Ray Bradbury. Fahrenheit 451. 1951.
Book club choice for June, 2025. 75 years after it was first published. Sci-fi , dystopian but scary. I have written about my reaction on my Substack: One Lonely Writer. How Bradbury's FUTURE is NOW. The discussion was interesting. People found it difficult to get into. Because I knew it was about book-burning, I persevered, but figuring out that the firemen start fires and their hoses spew kerosene instead of water took a while. I loved the image of EMPTINESS with the pumping out of stomachs = marriages where conversation does not happen. It was also difficult to accept a protagonist being and becoming a killer. Just doing his job. Then, in self-defense, when the boss is about to kill him. The idea of hope, with the image of the phoenix, and the quote from Revelations. Also difficult to accept that the homeless camps will save humanity. Because the homeless living in the woods are the fired professors from Harvard. A very 1950s world where women live at home and none are in the camps destined to save the world.
The scary parts start with everyone wearing earbuds. THen, wall to wall surround TV, with the walls talking to the occupants. People talking about characters as if they are real. THe way CRIME has become entertainment. And the way our heads are filled with advertising jingles making us do or want something. Could have been more emphasis on how LOSS of FREEDOM to READ = the END of FREEDOM to THINK. Followed by the disappearing of anyone who questions. THe one big question: Are you HAPPY?
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