this post was submitted on 24 Dec 2024
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Obviously it is not theory but as a piece of dystopian fiction what do y'all think of it. Is it as overtly propagandist as Orwell's works?

Edit: I'd also love to hear opinions on Grapes of Wrath which I did not read in 8th grade. Really I'd love to hear about Steinback in general, my great grandfather knew him in highschool (or so my grandmother claims)

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[–] Llituro@hexbear.net 40 points 2 months ago (2 children)

How does the story of Fahrenheit 451 stand up in 1994?

R.B.: It works even better because we have political correctness now. Political correctness is the real enemy these days. The black groups want to control our thinking and you can't say certain things. The homosexual groups don't want you to criticize them. It's thought control and freedom of speech control.

this is just pulled off the wikipedia article about ray bradbury, this is from a series of interviews conducted for a grad student's thesis at Florida State University. i don't think ray bradbury has held up this century, let alone his vapid scifi

[–] NephewAlphaBravo@hexbear.net 25 points 2 months ago

white people spend an entire career and lifetime this mad that they can't say slurs in public

[–] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 23 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Ah fuck, yeah that checks out. Didn't know he was that garbage though lol

[–] Llituro@hexbear.net 25 points 2 months ago

it is admittedly kind of shocking how universal his work is in the education of children but no time is ever spent analyzing whether a guy that thinks his seminal work is about cancel culture was actually onto something.

[–] BurgerPunk@hexbear.net 36 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Its mostly about how Ray Bradbury really hated TV

[–] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 20 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] BurgerPunk@hexbear.net 18 points 2 months ago

Yeah he's not wrong

[–] take_five_seconds@hexbear.net 28 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Grapes of Wrath fucking whips

[–] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 11 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I was told similar things by a few liberals but wanted to confirm lol

[–] take_five_seconds@hexbear.net 9 points 2 months ago

i'm from the area it's written about, i fucking love that book.

[–] imogen_underscore@hexbear.net 4 points 2 months ago

it really is all that

[–] propter_hog@hexbear.net 9 points 2 months ago

I keep it on my desk next to huckleberry finn

[–] FunkyStuff@hexbear.net 26 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It really isn't. It's a fairly narrow criticism of non-literary media and vapid culture. It's not saying anything negative about the state, even, it only says that if people stop reading and stop valuing education culture is bound to get very shallow, people will be more easily manipulated, and history will be forgotten.

[–] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 16 points 2 months ago

Yeah that's kind what I expected tbh, saw it referenced today and was curious as I remember essentially nothing from it.

[–] 7bicycles@hexbear.net 15 points 2 months ago

Ray Bradbury is the only person to ever misunderstand his own art entirely. If you read it as Bradbury intended it's a 200 page facebook post about how liberals can't change their TV channel due to woke, but death of the autor him and it's a good piece of dystopian fiction

[–] propter_hog@hexbear.net 12 points 2 months ago

Grapes of wrath is good, can see it happening again soon honestly. Hated the ending, though. Super fucking creepy.

[–] miz@hexbear.net 10 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

not too clear on the details, but I remember discourse about how Guy Montag is inappropriately attracted to the teenage girl in the story

[–] D61@hexbear.net 2 points 2 months ago

nappropriately attracted

That does seem to be a requirement for sci-fi written by a certain generation of authors.

[–] JoeByeThen@hexbear.net 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Read Grapes of Wrath, it's commie propaganda. Inspired a great song too.

https://youtu.be/e9f-F1CAB24

[–] HexReplyBot@hexbear.net 1 points 2 months ago

I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:

[–] imogen_underscore@hexbear.net 8 points 2 months ago

451 is mid as hell and Bradbury is a fuckin weird crank. grapes of wrath is a masterpiece.

[–] TraschcanOfIdeology@hexbear.net 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Steinbeck is sick, my fav writer, hands down. Have a tattoo inspired by one of his books.

Grapes of wrath is really good. But, if you like long, intergenerational novels, East of Eden is imo his best work.

[–] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 months ago

East of Eden sounds sick af and I'll put it on my list

[–] Maturin@hexbear.net 5 points 2 months ago

Skip Fahrenheit 451 and watch Equilibrium instead

[–] hungrybread@hexbear.net 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Speaking of Grapes of Wrath, has anyone read Whose Names are Unknown ? https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/forgotten-dust-bowl-novel-rivaled-grapes-wrath-180959196/

I've read in at least 1 place that it's the better researched book, but haven't found the source after a short search.

[–] DasKapitalist@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 months ago

It's anti-woke