Now, a Literary Moment...

In Ray Bradbury's classic novel Fahrenheit 451, people desperately try to protect books the government plans to burn. In one case, a secret society even memorizes great works in order to preserve them.

Novelist Orson Scott Card:

Orson Scott Card: It's kind of a beautiful moment, of course, when we realize that each of these people, holds inside his or her head, this or that book or work of literature. It makes us think, 'Ah, we are each of us are repositories.' And it's a good image for readers to hold--- 'I am this book and that book.' I wonder how many of those I would be able to bring out of memory and share with others?

Orson Scott Card sharing his impressions of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451

This Literary Moment was created by The National Endowment for the Arts.