Imagine this: Fahrenheit 451 becomes a reality. Books are illegal. The firemen are coming to burn your secret stash of literature; you become a fugitive from the law, carrying just one precious book. Which book would you take?
Can’t decide? Neither can I.
On the one hand, a practical book seems the way to go. Something like a wilderness survival guide, or the Boy Scout Handbook. But wait–the society in F451 has the technology to put wall-sized television screens in every home, not to mention design a Mechanical Hound that can be programmed to sniff out and euthanize a target by electronic memory. I doubt anyone will need to rub two sticks together to make fire.
On the other hand, the latest bestsellers might not be the best choice, either. Genre fiction makes for wonderful escapism, but memorizing any one individually would be like having a sitcom theme song stuck in one’s head. If I’m going to preserve an entire book by memory, even for the good of society, I want it to be as interesting on the one-hundredth read as on the first. It should be one I’d want with me on a desert island, something refreshing to the mind and spirit, like a bottomless jug of cool water. In this category I’d choose maybe The Time-Traveler’s Wife or Prodigal Summer.
But what about the benefit to society? Surely the chosen book must offer some hope and support for the future. The dark age of censorship will end and society will need a structure on which to rebuild. Maybe something from the nation’s Founding Fathers would be useful, or perhaps the writings of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. For moral guidance, many would choose the Bible, but what about other religions?
Or maybe we need literature from other times and places. The new society will need ways to connect with other cultures. How about The Kite Runner, or the works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Isabel Allende? And as the saying goes, those who forget history are destined to repeat it. Let’s save books about American and world history.
We can’t forget the warning novels, either–futuristic dystopias of society gone wrong, like Orwell’s 1984 or Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Nor do we want to leave out the controversial books that teach us that we can speak out, even disagree at times, and that society will be stronger with each individual voice.
And what about the children’s books? We would have no readers at all if not for young people who find adventure and excitement in books like the Harry Potter series.
I don’t think I could choose just one book to save. Luckily I’m a librarian, so I get to save all of the books, every day.
North Regional Branch Library customers would save a wide variety of books including the Bible, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Golden Compass, The Giver, A Fine Balance, A Wrinkle in Time, and Fahrenheit 451. Look for a complete list at the library’s Big Read display throughout the month of April, and comment online at www.cumberland.lib.nc.us.
Which book would YOU save?
