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(Some Guy) Interesting In 1963, a high school smart-ass sent copies of his English teacher's questionnaire on symbolism to several literary greats and Ayn Rand. Hilarity and genuine responses ensued   (theparisreview.org) divider line 330
More: Interesting, Ayn Rand, English teacher, Holden Caulfield, Ian Fleming, Jack Kerouac, John Updike, Norman Mailer, linguists  
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47229 clicks; posted to Main » on 06 Dec 2011 at 6:05 PM   |  Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook   more»   |    Get this fabulous T-Shirt and impress the methane out of your friends! shirt it!



330 Comments   (+0 »)
   

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It's a Sunshine Day!
2011-12-06 01:36:32 PM
This article makes me happy. I love to read, and to read critically, but have often thought too much time is spent pondering over 'symbols,' and authors' intentions, when all that's needed is just to enjoy a good story.
 
IgG4 [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 01:38:38 PM
+1 on the headline subby.
 
James! [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 01:42:54 PM
Hey, Ayn Rand is a dick. No shiat.
 
MorrisBird [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 01:51:43 PM
Couldn't read the print on the questionnaire, nor most of the authors' responses. But, damn, I love this headline.
 
FloydA [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 02:14:34 PM
+1 subby.
 
BooBoo23 [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 02:24:25 PM
Another +1 for the headline.
 
utsagrad123 [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 02:50:40 PM
AYN RAND PAUL
 
PainInTheASP [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 02:56:47 PM
+1 for both the article and the headline.
 
mootmah [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 03:38:51 PM
PainInTheASP: +1 for both the article and the headline.
 
I Have The Touch of a Shocked Monkey [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 04:21:45 PM
I didn't notice the joke until the 3rd reading of the headline.

But, another +1 here too. Subtlety often brings relieved laughter out of me.
 
NuttierThanEver [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 04:33:46 PM
The only thing in my personal experience that is almost as cool is that a guy I knew in college sent a letter to Prince about the lyrics to Purple rain and got a response from him detailing the religious symbolism he was going for in it.

This is infinetely cooler
 
brigid_fitch [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 04:35:46 PM
I chuckled when I got to last example. "No, I never consciously place symbolism in my writing....during a lifetime, one saves up information, yadda, yadda..." I figured it had to be a sci-fi writer.

*scroll, scroll, scroll*

"Good luck and best wishes from Ray Bradbury"

Nailed it.

/You can always tell the sci-fi writers
//The hard part is telling whether or not they're serious
 
yogaFLAME [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 04:39:01 PM
I predict this thread will be shallow and pedantic.
 
GAT_00 [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 04:39:24 PM
brigid_fitch: *scroll, scroll, scroll*

"Good luck and best wishes from Ray Bradbury"

Nailed it.

In other news, Ray Bradbury was a /b/tard.
 
timujin [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 04:39:26 PM
brigid_fitch: I chuckled when I got to last example. "No, I never consciously place symbolism in my writing....during a lifetime, one saves up information, yadda, yadda..." I figured it had to be a sci-fi writer.

*scroll, scroll, scroll*

"Good luck and best wishes from Ray Bradbury"

Nailed it.

/You can always tell the sci-fi writers
//The hard part is telling whether or not they're serious

I remember having a loooong argument with my high school English teacher over the symbolism in Fahrenheit 451. I held the position that she was making shiat up out of her fevered imagination and that Bradbury was just telling a good story.

I feel much better now, thanks.
 
namatad [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 04:43:21 PM
It's a Sunshine Day!: This article makes me happy. I love to read, and to read critically, but have often thought too much time is spent pondering over 'symbols,' and authors' intentions, when all that's needed is just to enjoy a good story.

this this more this and ONLY THIS
close the thread for the love of satan
 
coco ebert [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 04:45:03 PM
Wow, that was fascinating. I'm wondering if it's a hoax as it just seems all too unlikely. Still, brilliant find, subby.
 
nekom [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 04:48:56 PM
coco ebert: Wow, that was fascinating. I'm wondering if it's a hoax as it just seems all too unlikely. Still, brilliant find, subby.

I wonder that too. That whole `Letters from Billy' thing where the kid wrote a lot of celebrities turned out to be a total hoax, but it looked convincing and got some good replies from some interesting folks.
 
some.old.lady. [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 04:57:24 PM
Thanks, subby, for a good link/story.

From my reading of the article, I believe the student created the questionnaire to send to writers, hoping to get answers that would bolster his side of the argument he was having with his teacher, not that he co-opted the teacher's questionnaire.

Well, either way, I am glad you posted this, it was a fine read :)
 
sariq [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 04:57:57 PM
Very cool. But I want to see the rest.
 
