By MELISSA CHAPMAN
Cataloging Supervisor, Warsaw Community Public Library

I was pleasantly surprised that this year’s Big Read novel is “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury. It is one of my favorites.

Bradbury’s terrifying vision of a future is a brilliant allegory that remains intelligent and pertinent even today. Last week the movie that was released in 1966 came across my desk and I decided to take it home and watch it.

Anyone who has read this classic understands that it is a glimpse into a future where all printed material is banned and the title, “Fahrenheit 451,” means it is the temperature at which paper burns.

Fireman Montag’s, played by Oskar Werner, job is to find and burn books that people may have hidden in their homes. Books are banned in this society because they make people unhappy. He lives in a police state in which the passions of the population are controlled by the all present television.

Montag has an unhappy wife, played by Julia Christie, who is a couch potato living life most of the time in front of the flat screen television. Christie also plays Clarisse, a rebellious book loving school teacher who encourages Montag to begin to question authority.

This isn’t really a film for people who aren’t willing to pay attention or who demand non-stop action. Most likely if you haven’t yet read the novel you will find the movie enjoyable. The special effects are hokey, but not too bad for 1966. One noteworthy thing in the movie is that all the opening credits are spoken instead of written.

I would love to see this movie remade. With today’s special effects this could be an action movie that could draw many viewers, both young and old.

For someone who has spent almost 30 years working alongside books I am mortified that Warsaw had its own “Fahrenheit 451” incident, two to be exact. The first in 1935 when Warsaw trustees ordered the burning of the library’s works of Theodore Dreiser. The second in 1977; “Values Clarification,” a high school text book, was removed and later burned by some senior citizens.

It’s sad to say that censorship is still very much alive in the world today. If you’d like to join the community in the Big Read, come to the Warsaw Community Public Library and check out the movie or novel by Ray Bradbury, or any other novel by this talented author. You won’t be sorry.