Week 16: What book would you memorize to save it from being forgotten?

[Liz]

Over the next month, the 7 Cities of Hampton Roads are celebrating our freedom to read with Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. You may have noticed that one of the prompts on the BINGO card was to read Fahrenheit 451 during March, in preparation for this event. Don't worry if you didn't get to it; feel free to read it later this year.

Bradbury's classic tale imagines the world as a place where books are dangerous and outlawed. Firefighters set fires rather than put them out, and they burn books to "protect" the people from dissent. The characters in the novel must memorize books to preserve them and ensure they are never forgotten.

In the spirit of Fahrenheit 451 I now ask you what book would you choose to memorize in order to save it?



As always, please share what you are reading this week, as well!

[Ann]

I would like to be able to say I would memorize The Lord of the Rings, but I'm not sure I could memorize it. But I could memorize one or two of Shakespeare's plays perhaps, or a book of poetry. In high school, I had to memorize the first 18 lines of the Prologue to Canterbury Tales (in Middle English), and in college I had to memorize 50 lines of Shakespeare (2 speeches and a sonnet).
I finished listening to Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, and am now listening to The Harlequin by Laurel K. Hamilton (at home), and The Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters (in the car). I'm currently between books, but am going to check out Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman and read that.

[Liz]

I hadn't really thought about poetry, Ann! But it makes a lot of sense. It's probably easier to memorize poems than a full-length novel.

[Chris]

I would probably memorize the complete Chronicles of Narnia. Viewed as an entire epic, it feels like a classic that would stand the tests of time and be relevant to all generations.

This past week I dipped my literary foot into the first two Sherlock Holmes stories. I think popular culture has put Sherlock Holmes on such a large pedestal, I had very high expectations of the novels. I have still been enjoying them, and reading through the classics has given me a deeper appreciation for the many re-imaginings that are aired today.

[Jodie]

This question makes me think of the movie "The Book of Eli" starring Denzel Washington. Memorizing texts seems so overwhelming but would be necessary in a world where books are no longer valued and considered dangerous. I remember having diffficulty memorizing the preamble to the Constitution, but if you have the motivation (the loss of great thought), you would do what you had to to ensure future generations had access.

[Julie]

I have contemplated this all week, and I STILL don't know what book I would choose!

[Liz]

Jodie, you make a great point. Without a doubt, I think humans would do what they needed in order to preserve important documents, stories and texts.

[Ann]

Or reinvent illuminated manuscripts? Secret libraries?

[Liz]

All of the above! Secret library societies!!

[Candis]

I would memorize One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.