Can I just say how much I appreciate the work page for Fahrenheit 451 for actually mentioning what Bradbury thought the book was about? I managed to escape high school without having to read it for class. I eventually read it on my own, which was the anniversary edition with the interview with the author in the back. It doesn't take a whole lot of close reading to see how pissed he is about teachers claiming the book is all about top-down, oppressive censorship instead of ignoring critical participation with media.
It's ironic, IMO, that a book that was specifically displaying the unwashed hog of "just accept what you're told about stuff and don't think too much" is portrayed in schools as a touchstone of the dangers of government censorship... and not much else.
I need to read more of his stuff. Maybe It Makes Sense in Context.
edited 28th Apr '16 6:34:19 AM by tinyhands
Professional Moldy Fig/Curmudgeon
As Faber said in the novel, "It's not books you need, it's some of the things that were once in books."
Read The Martian Chronicles as well. I love that one. "Usher II" especially I think is even greater than Fahrenheit 451... Especially when read by Leonard Nimoy. Listen to how he delivers Stendahl's speech, about 6:10 in:
Since I noticed we didn't have a thread on one of the greatest science-fiction authors of all time, I thought I ought to rectify that.
Discuss Ray Bradbury and his works here.
"They say I'm old fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast."