Posted on 06/02/2007 3:19:37 PM PDT by KneelBeforeZod
SNIP
.... Bradbury still has a lot to say, especially about how people do not understand his most literary work, Fahrenheit 451, published in 1953. It is widely taught in junior high and high schools and is for many students the first time they learn the names Aristotle, Dickens and Tolstoy.
Now, Bradbury has decided to make news about the writing of his iconographic work and what he really meant. Fahrenheit 451 is not, he says firmly, a story about government censorship. Nor was it a response to Senator Joseph McCarthy, whose investigations had already instilled fear and stifled the creativity of thousands.
This, despite the fact that reviews, critiques and essays over the decades say that is precisely what it is all about. Even Bradbury’s authorized biographer, Sam Weller, in The Bradbury Chronicles, refers to Fahrenheit 451 as a book about censorship.
Bradbury, a man living in the creative and industrial center of reality TV and one-hour dramas, says it is, in fact, a story about how television destroys interest in reading literature.
“Television gives you the dates of Napoleon, but not who he was,” Bradbury says, summarizing TV’s content with a single word that he spits out as an epithet: “factoids.” He says this while sitting in a room dominated by a gigantic flat-panel television broadcasting the Fox News Channel, muted, factoids crawling across the bottom of the screen....
SNIP
(Excerpt) Read more at laweekly.com ...
All I needed to know. Thanks for the good books Ray.
NOW he tells us!
As opposed to the comrades of those he was investigating, who slaughtered tens of millions.
On the other hand, there were the "wanna-be-a-commie" types, and some of them were probably scared "straight".
Indeed! :-)
I’ve been a Bradbury fan since 6th grade, when I got my first copy of “The Martian Chronicles”...been a fan ever since. :-)
Glad to know he’s a Fox fan too.
I’m sure the article would not have pointed out this “irony” if Ray had been watching CNN.
Good for Mr. Bradbury, trying to tell people what the book means - but then again, leftists think they know better than anyone, even the author!
I first started reading Bradbury about fourth grade, when I was told by the school librarian that I was too young to read his books. I’m always thankful when I see he’s appearing in some Southern California event, still keeping active!
The way the people in Fahrenheit 451 depended on “reality” TV, and interacted with it, is eerily similar to today’s world.
I read his book a couple of times, but I never realized...
This guy is amazing.
He knew about large flat screen TVs and "factoids" rolling along the bottom of the screen 54 years ago!
Freakin' amazing.
I had the opportunity to watch “Truman” the other night, where Truman was played by Gary Sinise (whose work and politics I like)
They had some segments showing McCarthy on television, and they spent some time on it, talking about how he was ruining America, was a hate-filled right-winger, etc. etc.
Given what we now know from the Venona files and the opening up of the ex-Soviet Union...McCarthy was spot on with EVERYTHING. I have always thought he had access to information from the Venona Files, that someone gave it to him.
I was surprised they had dwelled on it...
I think McCarthy was a patriot and his reputation should be restored.
The odd thing was, it was a book about socialism and the salvation of the downtrodden masses through socialism. His characters engaged in socialist propagandizing at the end of the book. Sinclair later wrote "I aimed at the heart and hit the stomach".
We have that on dvd. Corny but good.
It’s got *nothing* on the book. The series was pretty good (is that the one with Rock Hudson?) but the book is excellent. Very thought provoking. :-)
This is BIG! All the critics were wrong. Even the massive Michael Moore was wrong and followed the critical masses of literary experts rather than demonstrate independent thought. Michael Moore is derivative.
Information is inessential. The meaning is elsewhere.
—Benjamin
Bradbury fans might consider taking another look at some of his work. Could be deeper meaning in a lot of it.
Even the author confuses the meaning. "Factoid" refers to something which is presented as "fact" but actually is NOT. (The suffix "-oid" means "resembling, but not actually the same -- as in 'humanoid'." Common usage, though, has led many to think this is just a clever way to talk about it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.