"It was intense and sometimes kind of dull because the content didn't change very quickly, but I really appreciate his artistic endeavor in doing this because it's a complex artistic statement," Reichert said. "He was supposed to have recited the whole thing in six hours without referring to the text … He really struggled to do what he set out to do, but I think the failure is more poignant that a simple six-hour recitation would have been."
The project was conceived as part of a class Robins is enrolled in called "Art and the Archive." Robins said he was especially interested in the idea of destroying archives, specifically book burning - a study that brought him to "Fahrenheit."
"I was always fascinated with how, at the end of the story, there's that group of book people living in the forest," Robins said. "I've been enchanted by that idea for so long and it seemed like something that didn't require waiting for a totalitarian regime that was burning all the books to do. It is, in its own right, a significant gesture to do even now."
KayleighRoberts2007@northwestern.edu
2008 Woodie Awards
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Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 14
HAHAHA
posted 3/03/08 @ 2:40 PM CST
What a self-indulgent, ridiculous thing to do. This is not news-worthy. He's interested in book burning? What exactly does his little attention ploy prove?
Though I guess we don't have to read another article about DM. (Continued…)
ted
posted 3/03/08 @ 6:15 PM CST
Hey Alex,
Knock em dead.
ted
Joe Killian
posted 3/03/08 @ 7:41 PM CST
Absolutely brilliant! Incredibly provocative in a way only the subliminally astute will comprehend. Compare him to the
`preservers of the Koran', those nutcases that spend their lives learning and reciting the Koran. (Continued…)
rogue_forest
posted 3/03/08 @ 8:31 PM CST
Actually, this method has been employed for thousands of years, even most of the Founding Fathers followed that method. Why? Because in the Bible; Joshua 1:8, God advises Joshua to recite the Bible. (Continued…)
what?
posted 3/03/08 @ 8:52 PM CST
yea moron, the greeks memorized poetry so extensively that they could quote and finish lines from poets fluently during conversation. not quite sure what you're getting at, but i'm sure no one's going to read your shitty book anyway so i guess that's not a problem
Damon
posted 3/03/08 @ 11:01 PM CST
Anyone who has ever met Alex Robins shouldn't be surprised by this episode of public intellectual masturbation. Exhibitionism for nerds. How profound. (Continued…)
Michael Simmons
posted 3/04/08 @ 8:42 AM CST
Good story. Way to go Alex. I remember that movie. Read the book. I think I'll try to get my teenage grandaughter (who thinks reading is for nerds) to see this . (Continued…)
Gregory Indelicato
posted 3/04/08 @ 3:22 PM CST
As a fervent fan of Ray Bradbury's classic cautionary tale, I salute Alex Robins' endeavor. Indeed, it was Political Correctness that inspired me to read, again and again,"Fahrenheit 451" and to adopt as my nom de guerre "Montag". (Continued…)
Angry Alumnus
posted 3/04/08 @ 4:06 PM CST
This should definitely help his job prospects during his post-grad life.
John Smallberries
posted 3/05/08 @ 2:09 PM CST
Could I recommend something the next time you tell one of your little stories? A point?!? Thankfully this guy was one of the people in 451 charged with such a task. (Continued…)
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