It's first semester Freshman year. I'm sitting in the basement of the campus library with two friends, Kitsune and Neo; somehow, we start talking about books, so I toss out a title: Fahrenheit 451, one of my favorites. "That book should be burned," Kitsune grumbles sullenly. And I laugh. It was a clever joke: burn the book about burning books. But when I meet Neo's eye, he has a different reaction.
"I don't think she's kidding," he says quietly.
I turn back to Kitsune for answers, and she's staring at me pointedly. "You weren't serious, were you?" I ask, surprised.
"Yeah, I was."
Suddenly, its not funny so much as it is ironic.
I really enjoyed that book in high school. I think I'd like it even better now!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad someone does, Chessie! It seems like everyone I talk to has either read it and hated it, or not read it at all! :(
ReplyDeleteAt least we lit chicks know what we're talking about, right? :P
What? I want to hear the debate which certainly followed! How can anyone hate that book? I know the plot kind of drags at times, but the concepts presented are amazing! I really want to know why she hated it. It's not one of my favorites, but you can't deny it's literary significance.
ReplyDeleteI read this book as a teenager and I did not like it because in my youth I thought it could never happen. I read it or I should say tried to read it again back in the '60's and still did not like it. This time because I found truth in it. I'm not going to try to read it ever again because now I see us as being capable of being like that book everyday and I find it physically painful. It is a really good book and Bradbury is one of the all time Sci Fi novelist.
ReplyDeletePerhaps your friend found some alarming and painful truth in it. No book should be burned or banned but some should have warning labels.
@Robby Spratt...
ReplyDeleteI wanted to continue a debate, but actually, Neo was the one to stop the conversation. I think he realized just how stubborn both Kitsune and I are, and that any debate would just go on indefinitely. The argument went back and forth with "its a masterpiece" and "its stupid" until he managed to shut us up :P
(But at least Neo agreed with me as to the book's integrity; he said it was one of his favorites, too)
@Oldfool...
ReplyDeleteActually, I think the reason Kitsune didn't like it was because she found it boring, as Robby suggested. We never really agreed on books...She was hard-core Harry Potter and almost nothing else. I'm all for the classics, like Fahrenheit 451 and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.