Translator:

There are enough topics in various forums thruout this website to ascertain a great deal about Ray.

( In the process, check out again my post, above, of April 18th...6:29PM. )

Translator, you'll discover that Ray is a person forever in love with the family he grew up with. He is firmly convinced that they still are on that porch in some mysterious, unable to be explained way...with the easy summer evenings, the cool conversations of uncles and aunts and friends, mom and dad, family, and the eternal moment held forever...and written about freely in his stories and prose. He's gone, as a grown up, to the ravine near his neighborhood, in Northern Illinois, rolled up his pants to wade in the water...and hear his mother calling for him. Now top that!!!

He's in love with something we forever want to dissect and figure out...this thing that drives poets and artists and painters and creators thruout all the centuries...

Beery ...can go on for as long as he wants arguing politics and religion or views on this or that... but Ray is a person who truly loved his parents...and knew who he was by the time he was ten, and never let go of that wonderful ''breath'' that God gave him as a youngster...

Hello Nard,
I know that Ray is and always was a very, for a lack of a better word, good person. I can sense his humanity and his love of life in his writing; Dandelion Wine of FH 451 are written in a way that leaves no doubt of his nobe intentions. But having studied politics for some time now, having seen first-hand the horrors and the happiness arising from a simple change in the societal and economic structure of various countries, makes me want to find out where he stands on the issues, and why. I try to look up to people whom I percieve to be better than me, and I try to find why they are indeed better. If Ray stays away from politics, I see no problem with that, it would just mean that I can't get some answers from him. But if he doesn't, then I want to find what he thinks, and why he thinks so. My final judgement of the man will rest on everything (that is not to say that everything is equally weighted), so the more I get to know, the better.
Cheers, Translator
PS - the poems were very nice. Thanks.

By the way, just read the Couteau interview in it's entirety. If you read the entire interview, Bradbury freely and openly acknowledges that in his work on a project for the homeless, he knew many persons who could not afford a phone and many other items. Again, the idea that Bradbury honestly was so spaced out that he thought all Americans had phones that were mystically provided in the absence of bills or money -- as I said -- is a mis-reading of Bradbury. Bradbury was well aware of poverty in America. Remember, his dad struggled in the depression.

This is the danger of making claims and jumping to conclusions without doing the research.

If "Death is a Lonely Business" can be taken as semiautobiographical, Ray himself didn't have a phone for awhile. He had to listen for the pay phone ringing across the street, then make a run for it! Michael J. Fox described doing the exact same thing as a struggling young actor.

Without seeking to "prove" anything, (don't have time right now) I would say that Ray is pretty independent about pretty much everything. Whether or not he's "conservative" would depend on what you mean by conservative, and in what categories you're addressing.

Just like in the area of religion, it is difficult to limit Ray to labels and simplistic categorizations. I don't know if he's eclectric or eccentric; but I love that he speaks his mind freely and clearly. What this means is that his comments can be twisted and his perspectives distorted -- if his comments are taken out of context and in isolation. I think he may be sympathetic to Emerson's quote that, "...a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds". This is what frustrated me so much in this thread -- the effort to simplistically represent Ray's views in isolated (as it turns out in this opening quote, it was out of context -- not just in the canon of his interviews, but in this very interview!) and out-of-context quotations. There is simply no substitute for doing the research BEFORE pinning labels on him.

He's a huge fan of city planning, but in past interviews, he tends to think that planning is not a governmental responsibility, but should be handled by private parties -- local citizens and local businesses.

On the space program, Bradbury is a big fan of governmental sponsorship and funding. He sees the enterprise as being too massive to be handled by individuals. In some interviews, he seems to be almost an internationalist on space, in some interviews he seems to have an almost nationalistic view on the destiny of the space program.

He tends not to bother justifying his views in any kind of academic sense. For him, things seem to either make sense or not make sense.

On censorship, he is strongly against governmental censorship, but openly gripes with views that seem to imply that there is no limit to what gets published, etc. Efforts by individuals to maintain decency and taste appear to be fine with him.

