I’m a collector of old books. Which is a felony, of course. That’s why you’ll never find a little shop bearing my name on 3rd and Elm. This is the black market, friends, and if anyone could trace this short missive to me, I’d be sent to a camp. Or worse.
So be careful, gentle reader, because you’re in danger, too. I really want you to read this, but please don’t take unnecessary chances.
I grew up a lover of books. I’ve been reading for as long as
I can remember. I had a modest library before the Purge, but I never thought of
it as anything more than a hobby. But then, through reading one specific book, my
life and my hobby took a dramatic turn. And it happened soon after the last “election,”
when they started burning books in every major city.
Obviously some people didn’t go along with it, not at first.
But the Coalition is very persuasive and fires began popping up all over the
nation. I would like to believe there are brave souls all across our beleaguered
country who are risking their lives to hide some history book from the 1900’s,
or a treasured collection of children’s stories, or maybe even a copy of the
Constitution itself. But since I can’t be sure, I’ve made it my mission to do
what I can, until they find me. I’m writing this so that you’ll understand why
I’m in the book business.
When I look back on those awful, unthinkable days, they
don’t seem real. They called the rallies, “Lighting the Fire of Freedom and
Equality.” Bands played songs of victory, new armies marched, and Coalition
representatives gave speeches. Everyone was expected to attend, and to bring
their books. What a nightmare. And we’re still in it. I’m not counting on ever
waking up. After all, everyone is now “woke,” right?
Well, as you know, all the “Lighting the Fire” celebrations
culminated in huge bonfires of books. They called it, “Ending the lies, taking
back our truth.” Almost everything older than the 1960’s was part of the lie we
were ending, apparently.
Mostly people seemed happy to participate. You even got a
ribbon – “Patriot” – for complying. Leather-bound, gold-gilded tomes that had
been passed down for generations were dumped on the pile, along with worn
paperbacks whose pages were falling out. Practically any author you can think of
was on the list. Just off the top of my head, into the flames went: Twain and Tolstoy; Shakespeare, Steinbeck, and Chaucer;
Camus, Carroll, and Orwell; Dostoevsky and Dickens; Orwell, Tolkien, and Hemingway;
Cervantes and J.K. Rowling; Homer, Plato, and Aristotle; Jane Austen, the Brontes, and Harper Lee; Oscar Wilde,
C.S. Lewis, and Tolkien; Camus and Sartre. You name it, it got burned. The whole
thing reminded me of Fahrenheit 451. But
of course that was incinerated, too, along with everything else by Bradbury.
I should make special mention of religious books, and
especially the Bible. Did you once have a Bible in your home? I bet you don’t
now – it’s against the law. Electronic copies and beautiful old family Bibles –
they’re all gone. The Coalition is happy to supply us with the religious book
they want us to use now. They call it The
Rainbow Book, and it is constantly being updated as the Coalition has
better ideas for you and me and our kids. You get free updates through your
Coalition-supplied tablets.
I have to admit that when I was growing up, I never read the
Bible. I know we had a copy, but my parents weren’t religious and so neither
was I. But a couple years ago somebody risked his life to smuggle me a copy,
and I read it. I was not prepared for its message or its impact on me. If
you’ve read it, you understand why my life changed. If you haven’t, with
whatever time I have left, my mission is to put a copy into your hands. Here’s
a quote you might find encouraging. It’s from Jesus: Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will not pass away.
I guess I love all books, and my new life makes sense to me. But this Book more than any other is the one I’m willing to die for. All people, and I certainly mean you, dear reader, deserve a chance to read the Bible.
