Erich Wanker

What are you reading, Mr. Wanker?

Biochemist Erich Wanker studies neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease. When we asked him for a reading recommendation, he was enthusiastic: He chose a dystopic novel from the 1950s, which later served as the basis for a film by François Truffaut.

I have just finished reading Ray Bradbury's “Fahrenheit 451.” It's a science fiction classic from 1953. The book is a dystopia in which a totalitarian system aims to destroy a society’s wealth of knowledge and culture by burning all the books.

Montag, the main character, works for the fire department. However, they do not fight fires; they start them. Montag and his colleagues are called when someone reports a collection of books and burn them, or even the whole house, with flamethrowers. The number 451 is written on the helmets of the “firemen”; it is the temperature in Fahrenheit at which paper spontaneously ignites. That’s about 230 degrees Celsius.

The people in this society hardly speak to each other and live in a kind of inner emigration. They are distracted and entertained by large television screens on as many walls of their homes as possible. A constant stream of superficial, often brutal entertainment is broadcast. The war that the country is facing is not addressed.

Montag, who is loyal to the system, enjoys his work at the flamethrower. Nevertheless, he begins to doubt his actions after a series of experiences. Clarisse, a new acquaintance, introduces him to the beauty of art and poetry and wants to know whether he is actually happy. He is surprised and confused by the question, but begins to reflect on his life.

When a woman lets herself be burnt along with her books and her house in protest against the system, he starts to wonder even more. His superior notices his doubts. In the meantime, Montag has started to secretly take books from his missions.

Montag gets to know Faber, an old professor who lives in seclusion and has withdrawn from the world of screens. He tells Montag that there are dissidents living outside the city.

The next mission Montag is called to is the burning of his own house. Montag is forced to follow the order. However, when his boss tells him that Faber is to be next, Montag kills his commander with the flamethrower. From then on, he is on the run. He makes his way to Faber, who shows him the way to the other outlaws. The dissidents take him in. They memorize books to save their cultural heritage from destruction. They want to wait for the downfall of the autocracy in order to make the rescued works accessible again.

The book anticipates many current issues. The constant bombardment of television images today is called “excessive media consumption” or “too much screen time.” The dissemination of superficial and false content to manipulate opinions is the subject of public debate. A mechanical dog, programmed with thousands of scents, is used to track Montag on his escape. Here Bradbury foresees the risks of modern robotics and AI.

Montag’s pursuit is broadcast live and viewers are asked to help. News channels following police operations, with or without helicopters, became a reality in the 1980s. The idea was later taken up by films such as “The Hunger Games.”

What Ray Bradbury perhaps did not foresee was a world where access to books would not have to be limited because social trends would reduce interest in reading. The recent digitization of reading material would also perhaps surprise him.

In the epilogue, Bradbury mentions that he wrote the novel in the basement of the University of California, Los Angeles, on rental typewriters. For ten cents, he could type for 30 minutes. Because he didn’t yet make a living from writing, he had to work very quickly. This anecdote touched me because I did my postdoc at UCLA, but more than 40 years after Fahrenheit 451 was written. Then, the library already had colour screens.

 

Erich Wanker

 

Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451. Paperback. HarperCollins