I was given your name as the speaker of this quote or writer I might say. Is this true and where might I find it.

Rohn Federbushrohn@comcast.net

Hi Rohn, and welcome. Ray Bradbury doesn't visit this message board personally, but maybe someone will recognise the phrase. It doesn't ring any bells with me, I'm afraid. In fact, a Google search just leads me directly to your own web page!

When I read this post title, a metaphor jumped out of F451!

Recently, while reading aloud (for the final seminar of RB class) of Guy Montag's final plunge into his new world (brought about by the torching of his home and ultimately Capt. Beatty), I found myself marveling at this passage. I literally stopped and re-read the narration so as to highlight what I thought was a perfect Ray Bradbury moment, as far as style, character, and plot developments were concerned:

"And then he came to the parlor where the great idiot monsters lay asleep with their white thoughts and their snowy dreams. And he shot a bolt at each of the three blank walls and the vacuum hissed out at him. The emptiness made an even emptier whistle, a senseless scream. He tried to think about the vacuum upon which the nothingness had performed, but he could not. He held his breath so the vacuum could not get into his lungs. He cut off the terrible emptiness, drew back, and gave the entire room a gift of one huge bright yellow flower of burning."
F451, "Burning Bright" p117

So, what do we have, the Conscious Mind in the Void!?

Did Ray Bradbury ever read a translation of "On the Nature of Things" by Lucretius?

Rohn Federbush

I do not recall an essay or comment on the ancient work of Lucretius, but this may shed some light on his philosophy of being and living:
http://www.raybradbury.com/inhiswords02.html