Rock Springs in Sweetwater County is currently participating in the One Book, One County program to encourage the love of reading books and subsequent community wide book discussions. The book chosen for 2007 was Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" . I couldn't remember if I'd read it back in high school, so I decided to go down to the Sweetwater Library here in town and pick up a free copy. I read and loved it!
The title of the book springs from the fact that pieces of paper burn at 451 degrees Fahrenheit. The plot, for those who aren't familiar, ultimately involves a fireman, Montag, who becomes involved in trying to save the human species from intellectual annihilation by commuity lawmakers prescribing burning of books and synthetic appeasements of all that is uncomfortable and unpleasant in life. Bradbury in 1953 makes very striking and prophetic remarks about how society will fare when the titilating sound byte replaces the pursuit of knowledge and truth.
A blog for discussing Bradbury's classic has been created at this link. If you would like to subscribe to the blog or just check out some of the comments, click here.
An excerpt of some of my comments on the Sweetwater County Blog for One Book One County follow:
...Bradbury's commentary on humans was quite intriguing given that he was writing over 50 years ago. I took from the characters of Montag and Beatty, a dichotomy that exists in all of us. We, as humans, have the ability to incessantly learn all that we can while we are here on the planet, while also the disability of letting our brains atrophy with mindless tasks. I believe Montag benefitted greatly from books. It was his learning through books in his past that allowed him to disavow the logic of Beatty in the present ...read more...
Thanks for stopping in to the blog and happy reading!
Drew
The title of the book springs from the fact that pieces of paper burn at 451 degrees Fahrenheit. The plot, for those who aren't familiar, ultimately involves a fireman, Montag, who becomes involved in trying to save the human species from intellectual annihilation by commuity lawmakers prescribing burning of books and synthetic appeasements of all that is uncomfortable and unpleasant in life. Bradbury in 1953 makes very striking and prophetic remarks about how society will fare when the titilating sound byte replaces the pursuit of knowledge and truth.
A blog for discussing Bradbury's classic has been created at this link. If you would like to subscribe to the blog or just check out some of the comments, click here.
An excerpt of some of my comments on the Sweetwater County Blog for One Book One County follow:
...Bradbury's commentary on humans was quite intriguing given that he was writing over 50 years ago. I took from the characters of Montag and Beatty, a dichotomy that exists in all of us. We, as humans, have the ability to incessantly learn all that we can while we are here on the planet, while also the disability of letting our brains atrophy with mindless tasks. I believe Montag benefitted greatly from books. It was his learning through books in his past that allowed him to disavow the logic of Beatty in the present ...read more...
Thanks for stopping in to the blog and happy reading!
Drew
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