Though some thought the beginning was a little slow, and some didn’t like the ending, most of us really enjoyed the book.
Some highlights:
- Was it actually about burning books? Or was that just a symptom of the bigger problem?
- The characters were in a bubble, brainwashed
- Were people already seeing this trend in the 50s? Or was Bradbury just that forward-thinking?
- Originally published in a magazine
- Bradbury wrote screenplays that changed some details to give readers what they wanted
- Montag was working out how to get out of the culture
- Wife was there but not really there
- Were all the literary quotes real?
- Freaky how modern it was
- We are like that society in that we are so married to our electronics
- “Zombies” walk around texting, playing games while we watch TV, eating with someone but looking at your phone
- There doesn’t need to be a government conspiracy behind the audio/visual input – we’re doing it to ourselves
- These days you’d rather be talking about doing stuff instead of actually doing it
- People in book so complacent and uninformed about war, but knew all the commercial jingles
- Firemen were rarely a necessity because people stopped reading on their own
- Are we in a book club because it’s a dying art form?
- We don’t really discuss movies the way we discuss books
- Movies lack the detail of books
- Clarisse describes how there used to be porches, rocking chairs – a chance to sit and think, and talk to your neighbors
- They didn’t even care if they died
- Driving that fast, you really can’t think about anything else
- It’s hard for one person to affect change, but don’t you have to try? Die knowing you were headed for shore, even if it doesn’t’ make a difference?
- Dover Beach poem by Matthew Arnold – did it make the woman cry because it was illegal? Or was she remembering it? Or was it just beautiful?
- Women with kids have cesareans – indicative of bigger attitude of not wanting to be inconvenienced
- Planning sex, testing in pregnancies, selective abortions – to prepare, or to control?
- Should society start telling people when to procreate? We’re running out of room!
- A-HOLE test! Pee on a stick to determine eligibility for parenting and gun ownership.
- Should people apply to have a baby? Wouldn’t it always be corrupt, since other people will be making the decision?
- Capt. Beatty very well-read, felt like he was above the law
- His whole argument is that book are bad b/c people don’t agree – no way for anyone to feel inferior without arguing
- People that passionate about punishing are usually guilty themselves
- Surprising that Montag burned his books?
- Way to get book information out of your head
- Book of Ecclesiastes – you have so much you can’t appreciate anything, everything feels worthless
- Book of Revelations – end of the world
- Did Bradbury omit the details of the war to make the book timeless?
- Our news coverage is too much entertainment
- How do you make people want to know about bad things?
- Is the end of the book the big shock that society needed so it can make a change?
- As a society, we need a scapegoat (like the West Memphis Three)
- Did Beatty want to die?
- Would the men’s books actually make a difference after the bombing?
- Granger’s grandfather – the things people DO are what you miss
- It’s not the books you’re missing, it’s what used to be in them
Books listed as favorites that people would memorize if they had to burn them:
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
The Bible
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Jane Austen books
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