Well folks, it is time again for me to talk about the classic “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury.
The last time we talked about it was in January 2012 when I talked about how Bradbury’s thoughts on e-books evolved (The Temperature at Which the Kindle Burns). In the article I declared I would never buy “Fahrenheit 451” as an e-book. However neither I, nor Bradbury, have/had any hang ups about audio books and that is a very good thing because I have news.
Guess who has reached out to the little ol’ Magical Buffet? Audible.com. Oh yeah baby. And one of the many, many, many wonderful things they’ve let me in on to share with you is that there is a new audio book version of “Fahrenheit 451”. Who narrates you ask? Just Tim Robbins. As in Tim “Bull Durham, Mystic River, Shawshank Redemption” Robbins. I guess what I’m saying is, he’s got skills and yes, said skills do in fact pay the bills.
For those of you unfamiliar with “Fahrenheit 451” (how is that possible?), let me blurb you.
Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television “family”. But then he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn’t live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television. When Mildred attempts suicide and Clarisse suddenly disappears, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known. He starts hiding books in his home, and when his pilfering is discovered, the fireman has to run for his life. (Audible.com)
What does that sound like when Tim Robbins reads it? Haunting. Beautiful. Mesmerizing. Here, give this sample a listen:
You get your copy here.
Okay–THIS is cool. And clearly you are cool 🙂