Mr. Bradbury was the first person to teach me the true value of books, with the assistance of my 11th grade English teacher. This nun was amazing, having required reading as Farenheight 451, Lord of the Flies, Sidhartha, and several other books that many high schools now censor.

I had always been an avid reader since I first learned to read, visually consuming books as though I were a man starving. I valued stories for their ability to remove me, for a time, from my small life and engage me in adventures I never thought possible: standing side by side with the Scarlet Pimpernel, peering behind the Forgotten Door, falling in love with a Yearling.

However, when I was 16, my English teacher handed us Farenheight 451. My fellow students and I were incredulous that anything as portrayed in this story would contain even the remotest sense of reality. That response was exactly what she had hoped for, the knowing smile on her face, the glint in her eye as she sent one of the girls to man the projector while she turned off the lights.

No one in America seems to want to teach youngsters about the horrors endured or perpetrated by decent people; McCarthyism and the near-destruction of our Constitution, the world wars, the Civil Rights struggle, even Vietnam, glossed over by well-meaning teachers. Not the nuns at St. Joseph's Academy. History, English, Science, and Math teachers alike were hell-bent, so to speak, on making sure we knew the consequences of thought and action, showing us what happened after when the atomic bomb dropped, having us read Dr. Einstein’s own words of horror having brought this destruction to the world's doorstep.

Which leads me back to the value of books. This amazing woman for whom I will always regret forgetting her name wanted us to understand the truth of books and so made us watch book-burnings occurring not just in Germany, but in our own backyards. We were shocked. Didn't the First Amendment guarantee free speech? And then came the real question: Why would someone want to burn a book? It's just a story, isn't it?

She picked apart our questions and asked us how we felt after reading the book, and then after learning that its moral was true. She then explained to us that books are ideas and ideas, right or wrong, can frighten small people, while bad ideas can manipulate and imprison the uneducated and anyone who was never allowed to have an idea of his own. She and the other nuns were determined that we would not fall into that category and so taught us to think and question and pry open the truth where it is hidden so as not to be pulled into the traps laid by unhappy people with unhappy lives that want us all to live according to their ideas when the ideas are obviously not working for them (or otherwise, wouldn't they be happy?).

After that pivotal lesson, I reread Farenheight 451, this time with an understanding and maturity before lacking. Since then, I have read nearly everything Mr. Bradbury has offered, along with other equally profound authors such as Shakespeare, Clarke, Tolkein. Regardless of my poverty while raising four young children, my house was filled with books. Because of Mr. Bradbury, even the hurricane which took part of my roof and ruined many of our books could not make me throw them away; besides being poor, these books, ruined pages or no, were treasures. The words were not destroyed, just the covers. The pages were swollen and wrinkled but still quite readable. My children knew Walt Whitman, Dante, Shakespeare, all as personally as if they had been standing there in our living room chatting with us.

My youngest developed a passion for Shakespeare, particularly Romeo and Juliet. When she was 11, the Leonardo DeCaprio movie came out and of course, like all prepubescent girls, HAD to see it. She came out of the theatre enraged. Why? Because they had changed the lines and switched who said what: the Montagues said the Capulets lines and visa versa. Quite amusing to see the shocked looks on other parents' faces that such a young child didn't just know of Romeo and Juliet, but knew it intimately. When we got home, I handed her Farenheight 451 and then explained how ideas get twisted in small ways, ways that the public would say, "What's the big deal?", as a frog in boiling water: Place a frog directly in boiling water, and it will immediately jump out, but place it in cool water and then heat the water to boiling, and the frog will not move and hence die.

In this day we are witness to the “tyranny of the majority" as well as the tyranny of the minority. Proponents of the truth are roundly attacked and called "unpatriotic" while the so-called patriots engage in anything from petty fraud to outright disrespect of anything non-Christian to depravity. Who stands as a shining light in the midst of the darkness? Ray Bradbury was my light, and because of him and my 11th grade English teacher, I passed that light onto my own children. My hope is that the Bradburians of the world can prevent the darkness from overtaking the light and perhaps, one day, that light may obliterate the darkness once and for all.

