back to article Fahrenheit 451 published as Bradbury finally succumbs to ebooks

Legendary science fiction writer Ray Bradbury has overcome his objections to ebooks and will start releasing some of his works in electronic form. The first book to be published is his seminal classic “Fahrenheit 451,” the 1953 tale of a dystopian future world where books are burned on sight and a literary underground fights …

COMMENTS

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  1. Richard Pennington 1
    Flame

    At what temperature does an ebook burn?

    Somehow burning ebooks on sight doesn't have the same feel to it.

    1. Thomas 4

      Read them on an iPhone 4

      They set fire to themselves. Most convenient.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        @Thomas 4 - They don't burn

        They just vanish silently at a click on a button. No forgotten copies left behind, not even the smallest trace. It's like they've never been written at all.

  2. banjomike
    Thumb Up

    Yay, Fahrenheit 451

    ... but he can keep The Martian Chronicles.

    I suppose blocking the release of his books for a few years will result in a huge, free, publicity bonanza for Bradbury.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    "Try burning bytes, fireman Montag"

    You don't even have to. You just revoke people's DRM keys.

    Or better yet, why burn at all? Just silently replace the words in the book with more politically correct ones.

    You could gradually rewrite all the classics to support your particular government.

    "We have always been at war with Eurasia, see it says so right here on my nook!"

    1. Jedit Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      An especially ironic example...

      ... given that Amazon deleted all those e-copies of 1984. How do you burn bytes? Kindle them, obviously.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Oh, the irony

    Why burn books when you can remotely just change the text and therefore the message?

    Or just delete them from existence.

    1. Velv
      Mushroom

      If we should have learned one thing about the Internet over the last few years it is that you CANNOT remove the original from the Internet. Once some, text, a picture, a video, whatever has been circulated then it will forever be residing somewhere.

      Ironic that the Internet and ebooks could be the very thing that ensures the "written" word lasts forever. Books may not be burned, but they to disintegrate over time. Digital media can be similarly corrupt, but ensuring the integrity is a lot easier and cheaper.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        End-user issue

        "If we should have learned one thing about the Internet over the last few years it is that you CANNOT remove the original from the Internet."

        "They" don't know that and will never bother to compare version A with version B. And when in the brave new future all that Joe Average will own will be a locked down tablet, the internet will be just whatever they get dished up to their increasingly locked-down and walled-garden device.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        @Velv - Yes, ebooks are going to last for ever

        but you'll only be able to read them as long as you will have the DRM keys. The moment those keys are revoked, your ebook stays on the Internet for ever but in an unreadable form. Get it ?

    2. Grease Monkey Silver badge

      "Why burn books when you can remotely just change the text and therefore the message?"

      Depends on which ebook reader you use and how you get your content on there really. If you use a reader where the retailer/publisher can mess with your content then more fool you.

  5. henchan
    Flame

    Now, I can use Farenheit 451 to Kindle a Fire.

  6. E Haines

    I believe Bradbury would object to the term "science fiction writer". Fantasy writer would be more accurate. He doesn't really do science.

    1. Tom 13

      Not even sure he even qualifies for Fantasy,

      but then I'm a hardliner on that. SF is about improbable but possible, Fantasy is about the impossible but rational-sounding*. So when writing Fantasy you get to break the rules at the start of the adventure, but once you've replaced the bit of physics you don't like with something you do, you have to strictly follow the new rules. Bradbury isn't very good at that, he sort of breaks them at will.

      *I think it was Sam Moskowitz who first wrote this distinction in one of his histories of SF, but I don't recall the precise wording or which book it was, although probably Explorers of the Infinite.

  7. disgruntled yank

    So, this would be

    Cyber Montag?

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I am not so sure about this.

    Bradbury's old skool style needs to be read from a dusty old paperback with the cover half hanging off for the full experience.

    Don't get me wrong, my battered PRS-600 does me sterling service, but just as some artists seem to sound better on vinyl I think Ray Bradbury reads better on paper.

  9. Mips
    Childcatcher

    Photo

    Ray Bradbury is looking pretty good for 91 years of age. Perhaps he knows something I don't. Did he find an elixir on Mars?

  10. Mips
    Childcatcher

    I could not quite get the hang of F 451

    But on the other hand I was only 14 years old when I read it. Now I can see if it is any better second time round.

  11. Mips
    Childcatcher

    Burn baby burn

    Celsius 233 does not have the same ring, now, does it?

  12. Ru
    Headmaster

    "It’s distracting, it’s meaningless; it’s not real"

    This is a curious sentiment from a *fiction* writer.

    I wonder if he tolerates radio, or TV.

  13. JeffyPooh
    Pint

    New market...

    Gee. I guess 'Fahrenheit 451' made-from-paper books were still flying off the shelves.

    Duh...

  14. Peter Simpson 1
    FAIL

    The "Illustrated" Man?

    Surely, The Invisible Man?

    1. Santa from Exeter
      Big Brother

      Nope

      The Illustrated Man - Ray Bradbury 1951, a collection of short stories

      The Invisible Man - H G Wells 1897, a novel

      Icon, 1984 - George Orwell, another bit of classic (Non) Science fiction

  15. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    “It’s a rare and wonderful opportunity to continue our relationship with this beloved and canonical author..."

    "Canonical author"? What does that even mean?! He's the official version of an author, endorsed by the creator of authors? My head hurts.

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