1=Nicholas J.|last2=Bald|first2=Margaret|last3=Sova|first3=Dawn B.|title=120 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World Literature|edition=Second|year=2011|publisher=Checkmark Books|isbn=978-0-8160-8232-2|pages=501–02}}</ref>
*In 1992, [[Venado Middle School]] in [[Irvine, California|Irvine]], [[California]], gave copies of ''Fahrenheit 451'' to students with all "obscene" words blacked out.<ref name=karolides2011_p489>{{cite book|last1=Karolides|first1=Nicholas J.|last2=Bald|first2=Margaret|last3=Sova|first3=Dawn B.|title=120 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World Literature|edition=Second|year=2011|publisher=Checkmark Books|isbn=978-0-8160-8232-2|page=489|quote=In 1992, students of Venado Middle School in Irvine, California, were issued copies of the novel with numerous words blacked out. School officials had ordered teachers to use black markers to obliterate all of the 'hells', 'damns', and other words deemed 'obscene' in the books before giving them to students as required reading. Parents complained to the school and contacted local newspapers, who sent reporters to write stories about the irony of a book that condemns bookburning and censorship being expurgated. Faced with such an outcry, school officials announced that the censored copies would no longer be used.}}</ref> Parents contacted the local media and succeeded in reinstalling the uncensored copies.<ref name=karolides2011_p489/>
*In 2006, parents of a 10th-grade high school student in [[Montgomery County, Texas|Montgomery County]], [[Texas]], demanded the book be banned from their daughter's English class reading list.<ref name=wrigley>{{cite news|last=Wrigley|first=Deborah|title=Parent files complaint about book assigned as student reading|date=October 3, 2006|newspaper=ABC News|url=http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=4625303|access-date=March 2, 2013|archive-date=September 27, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927204624/http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news%2Flocal&id=4625303|url-status=dead}}</ref> Their daughter was assigned the book during [[Banned Books Week]], but stopped reading several pages in due to what she considered the offensive language and description of the burning of the [[Bible]]. In addition, the parents protested the violence, portrayal of Christians, and depictions of firemen in the novel.<ref name=wrigley/>