Trendmonger wrote:
What Book Are You Reading
Excerpt from Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451
Come on, Montag. All this
philosophy, let's get rid of it.
It's even worse than the novels.
Thinkers, philosophers, all of
them saying exactly the same thing:
"Only I am right.
The others are all idiots."
One century, they tell you
man's destiny is predetermined.
The next, they say that
he has freedom of choice.
It's just a matter of fashion,
that's all. Philosophy.
Just like short dresses this
year, long dresses next year.
Look. All stories of the
dead. Biography that's called.
And autobiography.
My life. My diary.
My memoirs.
My intimate memoirs.
Of course, when they started out,
it was just the urge to write.
Then after the second or third book, all
they wanted was to satisfy their own vanity,
To stand out from the crowd,
to be different,
To be able to look down
on all the others.
Ah, critic's prize. This is a good one.
Of course, he had the critics
on his side. Lucky fellow.
Just tell me this, Montag,
at a guess, How many literary awards were made in
this country, on an average each year?
Five, ten, forty? Hmm?
No less than. Anybody that put pen to paper was
bound to win some prize someday.
Ah, Robinson Crusoe. The negroes didn't
like that because of his man, Friday.
And Nietzsche. Ah, Nietzsche.
The Jews didn't like Nietzsche.
Now, here's a book about lung cancer.
All the cigarette smokers got into a panic,
so for everybody's peace of mind, we burn it.
Ah, now this one must be very
profound. The Ethics of Aristotle.
Now anybody that read that must believe
he's a cut above anybody that hadn't.
You see, it's no good, Montag.
We've all got to be alike.
The only way to be happy is
for everyone to be made equal.
So, we must burn the books,
Montag.
so are you actually reading this, or did you just feel like farting some more?