Tuesday 19 February 2008

An awakening

I tell you how freaked out I am over this, very.

In this book I am reading, Fahrenheit 451 people stop reading books and the world turns in on its self, because they are PLUGGED IN to this information system.

War rages around them, people die and suffer, but they are numb, numb from the constant, drip drip drip drip.

They have little white seashells (earphones) plugged in to their ears, day and night, listening to the drip drip drip of information.

Their lives consist of sitting, listening, watching, listening and watching, and its freaked me out, because that is where my spare time goes.

Sitting, interacting with these digital ghosts... the Pa lour Family (see the book)

I cant tell you how its freaked me.

To the point I feel quite sick, like I've fallen for some kind of dark trap.

Like I could have woken up from some drug induced sleep.

I know your probably amused by this, but that book was written in 1950s when there were no such things as ear phones and walls of huge TVs.

I cant tell you how this could change my life.

Or maybe it won't, but I feel like something has changed.

A bit more about this book:

Fahrenheit 451 tells the story of Guy Montag; a fireman whose job is not to put out fires – all homes of Bradbury’s future having been fireproofed – but to start them. The firemen’s prime targets are books.

What follows is a poetic and mesmerizing look at a future of censorship that has far too many parallels to modern day consumerist societies. This edition contains an introduction and afterword that is just as interesting as the novel itself. Here Bradbury cites the arrival of MTV and other commercial entertainment as factors that are distracting us, as a society, from the essential knowledge found in libraries.

(Robbie says: What freakes me most, about this is how many of my friends never read, who dont read books, there is perhaps a whole generation growing up, who dont read, could this book be more of a truth then I thought)


He notes that such firemen are not needed anymore because we are doing the job for them.

Also explained is the genesis of the book itself. The author describes how F451 has its origins in 5 short stories including a surreal-sounding one based on an experience of his being stopped by a police patrol car just for walking down the street.

A superbly written book that has eerie similarities with the world today.

Written over 50 years ago.

2 comments:

Vee. said...

Hey Robbie, this is chillin...hope you can do it...if you can give up smokin..you can do this too!!! I think I better have a go to...:)

Vee. said...

HEy Robbie! this is chilling for sure! I hope you can beat this addiction. We will also have a go. If you can beat the smokin bug..you can do this for sure!!! :)