Hey Nard, I tried to shorten this, hope I'm not too late.

Did the writing of any of your short stories or novels culminate during an important even in your life, such as births, deaths, etc. and did these events have any bearing on the story. If so, which story holds the most irrevocable tie to some memory for you?

Thank you so much Nard! This is such a rare treat that you have opened up for us, a direct link to Ray. Merry Christmas to you and everyone and a Happy New Year!

Godspeed!

At Last!

Perhaps a word for Ravenswake who hails from Illinois.

Just returned from Ray's. Will be posting the answers to previous questions later tonight.

Ray also answered that somewhat age-old question:
How was Montag able to read a book? How did he learn to read in the first place?

Anyone is free to try to answer this question in the meanwhile.

How was Montag able to read a book? How did he learn to read in the first place?

As a firemen, he should be able to read to recognize evil books from not so evil ones. Am I right?

Johnny Holly! Hey, welcome!!

Nope, answer is incorrect. But you touch on something of importance...this idea of evil books and not so evil books. Nowhere in Fahrenheit 451 does it say Montag ever learned to read. And if I'm missing something and it refers to his education somewheres in the novel, the question would be: How did Montag learn to read? Are not all books burned? (And THERE is the clue: Not ALL books are burned. The question then is: What books are NOT burned?)

Johnny Holly~
On second look, you're kinda right, but I can't tell how kinda right you are.

Actually, instructional books were allowed. For instance, How to Read. How to Fix a Car. etc. It's the books that disturbed people, that made them uncomfortable, that needed to be burned.

I think the waters get a little muddy here, in figuring all this out. As to a sequel to Fahrenheit 451, Ray considers The Fireman the first, and Fahrenheit 451 the sequel.

quote:

Originally posted by Nard Kordell:
The question then is: What books are NOT burned?

The instructional manuals on how to burn books?

Just curious: Nard, were you there when a call came in!!??

Montags co-workers took out their rule books... so I'm assuming firemen had an education and learned how to read.

Hopefully its okay if I quote Beatty from the book:
"Today, thanks to them, you can stay happy all the time, you are allowed to read comics, the good old confessions, or trade journals."

The only books that weren't burned were ones that did not affend any of the minorities. "Clean books". (But it wouldn't matter if these books were "allowed" because the majority of the public didn't like books to begin with)

fjp451~
Yeah, Frank! I have your entire conversation with you, your family, and Ray, on tape.

recluse~
Ray says that instruction manuals, how to fix-books, etc. were considered 'okay'. Somehow I missed that. And I think many people in general miss that and take that ALL books of any sorts are burned in 451.

Doug Spaulding~
Yes, perhaps!

I still plan to get all the answers to the questions online later tonight sometime...

Nard,

great work, and no need to apologise!

Many of this questions are different to the "standard" ones that Ray gets asked in interviews, so the answers were well worth waiting for.

Nard, great format for the answers from Mr. B. Thanks. It is one thing to discover his philosophies from bios and articles, and even while hearing presentations to live audiences, but to have his words directly from a "sit down" conversation (related in your efforts here) is something all to itself. It is not unlike rocking on the front porch at sunset (in Green Town!) and waiting for the fireflies to arrive.

Then as the comfortable conversation plays out, we get gems of wisdom, quips from the past, and Mr. B in his own words - unplugged. Yesterday a.m., when I read your update on this post, I was a bit chagrined to have not gotten a "Q" included for this sequence of exchanges. Now to find out...we actually were in the room while, as he indicated, "I am being interviewed!" Well, that is just another one of those Bradburian moments that seems to flash into so many of our daily experiences because of his persona and our knowledge of his written masterpieces. A metaphor, of sorts -"Here, There, and Now!"

I hope our brief hello brightened his day in some way!
(His comments per my teaching are a treasure!)
f

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