Burn ‘em
“We burned a thousand books. We burned a woman.”-Montag speaking to his wife in Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451.
If you haven’t read the book, it follows Guy Montag, a firefighter in world where firefighters burn books. They burn books to protect people from sadness, confusion, questioning life. But, he finds himself wanting to preserve books, to tear down the system… To the point that he actually tries and ends up being a fugitive on the run with a shaky memory of the Book of Ecclesiastes in his head.
I picked up this book off my daughter’s bookshelf to read last week. And part way through it, the news came out that the publisher of Roald Dahl's books has decided to rewrite them, editing words that someone may find offensive. What the fuck?!?
In the news and commentary that followed, I read somewhere that a spokesperson said it was to protect future readers… From what, exactly, I don’t know.
It made me think about my middle school reading experience. I was always a kid that read, mostly history (knights in shining armor, WWII) and nature. Sure, I read stories, but it was non-fiction stuff that had me. That was until some reading class in middle school, 8th grade if I remember correctly.
The class was just reading: no structure other than a few book reports, no topics expected. I vaguely remember the teacher, she was rather masculine, with short hair, and always wore polyester pant suits (from a 1970s JC Penney catalog). The room was in the middle of the school, no windows, one door. The class was a mix of kids, smart, studious, people looking for an easy class, the not so smart... I ended up in there to be with two friends (it was the only class we could find open for all of us).
We were expected to sit quietly and read for 50 minutes. In there, without any guidance or protection from being offended, girls read Judy Bloom, and boys read about sports, military, etc. For me, I remember The Hobbit, Lord of the Flies, Catcher in the Rye, 1984. Some books shook me up, I reread a few of them later in life—only to find that I really didn’t understand them in middle school, most of them I have forgotten… But, the habit of just reading to read was built in that class.
Of course, I think everyone should read Fahrenheit 451 (along with 1984 by Orwell and Brave New World by Huxley). Think about the world you find yourself in: Reality TV, big screens in our houses, meds to keep us happy, earbuds always in, people walking around just absorbing and repeating the news without ever questioning it, publishers being willing to rewrite a dead author’s books.
Read books, give books as gifts, encourage children to read, write… And as Granger said to Montag: “But you can’t make people listen. They have to come round in their own time, wondering what happened and why the world blew up under them. It can’t last.”