Thanks for giving me an excuse to post the words that J. Robert Oppenheimer quoted from the Bhagavad Gita on witnessing the first atomic bomb: “I am become death, the shatterer of worlds.”

I just felt like posting that.

pflick,
I truly appreciated that bit about your English teacher. I have a similar experience. Luckily my was when I was much younger so I have had my appreciation and yearning for the written word since I was younger and was, therefore, always eager to read those required books in school! Mine deals with my Mother. My Mom is quite dislexic and hates reading because of its difficulty for her. However, she always wanted my brother, sister, and me to love reading. So, she suffered through when we were young and constantly read to us. She showed what love was all about. Her love for us and wanting us to enjoy rich lives full of knowledge enabled her to read to us when we could not read. Later in life, when I understood her sacrifice, I began to read to her instead! I wanted to return the favor. I wanted my Mother to enjoy "reading" (really listening to literature) as I did because of her. Every day (when it was nice enough) we walked from our little house right outside Philidelphia to the library about 1/2 a mile away. We sat for hours reading in the library, checked out books, walked home and sat for MORE hours reading outside. When it was rainy, we pulled out a book that we had recently checked out, and read more. To this day, I love reading and I will read almost anything. I read literature and learn about life in a way not possible without the profound words of my favorite authors. I read "brain candy" to relax and have fun but not have to think! I have kept my anthologies from College Composition classes so that I can read the selections over and over. Eventually...I will run out of writing room in those volumes because of all the notes I write to myself for the next time I revisist the profound works!

As for the nuns who so influenced you to think about life and reading in such a new way, I feel that those who have God, really understand that life is rough and we can't shelter ourselves from it. But that we must embrace the hardships to learn from them. I think that if we taught our children the truth about what has happened in this country, and others, that they will be able to make better choices in their lives. I do agree with Emily Dickinson's words in "Tell all the Truth but tell is slant." She says that we need the truth but somtimes, we can't handle it all at once. Therefore, we must tell it gradually so that we may truly understand the gravity of whatever the situation! Societies reactions to...life have always angered me. We sugarcoat things and try to simply make them disappear. My favorite song is one by DC Talk entitled, "Socially Acceptable." They talk about the fact that America's time is running out and that we need to truly accept God and turn to Him for guidance rather than to society. It asks that people ask who's opinion they are listening to and justify their actions by what society wants. It says that blaming troubles on anything but one's own denial of God is the cause of all wrongs committed in this world. "Human rights have made the wrongs okay. Something's missing and if you're asking me, I think that something is G.O.D." That is so simple but so profound. These are the truths that I believe Bradbury is trying to get us to embrace as well. He discusses so pretty tough stuff but, he does not sugarcoat or expect us to ignore him. We need to step it up and teach the next generation what is right and what is true even though it may be tough to do so. Okay...I am finished now, thanks for listening to my rant!

I should note that I am neither Christian nor monotheistic; I am Buddhist. I found your God to be insufficient for me as he did not embrace all people, depending on your braind of monotheism. I realize that there have been drastic changes in the churches in the past few decades; I also see how fanatacism has grown out of such beliefs. I have only heard of one fanatical Buddhist, and he was rejected as such for his teachings of violence since Lord Buddha strictly taught against such things except in defence of one's person.

As I said, my love of books came very young; it was the <i>understanding</i> of their power that did not come until I met this wonderful woman at St. Joseph's. My mother taught me how to use a dictionary and bought me my first encyclopedias when I was almost six years old because she couldn't keep up with my extraordinary curiosity. My favorite question was, "What did you learn today?"

"I found your God to be insufficient for me..."

Is there but One!

I have read and considered Zen Buddism for many years. I have an extensive library on a wide range of related topics. My daily activities may even reflect those philosophies more than I realize, since I refrain from tallying the score. I'm not as well versed as you, I'm sure! Yet, to open your statement in such a manner seems, to me, a bit put off by a very large portion of the world's population.

The book "A Taste of Water" by Chwen Jiuan A. Lee and Thomas G. Hand has been especially enlightening and fulfilling to my life's views. Then again, the life of Francesco de Assisi has always served as guideline for my meager efforts. Christian values and those of Zen really do not conflict. Rather, in their truest sense reinforce.