SchlingFocker [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 05:02:04 PM
I love how Ray Bradbury signed his response "Guy Fawkes Day"
 
brigid_fitch [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 05:13:22 PM
timujin: brigid_fitch: I chuckled when I got to last example. "No, I never consciously place symbolism in my writing....during a lifetime, one saves up information, yadda, yadda..." I figured it had to be a sci-fi writer.

*scroll, scroll, scroll*

"Good luck and best wishes from Ray Bradbury"

Nailed it.

/You can always tell the sci-fi writers
//The hard part is telling whether or not they're serious

I remember having a loooong argument with my high school English teacher over the symbolism in Fahrenheit 451. I held the position that she was making shiat up out of her fevered imagination and that Bradbury was just telling a good story.

I feel much better now, thanks.

I was a HS English teacher and had looooong arguments with my colleagues over symbolism in 451, too. Some kept harping on the "symbol" of the salamander. They just couldn't get it through their heads that maybe, just MAYBE, Bradbury used the salamander for the firemen because, according to medieval Europeans, it caused fires.

There are times when Bradbury absolutely used symbolism & allegory. 451 wasn't one of them.

/I also agree w/Bradbury that Melville didn't intentionally use symbolism.
//Just like Jesus' face on toast, people see what they want to see.
 
brigid_fitch [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 05:14:08 PM
yogaFLAME: I predict this thread will be shallow and pedantic.

It already insists upon itself.
 
brigid_fitch [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 05:21:18 PM
GAT_00: brigid_fitch: *scroll, scroll, scroll*

"Good luck and best wishes from Ray Bradbury"

Nailed it.

In other news, Ray Bradbury was a /b/tard.

He's also obnoxious and a luddite. My husband interviewed him years ago at a con in NOLA. Said he was rude, impatient, irritable, and refused to let my husband use a tape recorder. Another author was in the room (I forget who) and told Bradbury to give my husband a break and Bradbury snapped at the guy. My husband's take: He can be as obnoxious as he wants, just as long as he keeps writing cool stuff.
 
NuttierThanEver [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 05:31:09 PM
brigid_fitch: GAT_00: brigid_fitch: *scroll, scroll, scroll*

"Good luck and best wishes from Ray Bradbury"

Nailed it.

In other news, Ray Bradbury was a /b/tard.

He's also obnoxious and a luddite. My husband interviewed him years ago at a con in NOLA. Said he was rude, impatient, irritable, and refused to let my husband use a tape recorder. Another author was in the room (I forget who) and told Bradbury to give my husband a break and Bradbury snapped at the guy. My husband's take: He can be as obnoxious as he wants, just as long as he keeps writing cool stuff.

Wow you'd think the guy who created Star Trek wouldn't mind technology..

;-)
 
muck4doo
2011-12-06 05:46:50 PM
Gulliver's Travels is hard to top for symbolism.
 
jayhawk88
2011-12-06 06:09:21 PM
IgG4: +1 on the headline subby.

There's your headline of the year right there. Trolly, funny, and not entirely inaccurate.
 
robbiex0r
2011-12-06 06:11:00 PM
and not one mention of symbology.

24.media.tumblr.com
 
StrangeQ
2011-12-06 06:14:10 PM
James!: Hey, Ayn Rand is a dick. No shiat.

Judging by her response, it seems she didn't think his questions were...

...objective

YEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
 
rebelyell2006
2011-12-06 06:14:39 PM
NuttierThanEver: brigid_fitch: GAT_00: brigid_fitch: *scroll, scroll, scroll*

"Good luck and best wishes from Ray Bradbury"

Nailed it.

In other news, Ray Bradbury was a /b/tard.

He's also obnoxious and a luddite. My husband interviewed him years ago at a con in NOLA. Said he was rude, impatient, irritable, and refused to let my husband use a tape recorder. Another author was in the room (I forget who) and told Bradbury to give my husband a break and Bradbury snapped at the guy. My husband's take: He can be as obnoxious as he wants, just as long as he keeps writing cool stuff.

Wow you'd think the guy who created Star Trek wouldn't mind technology..

wat
 
unitednihilists
2011-12-06 06:15:08 PM
That was Brilliant!

2 interwebs for you!
 
video man [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 06:15:51 PM
brigid_fitch: GAT_00: brigid_fitch: *scroll, scroll, scroll*

"Good luck and best wishes from Ray Bradbury"

Nailed it.

In other news, Ray Bradbury was a /b/tard.

He's also obnoxious and a luddite. My husband interviewed him years ago at a con in NOLA. Said he was rude, impatient, irritable, and refused to let my husband use a tape recorder. Another author was in the room (I forget who) and told Bradbury to give my husband a break and Bradbury snapped at the guy. My husband's take: He can be as obnoxious as he wants, just as long as he keeps writing cool stuff.

