Literature Chapter 1 - The Fun They Had

Written by Isaac Asimov, The Fun They Had, is a short story that first appeared in the year 1951 in a children’s newspaper. It is a light read, and the background of the story is set in the future. It is regarding school life and how students who do not go to school, miss it. Two students, Tommy and Margie, find out something about their school’s past. They do not like school and hate doing homework. Later, they find a ‘real book’ and they are astounded as have never seen such a thing. Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 1 is the first chapter in the CBSE class 9 English curriculum.

About the Author

Isaac Asimov was an American scholar and one of the most prolific writers of the 20th Century. He wrote on many genres and did not stick to just any one style. ‘The Fun They Had’, which is the Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 1 is one of the most famous fictional works written by him.

Summary

Tommy, a boy, found a ‘real book’ on 17th May 2157. He showed it to a girl named Margie, who was eleven years old. This was her first time seeing a real book. She had heard from her grandfather about it but had never seen one. The book that they got seemed to be an ancient one as the pages were yellow and wrinkled; they decided to read through it.

Tommy thought it was not anything essential and instead was a waste. In their time they did not have any printed books, rather only television screens where the books were flashed. He was an avid reader and had read more books on the screen than Margie.

Tommy told Margie that it was a book about a school. On hearing this, Margie wasn’t too happy as school was something she didn’t really like.
Her school was situated in a room next to her bedroom, at home. The teacher, in a mechanical fashion, appeared on the screen, at a fixed time every day, except Saturdays and Sundays; and Margie had to attend her classes all alone. This mechanical teacher asked her questions, gave her homework and checked it. It also reviewed the assignment test papers she submitted.

To know more about this story, refer to The Fun They Had NCERT Solutions. You can also view NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 1.