Fahrenheit 451 vs The Time Machine: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Science Fiction, Fiction
Fahrenheit 451
“It was a pleasure to burn.”
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Fahrenheit 451 is a 1953 dystopian novel by American writer Ray Bradbury. Often regarded as one of his best works, the novel presents a future American society where books are outlawed and "firemen" burn any that are…
The Time Machine
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The Time Traveller, a dreamer obsessed with traveling through time, builds himself a time machine and, much to his surprise, travels over 800,000 years into the future. He lands in the year 802701: the world has been…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Fahrenheit 451 has the widest readership — 2974389 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Fahrenheit 451 | The Time Machine | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.0 (2974389) | 3.9 (579364) |
| Hardcover | 3.9 (4809) | 3.8 (1493) |
| Google Books | 3.0 (1) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (1796) | 4.5 (1863) |
| LiveLib | — | 4.3 (5) |
Reception
| Fahrenheit 451 | The Time Machine | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 2974389 | 579364 |
| Editions | 262 | 1146 |
| Citations | — | 34 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 1941444 | 406157 |
| Reading it now | 57539 | 20904 |
| Written reviews | 105127 | 20618 |
| Wikipedia attention | 94815 | 12134 |
| Pages | 185 | 119 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Fahrenheit 451 or The Time Machine?
Fahrenheit 451 has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Fahrenheit 451 4.0/5, The Time Machine 3.9/5).
Which is shorter to read: Fahrenheit 451 or The Time Machine?
The Time Machine is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Time Machine (119 pages, ≈ 2 h 12 m); Fahrenheit 451 (185 pages, ≈ 3 h 26 m).
Which is harder to read: Fahrenheit 451 or The Time Machine?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Fahrenheit 451: Moderate; The Time Machine: Challenging.
Have both books been made into films?
Fahrenheit 451: 5 film adaptations; The Time Machine: no film adaptation on record.