themechanicalhound

(thru part 1) What an intriguing beginning! This section felt slow, yet weirdly addictive. I definitely wanted to find out more about this culture and what is happening, and found Beatty's “lecture“ to be very interesting. What do you think so far? What do you think of Guy as a character? What do you think happened to Clarisse?

I think I've always thought of this one, Brave New World, and 1984, as being the “classic“ dystopian novels. Are ⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) there others you would add (or remove) from this list? I feel like both the other two books gave us more detail about the world-building at the beginning, while 451 seems to be feeding us just a little at a time.

Like I said, this is my first time reading this one and I actually have no real idea what happens at all, so I'm quite intrigued to keep reading!! Let me know your thoughts!! 3mo

TheAromaofBooks #RandomClassics @BarbaraJean @BarkingMadRead @Catsandbooks @ChelseaM6010 @Clare-Dragonfly @Daisey @julieclair @Librarybelle @nanuska_153 @StayCurious 3mo

Susanita I think Guy is a very interesting, conflicted character. I‘m afraid to know what happened to Clarisse. This book is a “classic,” but for some reason I never read it until now. 3mo

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Librarybelle This is also my first time reading it, and it is considered a classic. I‘m not the biggest reader of dystopian fiction—I did like The Handmaid‘s Tale—so I‘m still putting together in my mind how this society operates. I like Guy so far, and I‘m afraid something bad happened to Clarisse. 3mo

ChelseaM6010 First time read for me as well! I agree with what‘s been said about Clarisse—I‘m scared to know what happened 🫣 3mo

KAO Such a good book! I enjoyed teaching this one many times over the years. So many great discussion points! 3mo

dabbe Loved teaching this! One of his best IMHO. #themechanicalhound 😱 3mo

Daisey It did feel kind of slow, but also very much building tension with only bits of information at a time. I read this once before very quickly and don‘t remember the details, so I‘m very much looking forward to reading it again with discussion. 3mo

BarbaraJean I've read this before & thought I remembered it, but apparently not—I'd completely forgotten Clarisse!! I love the way Bradbury sketches out the world, slowly bringing out small but key parallels to our own. Beatty's lecture hits on so many cultural trends that I can see happening now, that have been happening for a while—it's so interesting to think back to what society was like when this was written vs. now. 3mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I agree with your idea of a classic dystopian trilogy! Like @Librarybelle I would add Handmaid's Tale to the list. I find it interesting how all four of those books have a slightly different take on a dystopia—Brave New World and this one kind of emphasize how entertainment masks the dystopia, then the other two are more clearly oppressive without a panacea to distract. 3mo

TheAromaofBooks @Librarybelle @BarbaraJean - I've never read Handmaid's Tale, although it's on my list. It would definitely be the most recent of the group (Brave New World is actually the earliest - 1932) so it's also interesting to see what “fears“ have changed or stayed the same. 1984 was published emerging from WWII (1949) and you can feel that in the writing. 451 was published 1953, an era where home advancements were happening rapidly (TV, phones, etc) ⬇ 3mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) so I wonder how much of this was a response to the idea that new and different media might “kill“ reading and books? @Susanita @ChelseaM6010 @Daisey 3mo

Catsandbooks Last time I read this was in 8th grade and all I remember was I liked it. It's interesting to see the world he created and then comparing it to now. When Mildred puts the "seashells" in her ears I thought of airpods. I know there's lot of people who don't read and are definitely more interested in media and tech but I'm also glad that's there's still a ton of us who love books. 3mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Yes, I definitely see this as a response to the rise of media like TV. I wonder what Bradbury would've woven in about smartphones & streaming platforms if he'd written this later on?! @Catsandbooks I was thinking similarly & comparing the world we see here with present-day media trends. It's encouraging that there are still lots of book-lovers & large swathes of society who highly value the written word & books through the ages. (edited) 3mo

TheAromaofBooks @BarbaraJean @Catsandbooks - To me this one has a vibe of being more of a warning about what happens if people stop reading/learning more than it is about government overreach (like the other dystopian novels we mentioned), but it's definitely good to know that there are still communities of us who still embrace books and use modern media to make them more widely available and to share our love of them with one another!! 3mo

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