Ray Bradbury

[Omphalos]

I liked The Veldt too. A bunch of the technological ideas in that story wound up in F451.

 

[HoopyFrood]

I don't think I ever really thought of Bradbury's books as science fiction when reading them (well, apart from Fahrenheit 451). I don't know where I'd put some of them; Dandelion Wine is fantastical but at the same time revolves around a small town that seems so normal and routine (and a summer that is so beautifully created).

I always think it's a bit of a shame when people don't often move outside a certain genre or that books are so straightforwardly set into genres (makes for tidier bookshops, I guess) because so many delights in other areas might be missed.

 

[j d worthington]

Well Bradbury himself has long classed his work as fantasy; as he says, he has not real aptitude for science, doesn't care about the nuts-and-bolts, so when he uses science fictional material, it's for its mythopoeic resonance. Nonetheless, he has written several tales which are considered classics of the sf field....

This is actually fairly common with many writers from the 1920s until around the 1980s or so, when genre became a bit more rigidified (though there are still plenty of mavericks who step back and forth over the boundaries whenever the story demands it). Think of Harlan Ellison, Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, Kuttner & Moore, Theodore Sturgeon, Andre Norton, Joanna Russ, James Tiptree, Jr......

 

[dask]

I have not seen anyone mention Ray Bradbury, is it considered lame to like his books, especially his Science Fiction? Because I do, and I wonder if anyone else does.

While Ray Bradbury can have what Brian Aldiss calls a "teddy-bearish view of the universe" he can be unbeatable. Some of his stuff is truly amazing. Don't hesitate to read him.

 

[AE35Unit]

What the?.... Something Wicked is one of the best books I've ever read in the Genre and Bradbury a living treasure IMO.

Enjoy......

.

Well my other half had a go at reading it but hated it. I'll get round to it when im in a fantasy mood-I just have SO much to read!
I hear its a bit like Land of Dreams by James P Blaylock, which quotes the book by Bradbury. quite enjoyed that book when i read it years ago.

Land of Dreams by James P Blaylock

 

[Connavar]

Well Bradbury himself has long classed his work as fantasy; as he says, he has not real aptitude for science, doesn't care about the nuts-and-bolts, so when he uses science fictional material, it's for its mythopoeic resonance. Nonetheless, he has written several tales which are considered classics of the sf field....

This is actually fairly common with many writers from the 1920s until around the 1980s or so, when genre became a bit more rigidified (though there are still plenty of mavericks who step back and forth over the boundaries whenever the story demands it). Think of Harlan Ellison, Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, Kuttner & Moore, Theodore Sturgeon, Andre Norton, Joanna Russ, James Tiptree, Jr......

Heh when i read Sturgeon i thought this book(The Dreaming Jewels could be fantasy as easily as it was SF). Those kind of authors i really like. Not so focused on genre trappings and more of what they are telling.

Bradbury has alot of collections in the library but im planning to read Something Wicked This Way Comes(Fantasy masterworks version) first than some old,damaged collections from the library.

I have only read two short stories The Veldt,Kaleidoscope in The Illustrated Man. I really dont know why i havent read more of him since i really liked The Veldt.

 

[clovis-man]

Bradbury seems to have a very negative view on technology and its affects on society, but there is a strong ring of truth in Farenheit 451. He has an uncanny way of reflecting real people's attitudes on books and other forms of media.

He may have a jaundiced eye on how we choose to manage our technology, but I think he is an insightful futurist, for all that. I once got to hear him present a talk on the subject of urbanization which was, of course, heavily laced with stories of his career. But it was both fascinating and entertaining.

Afterward he stuck around for autographs. I had a first edition paperback of The Illustrated Man which I stuck under his nose. Then I made the mistake of speaking to him. He seemed to become distracted between writing his name and talking to me. When I walked away, I looked at the autograph and was struck by how disjointed and sloppy it was. For a long time I blamed myself for not keeping my mouth shut. Eventually, I saw some other autographed works of his and realized that's just how he writes his name.

