You know, there have been three books (well, two books, and a short story) that I read during my high school days, that just didn't hit me how important they are, until just recently. These are the books that I think that just about everybody should pick up, if for nothing else, to see where we can't let our society go to.
Bradbury published this originally in 1953, right around when the cold war started getting going. The point of the book is to follow Guy Montag around...a fireman whose job is to burn books. While a lot of the book seems scifi ish...its the purpose behind the story that packs a meaning...why burn books? Because if you can't publish offensive material, no one can be offended. So to be safe, just don't write anything compelling, contradictory, or agains the flow. free speech is sacrificed for stability in society.
In 1946, right after Hitler, and during Stalin, Orwell outlines the day in the life of Winston Smith...living under the harsh rule of a dictatorship of 'Big Brother'. Its a harsh life, where everyone must watch what they say, and what they do, because Big Brother is watching you.
Again, as you read the book, you see that the outlandish state of affairs that Winston lives in has some very real grounding. Rights and privledges are taken away at the preservation of the greater good of the state to fight a greater evil....other nations. It becomes evident that winning the war at any cost is just not worth it sometimes....
Finally, 1961, Kurt Vonnegut wrote the short story Harrison Bergeron. Where Orwell and Bradbury's fictional time has come and gone (1984 has passed us..) This is set in 2081..where everyone is now equal. The only thing is....what do you do with those that are better than average? You make them average. The other thing...where do you draw the subjective line for 'average'?Here's where HB is...http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/hb.html
That's my rant. I like my books. Of course, you can also bring up Lord of the Flies, Catcher in the Rye, etc etc..but if you only had a weekend to catch up, you could knock these three out in no time.
1 comment:
Great blog Marcus. I have not read the last one, but I did hear about it a few years ago and it's on my to read list. I'll have to move it closer to the top of the list. Gatica is a very good movie in the same vein as these books btw if you haven't already seen it.
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