451

written by: SAH

I recently reread Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451; a book whose future is now in our past; a book I read for the first time in high school about 20 years ago.

Over the past 2-5 years I've reread a handful of books from that time and have enjoyed how differently they're experienced in my 30s. It lead me to ponder whether or not we make the right choices when assigning reading to teenagers.

It seems like most of the lessons that come from books adults consider classics are lessons which can only be appreciated by adults – which I suspect is why children often find them boring or without meaning.

I wonder if we would have better success in promoting the act and art of reading, better luck instilling reading as a valid pastime, if kids were reading things that spoke more directly to their stage in life, their experience. If the same lessons about literature were applied to more accessible material.

I'm not saying Fahrenheit 451 is a difficult read, or that its message is hard to understand, but I do think it's language is richer than most high school freshmen probably realize and its implications, its fictional future, is not as hard to imagine as reality for adults. (Though at the end of the edition of the book I have there is an interview with Bradbury where he states his confidence that the book's events could never come to pass.)

Then again, if I hadn't read the book in high school, if I was coming to the story for the first time now, would I be able to see things as I do? How much of my current understanding is based on my reading from 20 years ago? It's hard to say. Consciously, aside from the larger plot, I didn't recall much.

One additional, related thought: When I was talking about this with my dad and a comment Bradbury made about libraries – "Without the library, you have no civilization" -- the conversation turned to our own personal libraries and my dad said “I would have plenty to read if I just started over.”

Since that comment I've been wondering to myself: At what age does a person reach the point where, if all they read for the rest of their lives were what they'd already read, that would be enough?

I have a feeling I reached that point just after college (nearly a dozen years ago). I think I could pretty easily pass the rest of my time on earth rereading and studying that which I've already read and studied. Fortunately, we are not yet hiding, smuggling or burning books and hopefully we will never reach the point where my personal library becomes contraband.

Then again, if we do reach that point, how much sweeter would the fruit of my collection become once it is forbidden? How much more valuable would even the pulp fiction become, never mind the classics? From that perspective, I almost wish for an opportunity to rediscover things I used to know, and learn more about things I already think I know. But that wish fades pretty quickly when I look at the half dozen books on my reading table right now and marvel at what I've read for the first time in only the past couple of years. So my real wish is that this constant discovery of new greatness, of new appreciation is something I never lose the ability to enjoy.

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