Graphic novel of 'Fahrenheit 451' sparks Bradbury's approval

[RamboLiberal]

Fifty-six years after Ray Bradbury wrote the first draft of Fahrenheit 451 in nine days — it came like an "explosion" of words, he says — his science-fiction classic is being reissued today as a graphic novel.

"It's beautiful," says Bradbury, who turns 89 on Aug. 22, and harbors hopes that a new movie version will be made in his lifetime of a future in which literature is banned and firemen burn books.

Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation by illustrator Tim Hamilton (Hill and Wang, $30 hardcover, $16.95 paperback) follows François Truffaut's 1966 film, stage and radio productions and a video-game version. The title refers to the temperature at which books burn.

Bradbury wrote an introduction to the latest adaptation, but otherwise, "I didn't interfere."

Speaking by phone from his Los Angeles home, he imagines "someone giving it to a 10-year-old kid who then wants to read the original novel. That's what good graphic novels can do. They can make you read more."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2009-08-02-bradbury-fahrenheit-451-graphic-novel_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

[WheelWalker]

1. What a great story. Bradbury is genius.

[frylock]

2. look forward to reading it

[litlady]

3. A classic book, must have read it a half dozen times when young. Looking forward to this edition. nt

[RebelOne]

4. Ray Bradbury has always been my favorite SF writer.

However, I think "The Martian Chronicles" is his best novel.

[Sequoia]

5. Same here.

Expect if you read the newer version a lot has been changed (the years) and some chapters are no longer there (the one where the blacks laugh how the white guys are leaving...praise be to god..no more Jim Crow).

[libguy9560]

6. Fahrenheit 451 is a true classic

Therefore, I look forward to reading this graphic novel.

[Onceuponalife]

7. I read an exerpt of the graphic novel recently in Playboy

and it's terrific. I didn't know it would be a whole graphic novel. Can't wait to buy it!