Books Are Burning

Columns of books piled waist high lined up in neat rows on the cobble-

stones. The spectrum of their covers was bright against the glass buildings of

the square and the white uniforms of the party members. The wind shivered

through their pages, rattling loudly in the expectant silence.

Behind the stacks, the podium looked small, but the eyes of the crowd

were firmly focused upon it. After one final sweep of security guards making

their delicate ballet among the gathered and around any cover in the area,

a figure mounted the dais and took her place behind the microphone. She

took a moment to let her strong gaze settle on the faces of her citizens as the

breeze ruffled her crisp blouse and plucked gently at the graying blond hair

tucked into a bun. As she began to speak, even the wind seemed to still.

“I recognize that this is a controversial move. Book burnings carry a

certain stigma, as I was reminded by my faithful advisor, James Atler. Some

of you are reminded of the Iris Wars or believe that this aligns us with the

dictators of the North, and wonder whether this is a signal of dark times. I

assure you that it is not.

“For others, to destroy a piece of art or knowledge is simply against

principle. It should be known that our Librarian General argued valiantly

against this gesture, and that I weighed his recommendations with great

seriousness.

“Others have suggested that this is a weak move, that if we seek a display

of justice, it should be a public execution of the instigators of the conflict.

Traitors will see their justice, but it will be in a court of law with the dignity

they deserve as citizens. I will not see any more blood shed in our streets.

“But we, as a nation, need a catharsis and I choose fire to cleanse us

of the fear and anger and uncertainty that has come to a head during the

last four months, to cleanse us of the words that put our proud Republic in

jeopardy.

“There are those who say that actions speak louder than words, and yet

as a leader and a student of history, I find that the two are inextricably

linked. Words without action are empty, but actions not backed by words

are just as incomplete. And the words contained in these two books have

been wielded as weapons to bring about violence and insurrection.

“The treatise written by the leaders of the hostile faction known as the

League of Oranges is a work of hate-filled deception"racism masquerading as

science and idealism. It twists patriotism into an excuse for power plays and

the mistreatment of groups of citizens. This will not be tolerated.

“Neither will the response which called for merciless retribution and

blamed many for the opinions and actions of few. The poems of Carter

Levant, collected into the book Whispers, returned hatred with hatred, play-

ing on the emotions and culture of those whom the League had called out. It

sickens me to see such beautiful language used to sow fear and anger, further

dividing our nation.

“And so together, they will burn. As their ashes mingle, I hope that we

can regain some of the unity that our Republic has lost. If you are shocked

and outraged, tell your neighbor. If you are proud of this step, tell your

neighbor. If you worry about our future, tell your neighbor. I will set fire

to the books written in darkness, which brought only darkness, in order to

shed light upon the problems of our nation and the solutions we seek. If we

are to overcome the troubles of our history and our present, we must come

together. We must bring our words and actions into the open. The time has

come to purge our silence.”

On either side of the pile, party members took candles to the pages,

letting the tiny flames leap and grow. The sound of crackling, blackening

pages filled the still air and the smoke of the burning text rose to the sky.

The light brightened and flickered, reflecting on the buildings and casting

long shadows in the crowd.

Author's Note

Listening to the song "Books are Burning" by XTC ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bh8bDjQg84 ) got me thinking about this topic, and provided the title. It's one of my all-time favorite songs--a power ballad for the written word. And the views expressed by my characters are not necessarily my own.

Any thoughts on the piece would be appreciated.

Reviews

[RDOriginal]

This is a very stirring piece, I've heard the song before and your writing catches the mood nicely. The destruction of art such as the book burning of the Nazi's, the desecration of Bahai monumentss by the current Iranian government or the mindless vandalism of buddhist statues by the taliban always seems to be a hollow act of denial carried out by followers of a redundant philosophy. Your main character speaks of it bringing unity but the reader is probably more aware of how divisive the act is. Nicely written!

[Christina May Shanaberg]

I don't know the song that you were listening to, when you wrote this story. My personal opinion is that the burning of books of any nature is a travesty to the freedom of speech. The burning of books, throughout history, did not destroy the opinions that were expressed on their pages, but rather did the opposite of what was intended; and, that was to make the opinions more widespread and more popular, among the masses. A very visual story! Two thumbs up!!