Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature at which books burn. It’s also the title of Ray Bradbury’s 1953 Science Fiction classic in which he serves up a disturbing vision of a future in which books are illegal and "firemen" are people who burn them. He creates a civilization of people who are "free" from the "unhappy" imaginings and ideas that can be stirred up by reading books. Instead, they achieve "peace of mind", lulled into passivity in front of large, flickering screens that push messages and images at them.

Imagine a "fireman" who rebels and embarks upon the dangerous business of saving books. Montag is such a man. What will happen when he joins an outlaw group that is covertly memorizing the contents of books so as to prevent the world’s knowledge from dying out?

This scary scenario promises to make for lively group discussion! The Monterey Public Library will host a community book discussion of Fahrenheit 451 on Saturday, March 15, from 2 until 3:30 p.m. There will also be a special appearance by a Western Stage actor portraying Guy Montag!

This event is just part of "The Big Read", an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, sponsored by the National Steinbeck Center, which has partnered with the community to present dozens of "Big Read" activities throughout Monterey County during March 2008. Copies of Fahrenheit 451 are available at your local library. Read the book, talk about it with friends, family, and co-workers. Check out the schedule of "Big Read" events and get fired up about books and reading!

Join the online discussion. You may post your comments and raise your own questions about Fahrenheit 451 on this blog. To light the fuse, here are a few questions to ponder:

1. What is familiar about the society portrayed in the world of Fahrenheit 451?
2. What conditions might lead a society to burn books?
3. Are there instances in which burning books might be beneficial to society?
4. If you could save one book from being burned, which would it be?

Let’s talk…