The public library’s youth book club is now “totally on a roll,” reports librarian Sunnie Lovelace. She sent in the following account; read previous reports here, here, here and here.
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In keeping with the Big Read we talked about Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury this month. Along with some kickin devil’s food cupcakes (no tie-in with the book, just delicious) we discussed the book and other SciFi/Dystopian titles. Unfortunately all of us, including myself, found Bradbury’s style of writing difficult to get in to. The plot on the other hand (described below by veteran book club member Jarel) is a total winner. It brings up some really interesting issues and themes such as happiness, knowledge, history, entertainment, mind-control, media spin, the Phoenix. It’s definitely worth reading and participating in the community events all around town. In fact, participating in your community and discussing relevant, critical issues is a great way of preventing the horrors that Bradbury depicts!
From Jarel (pictured):
Fahrenheit 451 is a short read that is about a man named Guy Montag. His story begins as a firefighter whose job is to create fires because he has to burn books and the people who kept them. Now this may seem strange but you have to remember that this book is set in a dystopian society which makes books illegal because the government thought it corrupted minds and allowed people to actually think, you see guy doesn’t actually “think” until he meets a girl named Clarissa who tells him to actually think outside the box and think about what he does. After a while Guy spends more time with Clarissa and learns more and begins to question his job things kind of fall off from there. Guy, after finding out that Clarissa had suffered a fatal gunshot wound, decides to take a book in one of his fire raids after the raid he goes and memorizes whole passages. Things are going along pretty smoothly until his Captain finds out and tells him in short “burn the book or we’ll burn it for you and we know that’s not good” and he knows so he goes to Clarissa’s uncle who tells him what to do. So one night he goes and makes a break for it and the chase is on, the firefighters vs. Guy Montag. We can’t tell you too much, but the story ends with Guy trying to change the system. He just might do it, but you’ll have to imagine that part because the story ended awhile ago. I guess that’s all there is there isn’t anymore.
Ray Bradbury was a prolific author and screenwriter, contributing to TV shows like The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. If you like kooky, creepy kinds of stuff, don’t stop with Fahrenheit 451, check out Bradbury’s other works on IMBD. We’ll be tackling another Dystopian adventure next month, The Sky Inside by Clare Dunkle. We meet on Tuesday, June 24th for the last time until September. Any questions/comments? Email here.