[.ca] The Children's Story (ISBN 0440204682)

THE Anti-Socialist book for kids (and grown-ups)!:
With all due respect, Ted Rushton is completely misreading the author's intent. A close reading of ALL of Clavell's work would show that the author loved freedom above all else. He was a happy emigre to our shores, spending the last years of his life in sunny California. A POW during WWII, his Japanese captors (from whom Orwell took the phrase and concept of "thought police") beat him down, but did not break his spirit, or his love of Asia, as his books demonstrate. NOBLE HOUSE in particular is a masterful display of the conflict between Socialism and Freedom, with Russian/Chinese Communists as the former, and Hong Kong/British capitalists the latter. As to THE CHILDREN'S STORY, Mr. Rushton's review does to this book what the new teacher does to the flag and the Pledge of Allegiance in Mr. Clavell's story. In the afterword, Mr. Clavell describes how his daughter came home from school and demanded a payment of ten cents after reciting the Pledge for him. He handed the dime over lovingly, but the incident got him thinking that there has to be more to learning the Pledge than the promise of a ten cent piece. He wanted his child to understand what she was pledging her allegiance to, and that is a symbol of freedom! The new teacher convinces all of the children but one that the flag is just a piece of cloth and the Pledge is just a handful of meaningless words. And if you cut the flag up and parse the POA to death then yes, she's right. But the pledge means that you support and intend to uphold the ideals of liberty and freedom that the flag has come to symbolize. Its obvious to me that the new teacher is doing all she can to replace the American values of liberty, freedom, and justice for all with the socialist values of...well, there are no socialist values. Unless unquestioning subservience is a value. Mr. Rushton may think me a jingoistic rightist dupe for my views, and he's free to do so. You're free to do a lot, in America.

SCARY:
The Children's Story is the scariest book in print today. Whenever I read it, I feel uneasiness, the book really makes my skin crawl. Every page is more and more chilling. It is a psychological masterpiece -- Clavell brilliantly X-rays the mind of a small child and shows what tricks can be used to change it completely. A must-read for everyone, especially for parents of little kids!!

It's starting to happen!:
A lot of \opeople\c have referred to this book as being against the backdrop of the Cold War, but the sad thing is that since the end of the Cold War, the warnings of this book have become MORE and not less pertinent, as the hard left have used the ruse that Communism has collapsed to inject their values into all of us, like a bacillus, through the back door. I see the brainwashing of the children described in this book as being what university students in the so-called humanities go through, in nearly every university in the world. The media and universities are trying to do to all of us what the teacher did to the children in the book! And slowly as youth are filtered through the universities they will permeate the rest of society with corrupt neo-Marxist views, including elementary schools. How many people throughout the world marched in support of Saddam Hussein earlier this year , without a thought about the morality of the positions they where taking? Yes, the nightmare we read about in 'The Children's Story' is happening across the world.Too many of us have lost the distinction between right and wrong. Can the voices of freedom fight back?

An intriguing work of speculative political fiction:
"The Children's Story," by James Clavell, is a short book that could be read in one brief sitting. It takes place in an elementary school classroom in the United States after the country has been conquered by some nameless foreign power. The story follows the initial re-education of the children by their new teacher. This book reads very much like a product of the Cold War era, when many feared the possibility of ultimate Soviet domination. The story is written with a subtly chilling, "Twilight Zone"-like flavor; it reminded me of Ayn Rand's short book "Anthem." Ultimately, Clavell's scenario plays out a little too neatly to be truly believable. But the story is undeniably thought-provoking. And even with the U.S./U.S.S.R. Cold War now a thing of the past, "The Children's Story" is still worth reading.

Examining the basic words of American freedom:
By Ted Rushton When a court ruled the two words "under God" were unconstitutional in the US Pledge of Allegiance, it set off a firestorm of righteous conservative indignation through the United States and dismay among many loyal Americans. This book, written in 1962 by a truly gifted and far-seeing author, should set those latter-day fears to rest. Like Ann Rand's Anthem, this book is a devastating account of the shallow nature of the conservative reliance on empty rhetoric rather than the true meaning of the values they profess to express. Fiction ? Look at how easily the early Christians used a few words to turn December 25th., the birthday of the eastern God Mithras the bull-slayer -- which has a probably origin in Catal Huyuk some 5,000 years before the birth of Christ -- into the birthday of the Christian Saviour. Clavell speculates how clever teachers can turn a few words of prayer and faith into acceptance of a new and presumably totally opposite system of values. His story, with chilling realism, will give any intelligent reader pause about the value of rote repetition of even the most noble phrases -- such as the pledge of allegiance or that famed national anthem "Jose, can you see ?" -- compared to importance of learning the meaning of such words. For anyone who treasures basic American values, this book is a gem. The message is "learn the meaning" of the words anyone chooses to pledge; in this case, the Pledge of Allegiance, but it also applies to such documents as the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. In most nations, loyalty is based on centuries of habit, heritage and tradition; in the US, similar to Christianity which is based on the truth as revealed in The Bible, loyalty is based on written documents such as the Constitution. American society is based on the promise of written words. Think of "I pledge allegiance . . ." or "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. . ." and "the freedom of speech or of the press . . ." or that "government of the people, by the people, for the people . . ." Clavell makes the point, with brief but eloquent realism, that we must understand the meaning of the words we repeat, not merely their rote cadence. It is a book for everyone interested in the basics of American freedom.