Rosende Reads discussion

Not sure if it's cool to crate this, it's very incoherent and ranty, but I don't know I was just thinking.

I love being a part of this book club, it's discussions and finally reading books that I have wanted to read for years. However, it's frikking scary how relevant these books are today. From the targeting of people from a single religion/race, to the government making you feel like your own thoughts are not safe, to destroying individuality.

I was thinking about the question of, what would you do if you were in the world set in Fahrenheit 451 and my initial reaction is, I would fight, I would read. However, really thinking about it, I think I probably would be like Mildred. I see the appeal of doing your best to pretend like the world is not awful.

From lies spread in the media, to everyone pretending like war is not used by the rich to keep the general population scared from people just like you at the other side of the planet. How are these books still this relevant today? You can pick out so many things that you can see in today's society. We're supposed to be learning from history, why aren't we?

I don't know what the point of this topic is of if any of it makes sense, you can totally delete it if you want to or ask me too...or maybe just go on a mini rant on what you think about the worlds in books like 1984 and Fahrenheit 451.

Oh no ! It's absolutely okay for you to create this, and I couldn't agree more with what you said.

The fact that those books are so relevant today is indeed scary. They were supposed to be some kind of warning, but it hasn't been heard. It's even more scary because, when you look around, it does seem a little different from the worlds created in books, but not as much as it should be.

Somehow, I think books and stories told in books scare people, as they relate truths in a way they can understand and fear. And I think people are gladly blind, just like Mildred, because it makes everything easier. There is such an appeal to find some kind of normalcy that men and women are willing to close their eyes and fit into the mold. And to be honest, I would also be like Mildred. Or maybe Faber. Because he still has is love for books, but he's scared to step outside this normalcy created in this world, where books are bad and readers criminals. And that's terrible, because that's not who I want to be.

For me, Fahrenheit 451 and 1984 are both scary worlds in their own way.
What I find scary in Fahrenheit 451 is the lack of description of the world. There's no precise context to what world they lived in and we can easily transpose this fictional world to ours, and see the parallels. For instance, books are banished from schools, because they don't seem "appropriate", when they actually are and should be read.
In 1984, what is scary is that you can't do anything out of this normalcy required by Big Brother without paying the price.
And I totally agree with you on the lies spread in the media and everything.

What stands out in those two books, and probably many more, is that there is this desire to prevent men and women of their free-will and their ability to think by themselves, think about the world and the society. And in doing so, they prevent any kind of revolution. They have compliant people, that live in their fake happiness because they are not able to think that there's so much more than what they were raised or conditioned to imagine.

Your point is totally valid. And you can rant as much as you want, that is also why this book club was created (well, at least that's what I like to think) : share our opinions on books and see how sadly it still has an impact and a relevance on our current society. :)

(I hope everything I wrote is understandable. English is not my first language and I tried to be as coherent as I could)

Camille wrote: "Oh no! It's absolutely okay for you to create this, and I couldn't agree more with what you said.

The fact that those books are so relevant today is indeed scary. They were supposed to be some ki..."

Thanks, =). I feel this is sort of the thing, Montag was talking about, that he wants to talk until what he's saying makes sense.

I keep thinking about that. They're warning, but in 1984 we see this fully formed insane world controlled by Big Brother, sort of like V for Vendetta. Then in this book, we don't really have a fully formed world, but I keep wondering, how the hell do we get there? I keep thinking, of course, we wouldn't let it get that far, we've learned now and it wouldn't happen, and then I remember the genocides humans have committed without even blinking. All this technology nowadays that utterly rules our lives, and I can totally see it. All I'm left with is that saying..."First, they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew."

I feel like them being scary is really good, I always have these moments after reading a really dark book, where I don't know, the sky looks brighter and more beautiful, food tasted better and I can't help but think that I really should remember that and appreciate it more often.

I see so much of today's society in all of these people that like you said try to fit into the mould and retain normalcy. So many people don't want to know anything cause it will just make them said and the go-to thing they always say is that they cant do anything about it, so why bother. That's how the world will fall. I get that, it's quite definitely not who I want to be either.

That's a very good point, besides some small things they have revealed it could certainly be our world. It's made worse by the fact that Beaty even says the firemen aren't really needed anymore, the people chose to stop reading by themselves. In 1984, its this big imposed upon regime, we're used to governments being awful and lying, but in Fahrenheit 451, it's the people. Which is just so much worse.

That true, destroy free will, destroy individuality, make people feel like their alone and their thoughts don't matter, cause they cant do anything and you upkeep a totalitarian regime. God, I can't (and tbf don't want to imagine) living in that world, everything being so wrong, that you can't help but wonder about whether there is a better way, but you can't know, so you just keep on living.

Thank you =). I really love this book club, I find that book clubs usually don't really cover books that I want to read or it's just not engaging enough. But, Alberto's book club is reading so many good books, some of which I've read, but don't mind reading again. I've actually read Fahrenheit 451 before, but for the life of me can't remember anything about it or what I thought about it before. Oh and also I love the passion with which Alberto talks about the books, it's inspiring.

English is not my first language either, I feel like hardly anything I say makes sense to anyone but me, so don't worry about it. Your English is great and you make excellent points.