Revisiting The Classics: Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbuy

During my Spring cleaning extravaganza these past couple of weeks, I decided it was time to go through my endless shelves of books and make room for new ones.  After several hours, I was able to fill two boxes which were then donated to my local library for their annual book sale in the Fall.  However, I came across my copy of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and was quickly swept away between the pages.   I read this many, many years ago in High School and decided it was time to re-visit this classic once again....

Summary (from Good Reads)

Guy Montag is a book-burning fireman undergoing a crisis of faith. His wife spends all day with her television "family," imploring Montag to work harder so that they can afford a fourth TV wall. Their dull, empty life sharply contrasts with that of his next-door neighbor Clarisse, a young girl thrilled by the ideas in books, and more interested in what she can see in the world around her than in the mindless chatter of the tube. When Clarisse disappears mysteriously, Montag is moved to make some changes, and starts hiding books in his home. Eventually, his wife turns him in, and he must answer the call to burn his secret cache of books. After fleeing to avoid arrest, Montag winds up joining an outlaw band of scholars who keep the contents of books in their heads, waiting for the time society will once again need the wisdom of literature.

My Thoughts/Reflections: 

I'm truly amazed at how quickly this novel captured my attention yet again and created such an intense adrenaline rush that only a good book can.  First published in 1953, Bradbury's dystopian  world speaks louder today than ever before and sent my mind  whirling through our current book trends as well as our obsession with technology, particularly audio and video.  When I was teaching freshman English at a local university, I recall the frustration I felt when I realized students lacked the ability to visualize what was written on the pages of a novel.  As a child, I loved to read; I traveled through the pages and visited far away lands and magical places with only my imagination to fill in the spaces.  Is today's youth losing that ability that I held so precious and still do to this day?  I can't help bu wonder if we are becoming Bradbury's dystopian society consumed by television and technology.  And now that we have Kindles, Ipads, and other similar devices that can easily store thousands of books, will the printed book as we know it become obsolete?  I just can't imagine a world without shelves overloaded with books!  If you haven't read Fahrenheit 451, I strongly recommend that you do....it's a must read for all times and one of the most thought-provoking novels I've ever read.  

The Classics: The Bread Givers By Anzia Yezierska

As part of The Classics 2011 Reading Challenge, without hesitation, I quickly chose two novels by Anzia Yezierska.  During my graduate studies, I was introduced to Yezierska's collection of short stories, How I Found America, and was immediately captivated by this extraordinary author.  A young Jewish immigrant living on New York's Lower East Side, Yezierska managed to publish six books between 1920 and 1932.  As literary scholar, Alice Kessler-Harris so accurately explains in the introduction, Yezierska's constant themes are the dirt and congestion of the tenement, the struggle against poverty, family, and tradition, to break out of the ghetto, and then the searing recognition that her roots would always lie in the old world.  All of Yezierska's writings contain a sense of autobiograhpy but none more so than The Bread Givers.

Review:

The Bread Givers, immediately transports the reader back in time to the tenements of New York's Lower East Side during the early 1920's and the struggles of young Jewish immigrant, Sara Smolinsky. Caught between her old world values and her deep desire to become an "American", Sara's plight towards independence is heart-wrenching to say the least.  As Sara tries to break free from her dominating Rabbi father and Jewish traditions, she is soon faced with similar barriers in the form of greedy landlords, "sweat shop" bosses, as well as the prevailing prejudice against immigrants. During a period in American history when it was widely unacceptable to for a woman to be educated, Sara was convinced the only way to succeed and achieve the "American Dream" was through eduction.

I honestly cannot speak highly enough of this novel.  Yezierska provides us with so much more than a coming of age novel.  The pages are abundant with history, the plight of immigrants, and the struggles of women seeking equality and a sense of self-identity in a male-dominated society at the turn of the century.  Yezierska's writing was initially criticized for the use of "simple language" and Jewish dialect, and yet, it's these very characteristics that bring her writing to life.  A truly enjoyable read that I can easily give a 5!