b) INTERVIEW WITH RAY BRADBURY, A FAMOUS SCI-FI WRITER

Я читал, что Вы напечатали роман «451° по Фаренгейту» за 9 дней на взятой напрокат пишущей машинке.		That’s right. At UCLA* library, down in a room underneath the library.
Вы по-прежнему печатаете на машинке?		Oh yes. I don’t have a computer. A computer’s a typewriter, so I don’t need two. 1 just need one.
Я знаю, что у Вас двойственное отношение к технологии...		No I don’t. All I ask is that you tell yourself why you need a thing, and then you use it. Why do you need a telephone? Well, we’re using one right now. Why do you need a computer? Well, if you’re in business, a computer is a very important part of your business, especially if you’re selling things to people and you have 200 – 300 sales in a day. At the end of the day your computer adds it up for you – that saves a heck of a lot of time, doesn’t it? So you look at each machine and say, “How do I use this?” If you use it for stupid or silly reasons... like the Internet is often used by men – it’s a toy. You can play with a toy, but don’t play with a toy all the time. That’s all I’m saying.
Вы все так же получаете 300 писем в неделю?		Sometimes it’s 300, sometimes just 100 or 200.
И на все отвечаете?		I try to pay attention to all those letters that are really sincere.
Вы как-то говорили, что работаете над новыми книгами.		Yes, four new novels. One is a mystery, one is a fantasy, one is a sequel** to Dandelion Wine***, and one is a romance. A little bit of everything.
Кстати, о продолжениях. В Интернете ходят слухи, что Вы пишете продолжение романа «451° по Фаренгейту» ****.		Never! Never. Never never never. It answers its own questions.
Как Вы сейчас представляете себе будущее?		Fine! We always make do, don’t we? There’s a lot of things that have been terribly evil in the twentieth century but we’ve managed tо overcome them. We’re going back to the Moon and then we’re going to head out to Mars sometime in the next 20 years. I wish I were going to be around to see it. Maybe I will be, by a miracle. You never know. http://www.rb.km.ru

 

*UCLA = University of California at Los Angeles

**sequel – продолжение

*** Dandelion Wine – «Вино из одуванчиков»

****«451° no Фаренгейту» – Fahrenheit 451

 

EXERCISE 20. Write a letter to your friend: tell him/her about the books you have recently read.

 

EXERCISE 21. Arrange role-plays on the following subjects; be as imaginative as you can:

1. Dramatize one of your favourite stories.

2. You are in a library. You are talking with a librarian.

3. You are talking with the writer of the book, which you have recently read.

 

EXERCISE 22. Talk on one of these topics:

1. Literature is One of the Fine Arts.

2. Fiction.

3. Non-fiction.

4. Creative Reading.

5. Reading is Enjoyment.

6. Different Kinds of Novels.

7. Tragedy and Comedy.

8. Poetry.