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)

  • 7bicycles [he/him]
    ·
    22 hours 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

  • TraschcanOfIdeology [they/them, comrade/them]
    ·
    edit-2
    17 hours ago

    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.

  • Llituro [he/him, they/them]
    ·
    1 day ago

    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 [he/him]
      ·
      1 day ago

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

      • Llituro [he/him, they/them]
        ·
        1 day 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.

  • hungrybread [comrade/them]
    ·
    edit-2
    17 hours 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.

  • Maturin [any]
    ·
    18 hours ago

    Skip Fahrenheit 451 and watch Equilibrium instead

  • FunkyStuff [he/him]
    ·
    1 day ago

    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.

    • ComradeSharkfucker@lemmy.ml
      hexagon
      ·
      1 day ago

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

  • propter_hog [any, any]
    ·
    1 day ago

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

  • miz [any, any]
    ·
    edit-2
    1 day ago

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