Just like Fahrenheit 451?

/Neo-luddite garbage mistaken for a "classic" by technology-hating English majors
//"We rely on technology SO MUCH!!!" Well no shiat, that's what makes us human and not hairless apes.
 
DocTravesty
2011-12-06 06:15:53 PM
/You can always tell the sci-fi writers

But you can't tell'em much.
 
muck4doo
2011-12-06 06:16:49 PM
Wish he had L. Ron Hubbard in there.
 
NightOwl2255
2011-12-06 06:17:37 PM
I'm surprised Ayn Rand didn't tell him to quit being a little biatch and get the fark to work.
 
video man [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 06:18:02 PM
muck4doo: Wish he had L. Ron Hubbard in there.

He would send back a response and a bill for $100.
 
caramba421
2011-12-06 06:19:37 PM
Holy shiat. Can anyone here make sense of Updike?
 
scottydoesntknow [TotalFark]
2011-12-06 06:20:20 PM
video man: muck4doo: Wish he had L. Ron Hubbard in there.

He would send back a response and a bill for $100.

FTFY. You pay up front, then you recieve the word of Xenu
 
natmar_76
2011-12-06 06:21:08 PM
Ayn Rand, you are the weakest link!
 
rummonkey
2011-12-06 06:23:36 PM
James!: Hey, Ayn Rand is a dick. No shiat.

Came here to say this. She was always terrified of not being the smartest in the room and tried to tear down anybody that threatened that. Small minded.
 
NobleHam
2011-12-06 06:25:12 PM
Wow, Ayn Rand was a pedantic coont even in private writing.
 
tillerman35
2011-12-06 06:25:44 PM
James!: Hey, Ayn Rand is a dick. No shiat.

Bradbury: What an amazing guy. The warmth and intelligence in that response really comes through.

Rand: What a bag of dicks.
 
JohnAnnArbor
2011-12-06 06:25:51 PM
muck4doo: Wish he had L. Ron Hubbard in there.

Oh, wow. That would have been funny.
 
jst3p
2011-12-06 06:26:14 PM
StrangeQ: James!: Hey, Ayn Rand is a dick. No shiat.

Judging by her response, it seems she didn't think his questions were...

...objective

YEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

tee hee
 
LoneWolf343
2011-12-06 06:26:26 PM
I objectively see what subby did there.
 
Mawson of the Antarctic
2011-12-06 06:26:31 PM
Just because an author states that he or she doesn't consciously create symbols still makes their work symbolic. Actually it's more semiotics. There are cultural connotations behind images and text that transcend the author's personal choices. Stories do well when they are good yarns AND there's something in it that an audience can relate to via a social understanding of symbols/signs. It's the essence of communication. Anyone who tells you they are just writing "stories" is only scratching the surface of the process-a lot of it happens subconsciously because we are the products of a society writing for other members of the same.
 
siromega
2011-12-06 06:26:33 PM
NuttierThanEver: brigid_fitch: GAT_00: brigid_fitch: *scroll, scroll, scroll*

"Good luck and best wishes from Ray Bradbury"

Nailed it.

In other news, Ray Bradbury was a /b/tard.

He's also obnoxious and a luddite. My husband interviewed him years ago at a con in NOLA. Said he was rude, impatient, irritable, and refused to let my husband use a tape recorder. Another author was in the room (I forget who) and told Bradbury to give my husband a break and Bradbury snapped at the guy. My husband's take: He can be as obnoxious as he wants, just as long as he keeps writing cool stuff.

Wow you'd think the guy who created Star Trek wouldn't mind technology..

;-)

Damnit I just busted out laughing at work. Normally that shiat doesn't make me laugh, but this time it caught me off guard.
 
caramba421
2011-12-06 06:26:56 PM
SchlingFocker: I love how Ray Bradbury signed his response "Guy Fawkes Day"

Before Fawkes was even cool.

upload.wikimedia.org

Also wears dark thick-rimmed glasses. Total hipster.
 
hipsellipsis
2011-12-06 06:27:05 PM
You guys are morans. Daphne Taggart is the hottest chick ever to have lived, because of her drive, her intelligence, and her resemblance to Amy Adams.

\ Haters gotta hate.
\\ While Objectivism is utopian, it's a darn sight more pragmatic and practical than farking communism.
\\\ To heck with you all.
 
mc6809e
2011-12-06 06:27:52 PM
Rand's response reminds me of how I felt trying to answer poorly written questions given to me by teachers in grade school.

Words have meanings, damn it! Just because a question feels as though it's correctly constructed doesn't mean it is correctly constructed.
 
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