THE EARTH IS HOLDING ITS ORBIT

So, Borders is going out of business and Barnes and Noble may do the same. Is that handwriting I see on the wall? Could the day come when books are unavailable for purchase? Even forbidden by government? Everyone should read Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. That number is the temperature at which book paper burns. This story takes place in a society whose firemen—those heroic first responders—do not put out fires, but start them. They burn books.

Several steps to such a censoring of books would be necessary to get us there, but it is a possibility. We have among us an ever-increasing belligerent segment of inhabitants, who, with power, would dictate what we read. Cherish your books. As for Fahrenheit 451, it is a small book and certainly worth your time, if you have not read it, or even if you have. It made an excellent movie, too, with top actors.

♥