Time to dig out "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis again. It's available, by the way, on tape read beautifully by Michael York. Which reminds me - one of the best audiobooks is John Cleese (late of Monty Python) reading Lewis' "Screwtape Letters".

Braling, a fan of Lewis as well! Have you read A Pilbrim's Progress? It is as good a read as the others are.

pflick, I apologize for my assumption. You were discussing a rather Christian/Catholic experience, therefore, I thought that you were of that belief. I am glad that you had such an experience with books and that particular nun. I feel the need to defend "my God" as you so put His name. My God is a God of mercy and justice. He created people and has dominion over us. Because He has dominion over His people, He created laws for us to live by. Just as a loving and caring parent sets boundaries for his or her offspring, so God sets for His. God does accept all people...or at least, He accepts all people who come to His outstretched arms! If we are to be true followers of the ONE and ONLY GOD, then there is only one "braind" of monotheism. God accepts ALL those who come to Him when He calls and loves them all equally and unconditionally...much like loving and caring parents do their children (creation). For now, I am finished defencing "my God." Again, thank you for reading my rant.

Pflick,

Oh, my. So much to respond to. But I’ll give it a try:

1.) High schools aren’t censoring any books. There may be some give and take between parents groups and high school officials but almost all books are available in some library some place or even, get this, for purchase, if one should desire to shell out the money. To restrict a reading list is not censorship.

2.) Teachers in America are only too willing to teach about the topics you speak of. In fact, some argue the pendulum has swung too far one way in that it seems academia seems hopelessly tilted to the left. “Enlightenment” (I know, my word, not yours.) isn’t restricted to only the good teachers of St. Joseph’s Academy.

3.) Book burnings in our own backyard? Sure, there have been some mis-guided group who’ve tried but none sponsored, or ordered, by any government, like in Nazi Germany. And, no, as a matter of fact, the First Amendment doesn’t guarantee all speech. The most often used example is yelling fire in a crowded movie house. That’s not protected speech. Nor is speech, or writing, or movies depicting or advocating sexual relations with children. So, yes, some speech is harmful. And some stories aren’t just stories.

4.) Funny how you find that only proponents of truth are called unpatriotic and those “so-called” patriots commit a wide variety of crimes. Is it possible the reverse happens as well? Could unpatriotic people commit crimes and “so-called” patriots be proponents of truth?

5.) I’m sorry you don’t embrace God but I’m glad to hear you’re a Buddhist. I share fjp451’s view in that I don’t believe my Christian values and your Buddhist values are mutually exclusive. And since I believe God is perfection, He can’t possibly fail to embrace all people. Certainly those of us who aren’t God lack perfection but that doesn’t mean we aren’t supposed to try.

I’m glad you’ve come to this site. It’s clear you’re a fellow lover of Bradbury and books and have strong feelings and beliefs about many things. But I think some of your thinking may lack clarity and I offer the above comments in the spirit of friendly discussion.

Best,

Pete

Please refrain from trying to convert me. I respect your beliefs in a single god, so please respect that I do not. I did not start this post as either attack or preach, but rather on the impact that Mr. Bradbury has had on my life. To be quite honest, although I am Buddhist, I am very much moved by Zenna Henderson's reference to the great Love and Power as the Presence. If you do not know who Zenna Henderson is, I would highly recommend her stories of the People. If you do know her writing, then you can understand my own feelings. There is something about the Presence that thrums beneath the surface, something that is so much greater than any god I've encountered. That does not contradict my saying that I am not monotheistic since all is one. If you've ever studied the Hindu gods and goddesses, not just the myths, you learn that each represents a part of the whole. But I am not interested in preaching, either receiving or giving. And I'm much too old to argue with. So don't.

And Pete, there have been local government sponsored, or at the least, encouraged, book burnings in different locales, especially during WWII. Anything written in German was considered evil; that was after being convinced that anything Jewish was evil. And as for Federally sponsored, I'd say that McCarthyism was the equivalent of book burning with the US Constitution used as kindling. Movies are of little difference to books.

