Day 23: Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll is a genius of nonsense fiction. “Wonderland” tells the story of a girl named Alice who falls down a hole into a strange world called Wonderland whilst chasing after a white rabbit. This is the epitomizing example of the nonsense genre in literature. Before “Alice” the art of creating meaningless and yet entertaining had never happened. Perhaps it never will again.

Day 4: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

You’ve probably read this already. If you haven’t, get out from under that damn rock, and check it out. It’s popular in many high school English curriculums. Unfortunately I was never made to read it in any of my classes. That sucked balls. Eventually I got around to it sometime in college and was exhilarated by his imaginative, energetic prose. The characters are dynamic and unforgettable. The story of a book-burning dystopian future highlights a bleak, tragic flaw in human nature. We choose to forget, we choose ignorance over truths; instant gratifications over meaning. Although published almost sixty years ago, this book is still widely relevant in our culture in the 21^st century.

In 1966, François Truffaut wrote and directed a film adaptation of the Fahrenheit 451 and two very closely adapted BBC Radio 4 dramatizations have aired since the book's publication in 1953. Also, I recently found signed Easton Press copies of this book on eBay. Once I have hundreds of dollars lying around, I know what I'm getting.