I am studying stories about conformity and rebellion, I remember a story that I think is by ray bradbury where everyone is made equal, so good looking people have to wear mask, and good dancer have weights attatched to them so they can't dance as good ect. Does anyone know the name of that story, and if it's not by Ray Bradbury then who?
-Bill Fischer

For everybody having trouble identifying a title and author:
1. There is a service called "Stump the Bookseller" at www.logan.com/loganberry. It costs $2.00 per stumper. You might get lucky and find your answer for free by reading the "Solved Mysteries," but it is pages and pages sorted alphabetically by title, and if you don't know the title, may well be worth more than $2.00 of your time.
2. There are groups at Google Groups, perhaps a bit complicated to join, and you have to check messages every single day, as they get old in a month.
3. There's some message group for librarians that's so darn difficult and complex I've never even tried it. I don't think they actually have a board, or archives. You have to sign up for a mailing list and agree to get everybody's messages about cranky customers and loose library paste from all over the country, as if your inbox wasn't stuffed with enough junk. Or--
4. Try ExLibris, the Lost Boards! You do have to register to participate, but it is free, I say, FREE, with eager volunteers scrambling over each other to be on all your lost queries like a duck on a june bug. The more obscure, the better! Today I posted a question which had been sitting on this board for two months and received an answer in just minutes, MINUTES! They not only welcome new members, heck, they are practically soliciting them! You can go to http://communities.msn.com/ExLibristheLostBoards
or send e-mail to ExLibristheLostBoards@communities.msn.com. I am forwarding this little communication to them directly and we'll see what results.

That sounds like the Kurt Vonnegut story "Harrison Bergeron" to me. It's in WELCOME TO THE MONKEY HOUSE.

Yes. Harrison Bergeron. It is a short story, but a very interesting movie of this is also out. It portrays a future which holds the themes of F451, 1984, and Brave New World. It is a rather intense piece of cinema!

I believe my actual classification of that story was "Trippy".

The story is by Kurt Vonnegut. It's called Harrison Bergeron.

quote:

Originally posted by NCSUstudent:
I am studying stories about conformity and rebellion, I remember a story that I think is by ray bradbury where everyone is made equal, so good looking people have to wear mask, and good dancer have weights attatched to them so they can't dance as good ect. Does anyone know the name of that story, and if it's not by Ray Bradbury then who?
-Bill Fischer

....and all the newscasters have speech impediments, the intelligent have clanging bells going off in their heads to impede cohesive, sustained thoughts and everyone has their turn at being president.

That's one of my favorite stories ever. The movie was very different from the story, but I thought it "CLANG-CLANG"....uh...what were we talking about?

Yes, that one comes up a lot, and Ray was actually a tiny bit nonplussed at a Vonnegut story being the one most frequently mistaken for one of his!

dandelion said:

"Ray was actually a tiny bit nonplussed at a Vonnegut story being the one most frequently mistaken for one of his!"

Why did he feel that way?
Did he not like Vonnegut as a person or was it his writing he didn't like?
Did he just not like that particular story?
Do you remember what exactly Ray said about the matter or how he meant it?

I think it's very interesting and I'd like to know more. Thanks for sharing.

As I remember, he liked Vonnegut as a person but didn't appreciate his overall tone. "Oh, he's a friend of mine...but I find him a little bit negative."

Oh. Thanks dandelion.

I was kinda hoping for some juicy gossip for afternoon tea. I guess I'll have to make something up, as usual.

In Ray's case, always! Even when he really truly seems to actually hate someone, he will refuse to discuss details because he doesn't like dwelling on the negative. I know, no fun, no fun!

How about this? Vonnegut once "adapted" one of Ray's lesser-known stories -- I think it was something like "Blue Child" or something -- and then molded it into an anecdotal piece he published in the New Yorker. Ray saw it and contacted Vonnegut, who denied ever reading Bradbury's story; but he and Bradbury had previously discussed the story in a panel discussion they co-chaired at Mt Sac (Mount San Antonio College, in West Covina). Bradbury accused Vonnegut of lying and Vonnegut responded that he really didn't remember it, and he felt Bradbury was being a little over-sensitive about it. Then the Blue Child story line showed up in a Rod Serling TZ show script that Vonnegut and Bradbury jointly blocked via a court action. Vonnegut never did acknowledge having read/discussed Bradbury's story; and Bradbury, who has said he likes Vonnegut's style, has always badmouthed him for being negative -- the exact opposite of what Bradbury tries to convey in his writing. This has gone on for about 15 years now, with no resolution.

There was also some bad blood because Bradbury had heard -- through another writer -- that Vonnegut had bad-mouthed one of Ray's daughters or something in one of his writing classes. Again, Vonnegut denied it, but Bradbury never believed him.

Is that pretty good gossip?

The fact that none of it is true shouldn't take away from the sheer fun of it, should it?




[This message has been edited by Mr. Dark (edited 11-07-2004).]

Is any of it true? I don't remember ever hearing of a Bradbury story titled "Blue Child."

See my last line (above).

I just thought I would try to contribute to grastain's weekend. He seemed in need of some gossip. Since most gossip is false, anyway, why not a totally fabricated piece of gossip? Surely, it's just as entertaining! And almost as true!