Can movies ignite desire to read?
Kathie Giorgio is a Waukesha fiction writer whose talk I enjoy. We have been having a lively discussion lately. It stems from “The Big Read,” the National Endowment for the Arts initiative “to restore reading to the center of American culture.” It goes something like this: GSJ: A movie? That doesn’t sound very “Big Read” to me. KG: The movie is just one of many, many events Waukesha is doing on “Fahrenheit 451.” The movie is being shown several times. It’s called the Fight for Freedom Film Festival and is sponsored by the Waukesha Public Library. There’s a professor from UW-Waukesha who has done a whole presentation on “Fahrenheit 451,” and she’ll be discussing the film – and the novel. GSJ: But Kathie, how many kids – especially kids who don’t read much – are going to read the book if they’ve seen the movie? KG: There are a lot of other events, too. We’re doing book discussion groups everywhere, and we’re sponsoring an out-loud reading of the entire book . . . I left the film issue al
