Maximum Occupancy

I think of myself as a Matilda reader, anything and everything, methodical as I try to read whatever comes my way. I feel there are different types of books for different types of people, for the most part everything should be read for some reason or another.

I tried to recall the books that were required reading for my high school experience. Since it was a conservative town, state, time, and war - the reading list seemed more intent on reprograming the students to associate it with torture. They were the classics, a lot of white male authors, and the picks seemed to be the driest of the writers’ catalogue. The topics were academic and removed from the reality we were in.

For the most part, any great must-read-because-it is-on-the-school-lists books that I have read, where the ones I found grouped together on the Barnes and Nobles table towards the front. I do not recall any units really touching on Fahrenheit 451. Texas doesn’t shy away from book bans, and this was when the parents were concerned that Harry Potter was satanic and not yet seeing the camaraderie they would be feeling over JK Rowlings shit views. I read it because I should and then found out that everyone should read it because it is good and meaningful (and not just because they should).

This is a round about way to say that Ray Bradbury is still too controversial of a writer to be in a schools, and that is why he stays on these lists year after year. A much better education for all would be more diverse units and ones that uses the best of the novels on the lists to reach different type of students and maybe expose them to the new things that they can love and grow and learn from. Those of us living in this state are having to educate ourselves, meaning we waste time or miss out entirely on words and beauty and life.

Yes, I am blaming Texas and conservative politics on why I did not realize that Ray Bradbury is not a one trick pony. Fahrenheit 451 was not the only timeless concept that he was the first to capture. He did it with other novels, embracing science fiction or fantastical elements as a means to show society’s emotional response and reaction, but he did it in a way that makes all other attempts seem like an imitation.

Why didn’t anyone tell me that after reading his one book, I need to read them all? Why didn’t we talk about Something Wicked This Way Comes in school? Banning books may not be a subject for Texas, but what about a book that discusses fear and aging, and time passing? We all know why this was also avoided, as a military town (Killeen/ Harker Heights Texas) we are not to acknowledge these things, especially the boys. Where else are the going to get their recruits then from the pool of under-education and emotionally stunted souls it churns out.

Everything was a surprise to me, from learning how many writers are inspired by this story, being in awe of his mastery of phrases and his ability to create fear without using extreme body horror, to identifying with everyone in the story. Though it might be considered young adult fiction, I think that is the pitfalls of being on school lists and having two 13 year old boys as the main characters, it is a story that could be read at any age and still feel compelling. The story telling device of a dark carnival that has come to haunt this small town places it in the dark fantasy genre, though soft horror feels more apt. As a fan of Needful Things by Stephen King I am ashamed I professed my love for that novel before even reading this one. I was naive and not understanding what I was enamored with.

This story is perfect for Halloween, this time period, and when moving through major life milestones. I hope I make time again to read this novel throughout the years. What else can I say, then I wish to read everything he wrote now. I wish I could re-read this for the first time. I wish we would do better by our kids and let them read things like this over the Grapes of Wrath. It wasn’t even John Steinbeck’s best work for Christ’s sake. This review is to say, don’t let the fallacies of our broken educational and political system win, there is more out there that was all deserve. Time has been working on us, but that is just the way of some people. We all still have time to fight our fears and the Republican party that is gutting Texas worse than any slasher novel could. Read this book, read all his books, read all the books.