Fahrenheit 451: Which book would you choose?

Inkling · Post by **Inkling** » 29 Apr 2008, 05:57

Reading through the forum I noticed that the Site Admin had a slight dystopian society literary bent; this coupled with a news article I read earlier this evening about an organised book burn, Mein Kampf and The Communist Manifesto being two of the book burn's targets, led me to wonder which book people would choose to memorise verbatim if they found themselves in Ray Bradbury's dystopian society of Fahrenheit 451.

So, what I would like to know is if you had to memorise a book word per word, what would it be?

Tracey Neal · Post by **Tracey Neal** » 29 Apr 2008, 16:29

Hmm, that is a very good question. I don't think however I could just narrow it down to one book. I guess it would be out of my top 5, (which I have posted in another thread here). Not sure though, I would have to ponder this thought for a weebit. Books are so important to me, having to choose would be hard. Plus if it meant preserving history in a literary sense, I would like for it to be literature that made an impact on civilization. But then the hopeless romantic in me would go for something with romance and adventure in it too.

So this would be hard for me.

I would be a walking library I guess.

And in a dystopian society I would definitely be one to break rules, I would be a "Granger" for sure...maybe mixed with Clarisse

Eckhart Aurelius Hughes · Post by **Scott** » 29 Apr 2008, 18:56

Inkling wrote:Reading through the forum I noticed that the Site Admin had a slight dystopian society literary bent[...]

It's true.

Of course, I would have to go for Fahrenheit 451 if they were burning books. It would be like carrying a copy of Planet of the Apes with you through a time machine to a future controlled by apes.

Other than that, I don't know what I would want to memorize word-for-word. My favorite books are ones that are tragedies, dystopian books and other downers. But I think I'd like an inspiring and more upliftingly beautiful book if I was going to memorize it especially in a horrible society.

Maybe I'd go with one of George Carlin's comedy books.

Eric · Post by **Eric** » 30 Apr 2008, 03:10

"The Origins of Totalitarianism" by Hannah Arendt, along with "The Declaration of Independence" (plus maybe Che Guevara's "Guerilla Warfare" if society had sunk to that point!).

sleepydumpling · Post by **sleepydumpling** » 30 Apr 2008, 04:06

Oh God, how can I choose just one?

You know, it would probably be Tim Winton's Cloudstreet. Simply because every page is poetry, and so long as I have the "Pickleses" and the Lambs, I'll never be lonely.

Eckhart Aurelius Hughes · Post by **Scott** » 30 Apr 2008, 13:43

On a second thought, maybe I would choose to memorize a book that would be most important to society even if it is not enjoyable to me personally. I'm thinking of like an encyclopedia or something else with important information.

This is a fun question.

saracen77 · Post by **saracen77** » 30 Apr 2008, 13:47

Just one? Oh my.

Right. If I over think, I'm going to get bogged down in lists of amazing books that all deserve to be carried forward, so I must just choose the first book that came into my head when I read the question.

Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham.

Matthew · Post by **Matthew** » 30 Apr 2008, 17:17

Can I totally cheat? I'd memorize some anthology, "Introducing Great Literature" or something.

Dori · Post by **Dori** » 30 Apr 2008, 18:30

Oh, I just finished this book not more than two hours ago. Given a photographic memory, I memorize some Rousseau, or maybe Thoreau, eh wait...perhaps the Bible?

Good book, by the way.

sleepydumpling · Post by **sleepydumpling** » 01 May 2008, 06:33

Scott Hughes wrote:On a second thought, maybe I would choose to memorize a book that would be most important to society even if it is not enjoyable to me personally. I'm thinking of like an encyclopedia or something else with important information.

This is a fun question.

Bugger society, I'm going to be selfish!

sleepydumpling · Post by **sleepydumpling** » 01 May 2008, 06:34

saracen77 wrote:Just one? Oh my.

Right. If I over think, I'm going to get bogged down in lists of amazing books that all deserve to be carried forward, so I must just choose the first book that came into my head when I read the question.

Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham.

That would be my second choice saracen77

Inkling · Post by **Inkling** » 02 May 2008, 21:07

Scott Hughes wrote:
Inkling wrote:Reading through the forum I noticed that the Site Admin had a slight dystopian society literary bent[...]
It's true.

It was hard to miss.

I'm still pondering on what my choice would be.

Perhaps something such as Joseph Campbell's The Hero With A Thousand Faces or...maybe something a little too dry for most people The Last Two Million Years.

Erasmus_Folly · Post by **Erasmus_Folly** » 03 May 2008, 11:41

Well I'm assuming someone is going to be Genesis from the Bible so we'll need a counter-weight. I would be Letters From The Earth by Mark Twain.

Kaabi · Post by **Kaabi** » 09 Jun 2008, 21:05

I can't think of anything that would be of such great importance that I would need to memorize it. I might choose the dictionary, because I'd become rich by having the greatest vocabulary in the world!