Also in reference to the teaching, I was remarking about when I was growing up. So I should say that I'm nearly 50. I was terribly naive and believed all the wonderful things that the history books told us, not realizing that there were portions of history either not told us or "reshaped". I also did much of my growing up in Pennsylvania and was sent to Catholic school for most of my life, but they really tiptoed around many major recent events. Civil Rights was a hot issue, as was women's rights. I believe that a lot of the lack was avoidance more than anything.

And lastly, oh yes they are! I was part of a fight many years ago when my daughter attended Norristown High School after she wanted to get a book from the school library. She was able to get it, with permission (a comprehensive Walt Whitman, so you would understand the need for permission), but the librarian also sent her home with a note for me. Surprise (or really, not); some parents decided that some of the material was inappropriate for high-school children and shouldn't be allowed. On their list? That horrid, vulgar, nearly pornographic -- gasp! -- TOM SAWYER!!! Omygod! This books was successfully "removed from the seventh grade curriculum in the West Chester, Pa. schools (1994) after parents complained that it is too full of racially charged language". We actually prevented that from happening in the high school prior to 1994. "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" was "removed in Wild Rose, Wis. (1974) by a district administrator for being 'slanted.' The administrator also said 'if there's a possibility that something might be controversial, then why not eliminate it.'" Want more? I love this particular site: http://www.forbiddenlibrary.com/

I've been around too long to not know my history or current events, and I'm still a youngster. Ray Bradbury has much to teach me yet. With each reading, I seem to glean something more and I build upon that wonderful foundation he started. And please, peace to all. I do not intend any displeasure, just wonderful, intelligent, discourse.

... and one quick note: Farenheight 451 was actually censored as well. This, in 1992: "Ironically, students at the Venado Middle School in Irvine, Calif. received copies of the book with scores of words--mostly "hells" and "damns"--blacked out." (http://www.forbiddenlibrary.com)

Take heart, pflick! Your comments got me thinking. Thus:
Animal Farm, F451*, Hamlet*, Julius Caesar, MacBeth*, Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet*, All Quiet on the Western Front, Childhood's End, Brave New World*, My Antonia, Tales of Mystery and Horror*, Illustrated Man, Night, Lord of the Flies*, Major World Poets, To Kill a Mockingbird*, Frankenstein*, Martian Chronicles, Time Machine, Grapes of Wrath*, Ancient Mythology (Hamilton), Death of a Salesman, Giver*, Outsiders*, Crucible*, Short Stories (continually), Hobbit & Fellowship*, Dandelion Wine, West Side Story*, Of Mice and Men*, When the Legends Die, Wrinkle in Time*, Yearling, Flowers for Algernon*, Good Earth, Pearl*, Jekyll & Hyde, Huck Finn*, Sun Also Rises, Siddhartha, Separate Peace*, Gatsby, Lonesome Dove, Alas Babylon.

These are some of the major titles being taught by our dept(9-12). The * indicates challenged or banned status - at one time or another. These are all uncensored, original editions. We find the subject matters inspire, provoke, challenge, and, yes, entertain. As for those in the * category, we do not offer them because they are edgy or because we have an intent to push an agenda, but simply they have great (classic) themes often not addressed in contemporary HS English classes. For that matter, many colleges have gone to "pop" topic degrees. Shakespeare, Twain, Cather, London, et al have become "Who?". Then, the sheep skin has been handed over and soon a newly stamped teacher stands is front of thirty students as the fall semester begins. Oh, I vent...

In agreement, Mr. Bradbury has inspired me the greatest in my love of reading, writing, and teaching! The trick?! "To Pass It On!"

Pflick,

Thanks for your response. Here’s my rebuttal: (Yeah, it’s long winded and, unfortunately, there’s precious little about Bradbury in it. I’d skip it if I were you.)

