Fahrenheit 451

I had not read Fahrenheit 451 until this afternoon. My son has been reading it with enthusiasm, which is not the way he generally reads. It's certainly not the way we greeted him reading A Clockwork Orange. This led to the uncomfortable occurrence of us watching the Kubrick movie together.  That will be a completely separate post. 

I do like Ray Bradbury, and I've had the novel in my house and have for as long as I can remember, left behind by some roommate, or boyfriend long gone. But I have not read it. So my son asks me about it over  and again. Then last night he brings me his laptop and says there might be Poppets inspired by Fahrenheit 451! So Lisa Snellings Clark has actually written about her concern because she is close to having a wall of TVs and she's fairly sure Bradbury would not approve.

To be honest she makes me wonder how she can accomplish all she does with so many TVs - We have 1.5 here. It forces us to share. I cannot abide TVs in the living room and I won't let one into bedrooms unless you can cover them up. This is my own preference - I did not grow up this way, and my parents have more TVs than people.  

But the TMC ( too many coincidences) factor was too high, and so today I've read the book - which means now I'm thinking about the book, about belief and fire and the nature of dystopia. And if we're living in one now. 

First thing - around page 9 poor unsettled Montag is walking with Clarisse and sees her family on the porch and asks her  what they were doing ."Oh, just my mother and father and Uncle sitting around, talking. It's like being a pedestrian only rarer."

And I laughed aloud and my immediate thought was "Poor Ray Bradbury" because he already saw things going that way in 1953. Because it's true, for both halves of the statement.

When my daughter's friends come over they are surprised by the fact that we converse at the table. We hang out in our living room and talk to each other. We eat most meals together in the dining room. (not in the helicoptery "because the magazine said so way", but because the food is ready, and if you want to eat, it's placed on the set table.) So we converse with each other. About stuff.  About  books and webcomics, and people and art, and the nature of God,  and why book reports matter, and politics and respect, and manners and poppets, and work and school and how we are spending the next 24 hours. This week we spent alot of time talking about why Kubrick made A Clockwork Orange about Kubrick's views of sex instead of Burgess's view of sociopathy and redemption. We agree that maybe Kubrick should have seen a therapist. 

We'll be the first against the wall when the fireproofing comes.