 

[katiafish]

Oh wow, you have actually spoke to him?! Wooooowwww (Totally star struck with mouth open )

 

[owlcroft]

I suspect that the chiefest problem with Bradbury is that he is a fairly good writer who was long classed as some sort of literary deity. That, in turn, was because for a long time he was writing in a field where the alternatives were mind-numbingly awful trash (he is not by any means the only early writer to be thought a giant because he walked among pygmies--Theodore Sturgeon, Alfred Bester, there are a good few). With more critical examination, and comparison to the better of the modern fantasy writers, the concept of him as a literary deity becomes untenable, which--quite regrettably--led to a backlash wherein he was mocked (the "teddy-bear universe" remark by Aldiss being representative).

Bradbury writes well--at times, superbly, but at other times over-insistently. His later work, especially, does tend a bit to the teddy-ish; he is best taken in small doses (as some has already noted) for much the same reasons we don't serve desserts as all the courses of a meal. Taken for what he is, he is a middling to better author who can be quite enjoyable.

 

[weirdside]

I bought the nine hundred page best of anthology and am slowly churning through it. I discovered the Rocket, which is perhaps the greatest short story ever written.

 

[j d worthington]

I bought the nine hundred page best of anthology and am slowly churning through it. I discovered the Rocket, which is perhaps the greatest short story ever written.

I certainly can't agree that it is on that level (nor even close, given the scope of your statement), but I will agree that it is a quite lovely tale, very nicely done indeed, and sheer magic....

 

[dask]

Two Bradbury stories which made a particularly heavy impact on me were "There Will Come Soft Rains" and (of course) "A Sound Of Thunder."

 

[Dave]

Two Bradbury stories which made a particularly heavy impact on me were "There Will Come Soft Rains" and (of course) "A Sound Of Thunder."

Is that the one when the children go outside to experience rain for the first time? Brilliant story. And 'A Sound of Thunder' is one of the greatest time travel stories written.

I think Bradbury was my first introduction to reading science fiction. At school, obviously, and he says himself that he thinks 'A Sound of Thunder' must be in every school library. I read all of the collections already mentioned, but it is so long ago I need to revisit them. I think 'Fahrenheit 451' is exceedingly good. People only seem to mention the book-burning, but there is so much else in there that has already come true.

 

[dask]

Is that the one when the children go outside to experience rain for the first time? Brilliant story. And 'A Sound of Thunder' is one of the greatest time travel stories written.

It's been a while since I read "There Will Come Soft Rains" but I remember it being the one about the aftermath of a nuclear attack. No people or any living creature. Just automated machines going about their business and black marks where people were when radiation burnt them into extinction.

 

[j d worthington]

It's been a while since I read "There Will Come Soft Rains" but I remember it being the one about the aftermath of a nuclear attack. No people or any living creature. Just automated machines going about their business and black marks where people were when radiation burnt them into extinction.

Yep. The title comes from a poem by Sarah Teasdale, quoted in the story....

 

[Dave]

Sorry, I was thinking of All Summer in a Day but the children experience an hour of sunshine, not the other way around. I said it has been some time since I read these.

 

[Urlik]

I quite often read Bradbury just for his different way of writing compared to RAH or Azimov or Clarke.
Machineries of Joy has some fantastic short stories and concepts within it as does I Sing the Body Electric

 

[joolzred]

I have not seen anyone mention Ray Bradbury, is it considered lame to like his books, especially his Science Fiction? Because I do, and I wonder if anyone else does.

I wouldn't care if it's considered lame - as I love his works! His short stories are like jewels, if usually a trifle unsettling...

 

[Rodders]

I have only read two of his books, but did enjoy them very much. I have my eye on the two anthology volumes that i keep seeing in the shops.

 

[GOLLUM]

I have only read two of his books, but did enjoy them very much. I have my eye on the two anthology volumes that i keep seeing in the shops.

Yes the one featuring 100 stories from memory. Anything by Bradbury is pretty good.