I think that Ray has inspired me by showing me just how valuble books really are in our lifes and how much our world would change if we did not have any books to read. Before i read fahrenheit 451 i took books for grantit and never even gave a single thought about what would change if we hadnothing to read any more. I after reading this book, i realize how dull and boring all our lifes would be if we only had telavisions and computers to provide us with entertainment

Resistance is indeed futile. You have just succumbed to the greatest living salesman on the planet. To sell the instant gratification generation on books is tougher than selling ice to eskimos.

If anyone questions Bradbury's place in literary history he need only to read your post. I know they don't keep stats for these kinds of things, but I'd bet that he is responsible for turning more people into lifelong readers and authors than any other author who ever lived. I participate at another discussion board which caters to SF authors and aspiring SF authors and nearly all of them list Bradbury as the one author who turned them on to it all, and this is Asimov's Discussion Forum I'm talking about.

He had the same effect on me some 26 years ago after reading his classic horror/fantasy novel SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES. If you're interested in reading more of his prescious books perhaps you should also try THE ILLUSTRATED MAN. It's a collection of short stories most of which(if not all) are science fiction. Those two books along with F-451 impacted me more than any I read before or since.

[This message has been edited by grasstains (edited 09-03-2004).]

Same effect on me when I read F451 in 9th grade. I came alive to ideas, and it has formed my life ever since.