xMathFanx

Fahrenheit 451

"You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture, you just have to get people to stop reading them." -Ray Bradbury

There is a strong decline in American adult book reading per year and a shifting toward an Image Based culture.

Pew Research Center Poll: A Snapshot of Reading in America in 2013 | Pew Research Center

See these three short articles:

1. https://www.truthdig.com/articles/am...he-illiterate/
2. https://www.theatlantic.com/business...-lover/283222/
3. https://www.truthdig.com/articles/re...st-in-screens/

Is this not what Ray Bradbury is pointing out in his famous futuristic dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451?

Do you view this as alarming or alarmist? Thoughts?

Twisted Sister

Never read it but should have. 451*F is when paper catches fire.

RNG

I am constantly disappointed at how news sites keep replacing stories with video clips. And look at the high use on this site of some posters linking Youtube videos rather than written stories.

And then the surge of popularity of podcasts.

Definitely troubling trends, IMO.

Lyzza

There was a lot in that book that we discussed in an english class. like the little seashell thing in their ear to listen all the time, like our earbuds. and the 3D room for stories, like always being online and/or watching TV/movies/videos rather than interacting with other people. I love Ray Bradbury, and i loved that book.

xMathFanx

@Lyzza

Agreed.

Also, which class, may I ask?

Twisted Sister

I read Jonathan Livingstone Seagull which was popular in the early seventies. Many think there is a communist theme between the lines but it is only the life story of a seagull.

Lyzza

ummmmm, one of my Lit classes, or maybe one of the required English.

xMathFanx

@Lyzza

I had a good Lit. class at Uni.-- one of the authors we read was J.M. Coetzee. Are you familiar with him?

Lyzza

well, i am not so good with remembering names and titles, but maybe if you told me what you read i might have had to read it too.

i loved all my English classes. even the basic ones, but i have always been really good at reading and writing. i wanted to have a dual major with English, but kinda ran out of time before graduating. with grad school, i am working on my masters in clinical mental health counseling, and there is no time for extra English classes anymore

xMathFanx

@Lyzza

(A) The title of the book I read for class was "Waiting for the Barbarians". Since then, I have read a couple more of his books, including; "Elizabeth Costello", and "Diary of a Bad Year". The author won the Nobel Prize in literature in 2003. Also, another author we read during that same class was Nadine Gordimer, who I also liked. That book was titled "The Conservationist". She also won a Nobel Prize

(B ) I enjoyed my English Literature class greatly, however English Composition I found not too interesting. I also wished I could have taken more Lit. classes (preferably, from that same Professor)--though there was no way to fit it into an already tight course scheduling.

(C) Did you take Psychology courses in your Undergraduate?