The FBI vs. Ray Bradbury

[drjenkins]

"Definitely slanted against the United States" Ray Bradbury's FBI file [Muckrock]

http://boingboing.net/2015/08/24/fbi...-bradbury.html

https://www.muckrock.com/news/archiv...bury-fbi-file/

FBI files on subversive science fiction writers, notably Ray Bradbury, have been made public.

"The general aim of these science fiction writers is to frighten the people into a state of paralysis or psychological incompetence bordering on hysteria"

I don't know about you, but I would definitely want to read some science fiction like that.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by drjenkins

"Definitely slanted against the United States" Ray Bradbury's FBI file [Muckrock]

http://boingboing.net/2015/08/24/fbi...-bradbury.html

https://www.muckrock.com/news/archiv...bury-fbi-file/

FBI files on subversive science fiction writers, notably Ray Bradbury, have been made public.



I don't know about you, but I would definitely want to read some science fiction like that.

Try early 60's british SF.


Tripods, Midwich Cookoos, Day of the Kraken, VOR, etc.

[DrNefario]

"The general aim of these science fiction writers is to frighten the people into a state of paralysis or psychological incompetence bordering on hysteria"

I thought that was largely the role of the security services, these days.

[drjenkins]

In the early 60's I was reading Bradbury and Heinlein. I considered that a well balanced diet. It was much later that I read the Midwich Cuckoos, after watching the original Village of the Damned.

[drjenkins]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I thought that was largely the role of the security services, these days.

SF - Science Fiction or Security Forces - you choose.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by drjenkins

In the early 60's I was reading Bradbury and Heinlein. I considered that a well balanced diet. It was much later that I read the Midwich Cuckoos, after watching the original Village of the Damned.

I'd struggle to think of two less similar writers than Bradbury and Wyndham. "The Midwich Cookoos" was the original, BTW; it was published in 1957. The film "Village of the Damned" was released in 1960.

[drjenkins]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'd struggle to think of two less similar writers than Bradbury and Wyndham. "The Midwich Cookoos" was the original, BTW; it was published in 1957. The film "Village of the Damned" was released in 1960.

I didn't see Village of the Damned until it was broadcast on television - the version of the book I read had the Americanized spelling Cuckoos. Maybe I haven't actually read the book until I read it in it's original language.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by drjenkins

I didn't see Village of the Damned until it was broadcast on television - the version of the book I read had the Americanized spelling Cuckoos. Maybe I haven't actually read the book until I read it in it's original language.

No, it's just me not knowing how to spell it . "Cuckoo" is the correct spelling.

[Cinisajoy]

Sounds like McCarthy. He went after everyone.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Sounds like McCarthy. He went after everyone.

Wasn't he in the Beatles?

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Wasn't he in the Beatles?

McCarthy not McCartney.
One was a communist hunter the other a fan hunter.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Sounds like McCarthy. He went after everyone.

Not true in any way.

McCarthy pursued only communists within government circles , and data received after the dissolution of the Soviet Union revealed that every person he went after was indeed working with the soviets. He really didn't address anyone strictly living and working in civilian life.

At the time of his political collapse he could not reveal his sources without causing the deaths of American spies working inside the Soviet union.

The House Committee on un-American Activities went after imagined communists in all walks of life, but that happened in the other branch of the legislature, and it also happened before McCarthy's political debut.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Venona-Sec...ct_top?ie=UTF8

There is no perfect book on the subject, but this one should get you started.

Now that I have defended him from accusations posthumously proven incorrect, he was still an abrasive and conceited jerk whose fall was driven to a large extent by his high handed manner of dealing with other people. When push came to shove there wasn't anyone who might have been able to aid him that he had not treated ill.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Phogg

Not true in any way.

McCarthy pursued only communists within government circles , and data received after the dissolution of the Soviet Union revealed that every person he went after was indeed working with the soviets. He really didn't address anyone strictly living and working in civilian life.

At the time of his political collapse he could not reveal his sources without causing the deaths of American spies working inside the Soviet union.

The House Committee on un-American Activities went after imagined communists in all walks of life, but that happened in the other branch of the legislature, and it also happened before McCarthy's political debut.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Venona-Sec...ct_top?ie=UTF8

There is no perfect book on the subject, but this one should get you started.

Now that I have defended him from accusations posthumously proven incorrect, he was still an abrasive and conceited jerk whose fall was driven to a large extent by his high handed manner of dealing with other people. When push came to shove there wasn't anyone who might have been able to aid him that he had not treated ill.

Oh so he was just the fall guy. Thanks for the correction.

[GA Russell]

In regard to Joe McCarthy, I have read that the recently deceased M. Stanton Evans' book Blacklisted by History is good.

http://www.amazon.com/Blacklisted-Hi...dp/B000W94GOU/

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by Phogg

Not true in any way.

McCarthy pursued only communists within government circles , and data received after the dissolution of the Soviet Union revealed that every person he went after was indeed working with the soviets. He really didn't address anyone strictly living and working in civilian life.

At the time of his political collapse he could not reveal his sources without causing the deaths of American spies working inside the Soviet union.

The House Committee on un-American Activities went after imagined communists in all walks of life, but that happened in the other branch of the legislature, and it also happened before McCarthy's political debut.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Venona-Sec...ct_top?ie=UTF8

There is no perfect book on the subject, but this one should get you started.

Now that I have defended him from accusations posthumously proven incorrect, he was still an abrasive and conceited jerk whose fall was driven to a large extent by his high handed manner of dealing with other people. When push came to shove there wasn't anyone who might have been able to aid him that he had not treated ill.

What about Howard Fast, the author of Spartacus? He was imprisoned for refusing to reveal the names of people who had collected money for refugees fleeing the Franco dictatorship.

His imprisonment was the inspiration for Spartacus, which inspired the film.

Edit: Fast was imprisoned by the House of Un-American Activities Committee, which McCarthy had no direct connection to.