[Quark]

After my ragging post regarding mindless TV and the dumbing down of society, I got a hankerin' to read Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" again. Montag discusses the wall TV in depth. A wall TV cost $2,000 per wall, and one wall TV is one-third of Montag's annual pay. Further, a special device for the TV is a $100 item. The readers of 1950 were supposed to be totally "wowed" at the thought of a $2,000 TV and an additional $100 device. 1/3 of someone annual salary isn't something to scoff at, but then again, it isn't something to make one say, ! So what is the worth today, of $100 in 1950?

[Blue Dome]

http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

[oosik]

By the miracle of Google, $807.47 http://minneapolisfed.org/Research/data/us/calc/index.cfm I don't know what they base that on to verify if it is correct, though.

[sooperfly]

[Malachai Constant]

Gas was about $0.25/gallon now around $2.50 of course last year it was around $1.50

[Backpacker Joe]

It was worth 100.00 in 1950. You mean what was 100.00 in 1950 worth in TODAYS dollars?

[MCaver]

[Quark]

[Quark]

[MCaver]

1984 can be a little tough to get through. It would have made a better short story IMO, but its worth the time. Animal Farm is a 2 hour read for even slow readers like me. I never saw the Fahrenheit 451 movie, but the book is great. Make sure you read the original version, that has the non-Hollywood ending and the extra scene with the fire chief that got cut.

[Quark]

Yup, this is the non-movie version. The camera work in the movie reminds me of the camera work for North by Northwest. Wonder if they're the same Whatevers (I don't know who does what in cinema).

[MCaver]

There's two versions of the book too -- the version Bradbury originally wrote, and the one after he had to make changes to satisfy his publisher at the time. From what I remember, the two major changes were the cutting of a scene where he visits the fire chief's house and finds a surprise, and addition of a feel-good part at the end to satisfy readers of the day. I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it.

[Quark]

Funny (I mean funny-strange, not funny ha-ha) that a novel about extreme censorship gets censored. I didn't know this about 2 different versions! Looks like I have some investigatin' to do!

[MCaver]

I could have sworn I owned Fahrenheit 451, but there isn't a copy on my bookshelf. I distinctly remember that the forward of "my" copy was where Bradbury talked about the 2 different versions. It must have been a borrowed copy. Guess I'll be running to the book store soon. I want to read this again.

[touron]

The best thing about Animal Farm that I remember was that it was one of the shortest "classics" you could read. Heck, the Cliff Notes version was probably longer. Hmmm...maybe I should go back and read it in case I missed the message. Hmmm....maybe I already knew the message and was already applying it. All hikers are equal, but some hikers are more equal than others.