451 по фаренгейту
Burning Bright
We’restoppedandsearchedoccasionally,butthere’snothingonourpersonstoincriminateus. Theorganizationisflexible,veryloose,andfragmentary. Someofushavehadplasticsurgeryonourfacesandfingerprints. Rightnowwehaveahorriblejob;we’rewaitingforthewartobeginand,asquickly,end. It’snotpleasant,butthenwe’renotincontrol,we’retheoddminoritycryinginthewilderness. Whenthewar’sover,perhapswecanbeofsomeuseintheworld."
"Doyoureallythinkthey’lllistenthen?"
"Ifnot,we’lljusthavetowait. We’llpassthebooksontoourchildren,bywordofmouth,andletourchildrenwait,inturn,ontheotherpeople. Alotwillbelostthatway,ofcourse.Butyoucan’tmakepeoplelisten. Theyhavetocomeroundintheirowntime,wonderingwhathappenedandwhytheworldblewupunderthem. Itcan’tlast."
"Howmanyofyouarethere?"
"Thousandsontheroads,theabandonedrailtracks,tonight,burnsontheoutside,librariesinside. Itwasn’tplanned,atfirst. Eachmanhadabookhewantedtoremember,anddid. Then,overaperiodoftwentyyearsorso,wemeteachother,travelling,andgottheloosenetworktogetherandsetoutaplan. Themostimportantsinglethingwehadtopoundintoourselveswasthatwewerenotimportant,wemustn’tbepedants;wewerenottofeelsuperiortoanyoneelseintheworld. We’renothingmorethandust-jacketsforbooks,ofnosignificanceotherwise. Someofusliveinsmalltowns. ChapterOneofThoreau’sWaldeninGreenRiver,ChapterTwoinWillowFarm,Maine. Why,there’sonetowninMaryland,onlytwenty-sevenpeople,nobomb’llevertouchthattown,isthecompleteessaysofamannamedBertrandRussell. Pickupthattown,almost,andflipthepages,somanypagestoaperson.
