Written by Ray Bradbury, I finished reading this book just today. I slapped it down on the coffee table and mum says “Was it good?”
“It was great”
“What was it about?”
I umm at this for a moment. “It was about.” Another pause.
“What was it about?”
I umm at this for a moment. “It was about.” Another pause.
“It’s about a fireman. But instead of putting out fires, they start fires. They burn books because the government censors them. Citizens are watching lots of TV and don’t want to learn or read so they watch more TV and read less and the government orders all the books to be burnt and if you’re caught with a book you’re taken away.”
I suppose that’s it. No, yes, that’s it. But it’s open to interpretation depending on who you are even though those are the facts of the story. I feel like some breed of pseudo-intellectual when I give my opinions on books. Like I should be sipping coffee in a star bucks with some arty, beret-sporting colleagues who are campaigning for veganism or against nuclear power. They’d probably then talk about the significance of Kazimir Malevich’s Black Square in the art world. Jokes aside, kudos to Malevich for producing such a radical piece of work as early as 1915.
Describing the book, I go on to relate it to real world situations such as Hitler’s burning of the books in 1933, China’s Qin dynasty or much more recently, churches in America burning Harry Potter because of their apparently un-godlike teachings. Stretching past the influence of the physical word, just this month China has banned the registration of certain internet domain names for personal use.
I then talk about something I learnt in A-level Media where the world is getting smaller – people stay inside and watch more news and are increasingly afraid of the outside world.
The same happens in Fahrenheit 451.
How many times have you heard “Children don’t play in the street anymore, it’s too dangerous” and how many times have you known this to be true?
When discussing Duchamp’s Fountain, a urinal turned 90̊ degrees and signed, Gregory says “One of the things you want to avoid saying is ‘I could’ve done that’ because if you didn’t do it then it doesn’t really matter that you could do it.”
I suppose that’s it. No, yes, that’s it. But it’s open to interpretation depending on who you are even though those are the facts of the story. I feel like some breed of pseudo-intellectual when I give my opinions on books. Like I should be sipping coffee in a star bucks with some arty, beret-sporting colleagues who are campaigning for veganism or against nuclear power. They’d probably then talk about the significance of Kazimir Malevich’s Black Square in the art world. Jokes aside, kudos to Malevich for producing such a radical piece of work as early as 1915.
Malevich's Black Square - 1915
Describing the book, I go on to relate it to real world situations such as Hitler’s burning of the books in 1933, China’s Qin dynasty or much more recently, churches in America burning Harry Potter because of their apparently un-godlike teachings. Stretching past the influence of the physical word, just this month China has banned the registration of certain internet domain names for personal use.
I then talk about something I learnt in A-level Media where the world is getting smaller – people stay inside and watch more news and are increasingly afraid of the outside world.
The same happens in Fahrenheit 451.
How many times have you heard “Children don’t play in the street anymore, it’s too dangerous” and how many times have you known this to be true?
A recent survey of 1700 adults showed that one in four cross the road to avoid young people.
Is the world becoming more dangerous or are we becoming more scared?
Perhaps it is both – perhaps the increase in knife crime was all made up but it scared people so shitless they felt they needed to carry knives. It reminds me of a line from Brass Eye:
Perhaps it is both – perhaps the increase in knife crime was all made up but it scared people so shitless they felt they needed to carry knives. It reminds me of a line from Brass Eye:
(In the past) “Everyone had keys to each others houses, and the locks were made of something like paper” – Is it that we have a tendency to remember the past so fondly?
Malevich’s Black Square is discussed in The Crucial Man show;
Jon Gabrus describes it in terms of sex as “Missionary. With three condoms on.”
His guest, Jarrett Gregory, a curator from The New Museum says “No, this is so far beyond missionary. This is like something we’ve all never tried, probably.”
Malevich’s Black Square is discussed in The Crucial Man show;
Jon Gabrus describes it in terms of sex as “Missionary. With three condoms on.”
His guest, Jarrett Gregory, a curator from The New Museum says “No, this is so far beyond missionary. This is like something we’ve all never tried, probably.”
Duchamp's Fountain - 1917
Next time anyone is making up their mind what they think or a person is shouting someone down because they believe themselves to be so correct - It doesn’t matter what you think of something as long as you believe it, have reason to and would keep your mind open to change if a better idea was presented to you. At least, that is what I believe.
Jordan Bintcliffe