1.) Would you be kind enough to point out to me exactly where it was that I was trying to convert you? Let’s see, I said I was glad you were a Buddhist but I pointed out that, because God embodies perfection, He is incapable of a failure to embrace all people, as you allege. Therefore, you, as an imperfect being (an assertion I’m sure you’ll agree with since you are, self-admittedly, on the path of enlightenment but have not yet attained that state) are mistaken in your assertion of God. It sounds like your quarrel should more properly be with the followers of God rather than God Himself. I fail to see that as an attempt at conversion. Aren’t Buddhists, generally, a little less sensitive to such attempts?

2.) I’ll go along with you for a minute about local government sponsoring or, at least, encouraging book burnings during World War II. (I notice even you back off a bit by the use of the word “encouraged.” Surely you’ll agree “encouragement” is somewhat below “forcing by mandate.”) (And I’m not sure I can follow you when you say “anything written in German was considered evil; that was after being convinced anything Jewish was evil.” An accusation of anti-Semitism demands a specific example.) If such things happened, you’ll concede this was during a time of war and emotions ran high. Clearly, such occurrences were not on the scale of those in Nazi Germany. I don’t advocate book burnings but I don’t get too hepped up about ‘em either. There are always going to be people who think a book should be burned but, overall, and in America, those kinds of things are quite rare and not indicative of a larger trend. Oh, but what about the slippery slope? Once one book burning occurs, surely more will occur and then before you know it, we are like Nazi Germany. Please. That might make for mildly interesting cocktail party conversation but I’ll got out on a limb and say in a free and open society, where just about anything goes, there’s no danger of something like that happening. At all.

And about the McCarthy hearings: That’s a stretch, isn’t it, comparing legal hearings to that of book burnings? The Constitution as kindling? Hello? It was HUAC, with the H standing for the House of Representatives, in session after being suspended during World War II. There was nothing un-Constitutional about it. In fact, when the infamous Hollywood 10 refused to testify, as required by law, they were convicted not for being Communists or even for holding radical ideas that would surely rip the very fabric of society apart but rather for the more mundane offense of contempt of Congress. Yawn. (Ironic, isn’t it, that when given the opportunity to actually exercise their right of free speech, they committed a crime by refusing to do so. Maybe there’s a Bradbury story in there somewhere. . .) Yes, “Movies are of little difference to books” but I’m not quite sure what you’re getting at. Are you saying McCarthyism was an attempt at suppressing the free expression of ideas through movies? If so, what ideas were those? You mean, maybe, Communism? Well, yes, HUAC was charged with looking into the infiltration by Communists of various institutions, including the movie industry. Turns out, Communists HAD infiltrated these institutions. Imagine that. (And the supporters of the Hollywood Ten realized, and admitted in public, they’d been duped.) And, yes, from the safety of our perspective, such fears seem quaint today but at the time, following WWII, Communism was a very real threat. We weren’t threatened with nuclear annihilation by Buddhists but I’d say, if we had been, the government would have a compelling interest to investigate just how much influence Buddhists might be having and if they were a threat. (You’ll remember, too, that the infamous “blacklist” was a creation not of government but of private individuals. Way to stand by those radical, free-thinkers, Hollywood!) So I disagree that McCarthyism was out to quash the creative genius known as Hollywood but let’s say it was: The movie industry flourished and continues to do so. Looks like that free and open society thing I mentioned wins again. Imagine.

3.) We’re only a few years apart in age but I have no memory of kind of teaching you mention. You state your Catholic school tiptoed around many controversial subjects but at the same time, wasn’t this the same school that introduced you to the joys of reading? So maybe your school didn’t teach you everything you think you needed to know (School curriculums are notoriously behind the times and are constantly fought over. I don’t see that as a suppression of ideas but rather a result of the shaping process. By the time the give and take is over with, many “hot” topics are no longer that. Which is a good thing, I guess, in that curriculums are less subject to the whims of what’s popular but not enough for me. I’m one of those who thinks we should stick to the classics. Oh, but what are the classics? That, my friend, will have to be the subject of another post.) but you were given the tools to acquire that knowledge. And if that knowledge was out there to be acquired, I don’t see how it was suppressed. So your school didn’t teach you everything that now, in hindsight, you should have been taught. Somehow you overcame that systemic oppression. Another score of our free and open society.

