In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

106 Ray Bradbury Interview with Mogen and Siegel (1980) [Section 1—pp. 14–15] BRADBURY: When I adapted Fahrenheit 451 for the stage years ago I knew the novel by heart—God almighty, I spent so much time revising it over the years and reading proofs on it. So instead of looking at the novel again I said to my characters , “Look, it’s been twenty-eight years since we last really talked together. What do you know that you didn’t tell me twenty-eight years ago?” And all of a sudden the Fire Chief spoke up and said, “Hey, I got things to tell you.” And I said, “What?” And he said, “You want to know why I burn books? That’s not in the book, you know. I’ve never told you why, but I’m gonna tell you now!” I said, “Okay, I’m ready.” And I got to the typewriter. And all of a sudden the Fire Chief takes over the play, huh? [phone rings] In the book the Fire Chief is just one of the characters. Montag is central. But in the play the Fire Chief takes over and he’s fantastic! Excuse me. [answers phone] He reveals himself as a failed romantic, really. When we’re young we all think that there are answers to everything, that all we have to do is research hard enough and find the right books and everything’s going to be answered. And it’s not true. I wish it were. I wish I knew all the books. I know many books that can help one, I know many philosophies that can most certainly enable us to lead very good lives, but they don’t guarantee everything. And you finally have to make do with the great mysteries of aging, and sickness, and death, which are difficult, more difficult for some than for others. Some of us are born with glass arteries, huh? The least thing and we shatter. And other people can go through the same experience and come out whole. So when you’re twenty or twenty-one you think, “Oh wow! Boy, I’m gonna read all these books and I’m gonna know everything and I can make do with life.” And books are everything, you know, just the answer to everything, just as for other people pure science may be it, whatever it is; or for a doctor, pure medicine, and only what you get out of books that applies to medicine is important. Well, of course that’s nonsense. But you don’t know it. And then the character suddenly discovers his mother dies, his father commits suicide, he loses his love, his sex-life goes to hell, and “Boom!” he’s out the window. [phone rings] Excuse me. [answers phone] But anyway, he then turns. Then INTERVIEW Ray Bradbury Interview with Mogen and Siegel (1980) 107 he makes the other mistake, of throwing the baby out with the bathwater: and of course, you can’t do that, you can’t give up. It’s like fallen-away Catholics. There’s a lot in the basic Catholic or Jewish or Protestant faiths that’s damn good. It works! But people get disillusioned, and then they throw the whole religion out—which is, I think, a terrible mistake for anyone to do. Because we do need images of the universe, all kinds of images, scientific ones and theological ones. And the Fire Chief is fun because he wrote the play for me and now dominates. We had a wonderful actor who came in and did the part, and was so good the actors applauded him during rehearsals. So, the main point I’m making here is that when you adapt anything, it has to be floated over so that you can then offer from your own subconscious new truths and new surprises. That’s where the fun comes. And if you just go through and adapt a thing, that’s no fun. You’re just typing off a page, “Well, shall I cut this, or shall I put that in?” Well, that’s by rote, that’s bad. It’s gonna be mechanical. You may blunder into a few things, but it’s better to let the characters have their heads. And they’re gonna change a few things on you, but the basic essence will be there. That’s the way to adapt. And that’s why I say the TV...

Share