tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217670599100952035.post3406723405658823299..comments2024-01-23T05:10:35.472-05:00Comments on Reading, Running, and Red Sox: Happy Banned Books Week!gibsonmeigshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16094122509371844728noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217670599100952035.post-66510456284126167542014-09-26T13:27:20.577-04:002014-09-26T13:27:20.577-04:00I agree with you, and with Vonnegut: burning books...I agree with you, and with Vonnegut: burning books is bad.<br /><br />And I agree with one statement that Bradbury makes: there is more than one way to burn a book. But the people he describes didn't rip the covers off his books, or steal his books from the library, or use markers to black out offensive passages. They wrote him letters.<br /><br />What -- a celebrated author may express in writing whatever worldview he wants, but if us mere mortals do the same, we are idiots who belong in the far reaches of hell?<br /><br />I'd suggest that it's more than a bit conceited for Bradbury to ask people to be open and engage maturely with his ideas, when he refuses them the same respect.Joelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11308509561834397951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217670599100952035.post-82926833614109884812014-09-26T12:17:36.399-04:002014-09-26T12:17:36.399-04:00After all, authors can feel quite passionately abo...After all, authors can feel quite passionately about these matters. Check out Kurt Vonnegut's response to a school that burned copies of "Slaughterhouse-Five": http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/03/i-am-very-real.html gibsonmeigshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16094122509371844728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217670599100952035.post-3159817132656142652014-09-26T12:16:31.311-04:002014-09-26T12:16:31.311-04:00Heh. That's not how I read Bradbury's arti...Heh. That's not how I read Bradbury's article, but I could see how you would think that after re-reading it. It's certainly a departure from his usual congenial image! Although I think it's important to recognize - in my mind at least - he's not condemning one specific individual but the group of people that ask him to change his vision to accommodate their world view. I'm not sure that the authors you mentioned that adapted their works (and the list is extensive, Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" is another one that immediately comes to mind) did so in response to reader/publisher criticism so much as they wanted to fix what they themselves perceived as flaws in the work. Which to me is the important thing: there will always be people requesting that artists change their works of art, and that's okay - as long as the artist has the final decision of what gets published.gibsonmeigshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16094122509371844728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217670599100952035.post-71589074069073598842014-09-25T21:03:11.109-04:002014-09-25T21:03:11.109-04:00In my opinion, Ray Bradbury comes off as a pompous...In my opinion, Ray Bradbury comes off as a pompous ass there. A particular published version isn't sacrosanct; any number of authors have meaningfully revised major works of fiction after publication in order to improve them. Charles Dickens, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Stephen King are some who come to mind. So a reader sees what they believe is a serious, but perhaps unintentional, flaw, and respectfully points it out to the author. That doesn't mean the reader is trying to "burn" the book. The author is certainly free to disagree with the reader's point of view, to suggest that the writing choices were intentional, even meaningful. But to publicly label the reader as an "idiot" who deserves to be condemned to "the far reaches of hell"? Joelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11308509561834397951noreply@blogger.com