Big Read Program to promote reading for pleasure

Ray Bradbury’s vision of the future was a scary one indeed.

Of course, that’s the point of being a science-fiction writer, but in his classic “Fahrenheit 451,” Bradbury wrote about firemen who didn’t put out fires. Rather, they started them in order to burn books and suppress learning and knowledge.

The book is the centerpiece of a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)-supported program in February.

The Big Read, hosted by the University in partnership with several local organizations, will feature lectures, readings, art exhibits, theater productions, book discussion groups and film festivals featuring the themes of Bradbury’s 1953 novel.

Modeled on successful “city read” programs, The Big Read is a national program designed to encourage literary reading by helping communities come together to read and discuss a single book.

Area sponsors include the Department of English in Arts & Sciences, local governments, library districts, school districts, museums, arts and literacy organizations, the Regional Arts Commission, KTVI-2 and HEC-TV.

The Big Read is an initiative of the NEA in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest. The 2004 NEA report, “Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America,” identified a critical decline in reading for pleasure among American adults. The Big Read aims to address this issue directly by providing citizens with the opportunity to read and discuss a single book within their communities.

“With The Big Read, we want to get everyone in a community — from high school kids and office workers to public officials and senior citizens — reading a great book together,” said NEA Chair Dana Gioia. “Our goal is to get people talking about ‘Fahrenheit 451’ — with the same conviction that they debate the World Series.”

“Of the books on the NEA’s recommended list, ‘Fahrenheit 451’ is the one that most profoundly raises the all-important question of the utility of books,” said David A. Lawton, Ph.D., professor and chair of English.

“Now that the Internet presents a more fundamental challenge even than Bradbury’s fire to the continued viability of books, we will have an opportunity to explore the viability of books as well as other printed and electronic mediums and their roles in developing an informed and inquiring citizenry,” Lawton continued.

Lawton, who is spearheading The Big Read at WUSTL with Cheryl Adelstein, director of community relations, added: “The University and its partners are excited to facilitate public discourse on the themes of ‘Fahrenheit 451’ — censorship and the repression of knowledge. The ability to address these issues thoughtfully in public conversation is essential to the development of citizens who are engaged in their communities and in the pursuit of learning.”

Lawton will launch one of the first events in conjunction with the program when he speaks for the Assembly Series Jan. 24. His talk is titled “Burning to Read” and will be delivered at 11 a.m. in Graham Chapel. This is the first Assembly Series lecture of the spring semester. (The complete spring Assembly Series lineup will appear in the Jan. 25 issue of the Record.)

Jan. 26-27 will feature the Dystopic Numbers Film Festival at 7 p.m. each night in Brown Hall, Room 100. Screenings Jan. 26 will include the 28-minute film “La Jetée” (1962) by Chris Marker and François Truffaut’s “Fahrenheit 451” (1966). Jan. 27 screenings are “The Eyes of the Birds” (1983) directed by Gabriel Auer and “Ghost in the Shell 2” (2004) directed by Mamoru Oshii.

In February, The Kemper Art Museum will feature the exhibit “Reality Bites: Making Avant-Garde Art in Post-Wall Germany.” This exhibit explores the specific nature of art made in Germany since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. It focuses on a new generation of international artists working in Germany and addresses their varied attempts to challenge the relation between art and the everyday in the transformed society of post-Wall Germany. An education guide will supplement specific themes of “Fahrenheit 451.”

Feb. 13-14 will see Somali author Nurrudin Farah read selections from his work. He’ll read at 8 p.m. Feb. 13 in Holmes Lounge, Ridgley Hall and again at 11 a.m. Feb. 14 in a location to be determined, as part of the Assembly Series.

Farah has been called the greatest living African novelist. His works enthrall with hazards of life in his native Somalia and were banned there for years.

At 6:30 p.m. Feb. 16 at the Kemper Museum, there will be a staged reading from “Fahrenheit 451” featuring docent-led tours of the “Reality Bites” exhibit.

Los Angeles-based troupe The Actors Gang will perform George Orwell’s “1984” in Edison Theatre at 8 p.m. Feb. 16-17, including post-performance discussion on the worlds described by both Bradbury and Orwell.

To learn more about The Big Read and view a complete calendar of events, visit bigread.wustl.edu or call 935-4407.