He makes no apologies for his view that America has a unique national vision and history and that that vision of freedom has brought countless benefits to the world.

Just some off-the-top-of-my-head observations.

Hmmmm. . .

We're only interested in this topic if we're arguing, making rash assumptions and name-calling?

:-)

I was going to try and do a little digging over the next few days. Is there no interest here?

Interest is there, but so are exams - can't keep up with everything. Read your post, but not commented - too time consuming for now. But rest asured that I'll Be Back.
Cheers, Translator

You're working on a MA or PhD? I noticed you're doing a Thesis or Dissertation?

Just curious.

I'm in the middle of grading papers and exams. When you hit a really good, thoughtful paper, it's pretty fun.



[This message has been edited by Mr. Dark (edited 04-20-2004).]

Hey Mr Dark. Haven't been here in a while. Hi Nard, Dandelion, Pete.See you've been having some delinquency on your hands. The whole idea of this debate, or what have you, is stupid. That's having a lot to add to the conversation, huh? I would guess this Beery fellow looks at people grotesquely if they happen to stutter for a second. Not that I believe Bradbury's comments were wrong but were, as you put it, a confidant, assured response to the question which good authors have the job of doing. Is it correct in all senses? Course not. As a writer you want to hit on something that doesn't drive everyone crazy but a whole hell of lot of them. Bradbury is spontaneous like him or not. I doubt he gives a damn if you don't. However, it's nice to see a person of another generation than me confident enough not to measure each word so some young Skippy can't have something to scoff at in the future. With the internet this kind of wordwatching, not to be confused with.. ah, nevermind...sort of like birdwatching, is becoming the norm. I do it sometimes. Say perchance someone mispells "noodle", I have a good chuckle and belittle them. Anyone feel free to quote me and add a note if I am wrong, stupid, off-kilter, you name it, underneath. Anyway, nice seeing the place so busy. Dandelion I'm sure constantly has a mop in her hands.

More like a very small washcloth to just tidy up around the edges.

Hello Mr: Dark,
I also mark exams. I'm a TA at my university. I also have some of my own to write - I'm taking courses left and right from all kinds of areas not related to Lit (astronomy, physics, politics). I'm working on my PHD in Eng. It will be on sci fi writers of the 50's and 60's: who influnces who and in which direction (cross-cultural, especially between the Communist Block and the Western world). Once again, paying attention to the topic of this post. If you have any more info, do post it up. Will resume conversation shortly.
Cheers, Translator

I am new to this forum, but I do have something to say regarding this current debate. Ray relates a story about how he went some twenty years ago to Paris to speak about Jules Verne. I'm paraphrasing, but Ray was exasperated at all of these intellectuals who were getting caught up in Verne's private life and speculating about Verne's possible homosexuality. Ray stopped them in their tracks, he told them "Stop talking about all this nonsense! You're talking about the ants, and I want to talk about the Elephants!" And that is exactly what I say to all those in this forum that want to obsess about Ray's politics. I don't happen to agree with some of Ray's political views, but IT DOESN'T MATTER. I appreciate him for his artistry, his passion and his universally recognized genius as a writer. All else is dross.

Well put, robertbundy. I totally agree with you!! The genius of Ray's writing and the discussion of it is why I come here, not to obsess over the man's politics.

Perhaps the cornerstone of tolerance is acceptance of the realization of being able to learn from people with practices and beliefs different from one's own. Without that ability, we become narrow-minded conformists. Who said that? Oh, I did, just now!

quote:

Originally posted by Translator:
Is this a site for celebrating the writings of Bradbury, or is this a site for trying to better understand the person behind the writings? I thought it was the latter.
Cheers, Translator

Honestly I don't think that this was any kind of attack on Bradbury, just cause someone is willing to hear both sides doesn't mean they are trying to argue against you, as this states, we are just "trying to better understand the person behind the writings, and if you all are suck great Bradbury fans then you would chill out and realize that this wasn't an attack, just a question, I think you all need to step back and take a breather, also just cause someone doesn't agree with you isn't a personal attack. So maybe just step back for a sec. welp im out. peace