4.) I did, indeed, visit http://www.forbiddenlibrary.com and I thank you for the reference. Yes, very interesting. The proprietor of the site appears to be on the board of the Michigan Library Association and much, if not all, of the material seems culled from the American Library Association. I Googled both of the stories you mentioned and got only an echo chamber of hits referring to this site and other sites referring back to the ALA. My point is not that these stories aren’t true – there’s no lack of stories to be had of us hicks in the sticks wanting one book or the other taken off of school library shelves – but that the ALA dines out on these kinds of stories and it’s in their best interests to make sure these stories get out there and stay out there. Thus, this kind of presentation skews the phenomenon into something that’s widespread and just about ready to take the republic under if it weren’t for the brave folks at the ALA. (And the one story about Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is from 1974! Geez. If there isn’t, there should be a statute of limitations on stupidity.) And another point is that I’m not entirely sure you actually disagree with the underlying principle, or my real point: schools, and parents, have a say about what kind of books are available to children in their libraries. You seem to have had no problem with your daughter’s librarian sending a note home to you about Walt Whitman so you might agree that there are, in fact, some books, and material, inappropriate for certain ages. Yet you find something wrong with citizen’s being offended by some of the language in Tom Sawyer. (I don’t know what your pornographic reference is to but in my neck of the woods the objection is to racially charged language. And the book is Huckleberry Finn. Now, you and I know Huck Finn is a great work of American art but not everyone agrees. Should it be taken off the shelves? No, I’d say not. But I think parents who are offended by the book should have a say. Wouldn’t you agree?) Yes, yes, it’s ironic that F-451 has had certain words blacked out. (I don’t recall that many, if any, hells or damns in the darn book.) But that’s expurgitization, not censorship.

Take the last word on this and then let’s move on before we’re admonished to keep our postings more Bradbury-related.

Best,

Pete

pterran, you thought I was suggesting that you wanted to convert me. No, that wasn't the case at all. I was making a note to anyone who would read this post (man, this is getting pretty funny), but don't you know, I just opened up an email from a Ms. Williams saying that she hoped her god would forgive me because I obviously didn't know what I was saying. And so it begins. No, I'm not sensitive, but I was trying to stave off what I should have known was inevitable as soon as I mentioned I wasn't a Christian. Silly me.

And I'm certain that this is going to bring on a maelstrom, but I used to be a born-again Christian. Guess that means I'm going to hell. Well, at least I'll be in good company. Oh, now, close your mouths. I'm not attacking people's beliefs, nor am I condemning anyone.

I'm not going to bother with the whole history thing because a) everything is out there for you to do your own research, and b) it's late. But I will say this: McCarthy was hell-bent on getting Communists by any means. Yes, he was more than willing to step on the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion, speech, and all the wonderful things that Bush is trying to eliminate. Many people who were blacklisted were not Communist. One movie, "High Noon" starring Gary Cooper, was a huge dig at what was happening at the time. I see little difference between book burning, censoring, or what McCarthy did because it all has the same effect: it is all suppression of an idea and where ideas are suppressed, tyrrany is terribly close by.

And lastly, about the school: I'm not THAT old! What, do you think I was raised in a one-room schoolhouse? Good grief, man. There were elementary schools and high schools in my time, even -- gasp! -- middle schools. Now for that one, you should be apologizing profusely. Men are so silly when it comes to anything regarding a woman's age, honestly. Besides, my mother sent me away for 11th and 12th grades (not that you would have known that). I guess I'm still a pain in the butt. And enjoying every menopausal moment of it, too.

Now, speaking of which, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to step in front of my refridgerator before I spontaineously combust. And for heavens sake, PLEASE, no more talk of religion unless you want to just talk about religion. I've read CS Lewis' books -- wonderful, wonderful man and author. I even have the movie on his life. You see, I respect many Christians. I just find the religions distasteful, that's all.

Stay sane, or insane, but mostly, be happy.

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle."
- St. Philo of Alexandria

No "maelstrom,"
But again... "I respect many Christians. I just find the religions distasteful, that's all."

A tone of understated irony.

- - -

"While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart."
(Spirit-filled in life and writing)
-St. Francis of Assisi