Bradbury

[sachisedai]

I just finished Fahrenheit 451 and thought it was excellent, I think the biggest problem with older books becoming forgotten is that hardly anybody know that the content is still relevant. Not to get into politics, but boy, can I tie that book into everything today. And not just Ray Bradbury is being neglected, I really enjoy Dan Simmons' books, too. Hyperion won the Hugo award, and he did an adaptation of Homer's Illiad entitled Illium that was wonderful. I wish we could add extra authors to the Authors list.

 

[Milena]

Everyone seems to love Something Wicked This Way Comes- one of my top 10 ever, though I'd have said fanstasy rather than science. What about Fahrenheit 451? Parodied, ripped off, made into terrible films, but still one of the most chilling stories about - gulp - a future with no books. Also for short stories, Dark they Were and Golden Eyed, and one who's title I've forgotton but was just about how wonderful new sneakers feel! It may have been ina kid's anthology. Anyone remember that?
Maybe Bradbury is just too poetic andleterary for some readers - as was mentioned earlier, not much action and careful rich language can leave you on the shelf next to Ursula LeGuin...

 

[Fried Egg]

My favourite ever story by Bradbury was "Frost and Fire". An excellent and gripping tale set on Mars. He packs so much into such a short story. A true classic in my opinion.

 

[Sibeling]

I totally loved the collection October Country.It was not sci-fi, but it was interesting, gripping and beautiful, it had all the good things I expect from a book.
I really like the way he describes things, e.g., in the story The Next in Line this is how he writes about flowers in a graveyard: the wilted orchid blossoms lying like crushed red-purple tarantulas against the milky stones, some of them looking horridly sexual, limp and withered... Really inventive.

 

[rune]

Ive got Something Wicked This Way Comes to read for my local Reading Group.

It will be the first book ive tried by this author, so be interesting to see if it lives up to the comments about this authors works

 

[Nikitta]

I first discovered Bradbury with Fahrenheit 451, which got me hooked at the very first paragraph and kept me hooked through the entire book. Funnily enough, if it hadn't been for the thing with him getting angry at Michael Moore for plagiating the title and a newspapper having an interview with him about that, I wouldn't have heard of him or that story, but the summary of the story from the newspaper made me look it up in the library. That book made me want to read more of him.

After that, I read The Martian Chronicles during a very very quiet spell at work, so I got so caught in the description about how desolate and empty the place was that I got startled when the phone rang because a customer wanted help with a printer. A bad thing to get startled when the phone rings if you work in a callcenter.

Then there's I Sing The Body Electric, which I had, but lost, and now want to buy again. When I first read it, I wasn't entirely sure what I thought of it, but now, almost two years after, I really want to read it again.

Something Wicked This Way Comes is in my to-read pile waiting for its turn.

 

[Nikitta]

That's modern acculturation for you.
See this every Thursday after the radio show I participate in. Name like Asimov, Lieber, Vance, Bradbury are virtually unknown by young auditors (less than 45). I sometimes feel like a dinosaur to read and talk about books written before my birthdate.

I'll have to admit that I only know two of those. Then again; people in here often refer to authors I don't know. I get the impression that almost all people in here are far more well-read than me. Well - if my to-read pile should ever run low, I can always look for ideas here

 

[j d worthington]

Well, if Leto's plaint is any standard to go by, I'm not a dinosaur ... considering so many of the writers I talk about, I belong back with the single-celled organisms!

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

It often surprises me who other readers regard as forgotten or neglected writers. Ray Bradbury has had several new books come out in the last few years. I really liked From the Dust Returned.

Coincidentally, I just picked up his newest, Farewell Summer, at the library yesterday. It's the sequel to Dandelion Wine, which is a beautiful book, so I'm excited about that.

Since he's a writer who successfully crosses between genres (a comparatively rare thing to be), plenty of people who don't usually read whatever genre he's writing in at any given moment will read his books. I think as a mainstream writer he's as popular as he ever was, and even more revered (longevity tends to do that for you, particularly when it's combined with excellence).

It's often a mistake to assume that just because the most vocal part of the SFF community -- or the most vocal part of that part of the SFF community one associates with -- are not reading or talking about an author, therefore that author labors on in dim obscurity. Quite often, just the opposite is true.

 

[Curt Chiarelli]

Bradbury was already considered "irrelevant" 20 years ago when I was in college. His effusive romanticism coupled with a rich, lyrical use of the English language was alien to my genration, a generation besotted with a much crueler, harsher and emptier aesthetic.

I can't begin to tell you the battles I engaged in over the years defending Bradbury against these troglodytes. The general opinion of my generation (that is, those that actually read) was that Bradbury was a "weepy little homo", "a weenie", "a guy better suited to scribbling Harlequin romance novels" (!!!), etc. The man's a goddamned literary genius. Such braying, truculent asses deserve to be brought to a public place and beaten to within an inch of their lives with a hardbound copy of Fahrenheit 451.

My introduction to Ray's work was with The Martian Chronicles at the tender age of 12. The man wielded metaphor like a titan and left me emotionally shattered, happy to piece myself back together again, my sensibilities forever altered. I swiftly sought out The October Country and drank again from that strange cup the strong, strange wine that fermented between its covers. From there it was easy stages towards all his other works and I consumed them eagerly. Today, in my library I have hanging on my walls signed sketches by Ray as well as all his books in hardcover format, even some autograghed first editions.

Although I agree that his later efforts are not up to the high standards that he set for the genre 50 years ago, I maintain that second rate Bradbury is leagues better than any of the "hot" new novels inflicted upon us by hack scriveners and the editor of the New York Times Bestseller List.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

the "hot" new novels inflicted upon us by hack scriveners and the editor of the New York Times Bestseller List.

That part about the editor of the New York Times Bestseller List inflicting novels on readers seems a bit obscure, Curt. Surely by the time a book reaches that list a great number of readers have already inflicted it on themselves. That being, as I understand it, the purpose behind bestseller lists: to tell us what people are already buying.

In bookstores, as I understand it, it is a bit different, because publishers do pay for product placement on the "bestseller" shelves. But then, that's the publishers and the bookstores conspiring against the hapless reader, and no doing of the hack scriveners themselves, and it would take a twisted line of reasoning to lay the blame for that at the feet of the newspaper editors.

So perhaps you'll explain exactly what you mean -- although it might be a bit clearer without all the invective.

As for Ray Bradbury, in 2000 he was given a medal by the National Book Foundation, for "Distinguished Contribution to American Letters." That hardly sounds as though the literary establishment has dismissed him entirely.

Perhaps you're refining too much on opinions that were current 20 years ago. People who regard their college years as the epitome of human (or even literary) existence can be rather fatiguing to deal with, so let's hope that some, at least, of your contemporaries have shed their troglodytic ways and emerged into the light of the twenty-first century along with the rest of us.

 

[Curt Chiarelli]

Well, from my perspective there's nothing obscure about it: it's all a part a horrible continuum: corporate greed, editors - little more than corporate hatchetmen - who flog, peddle and foist tripe onto the public and - worst of all - an uneducated (but well-entertained) public eager to consume said garbage to fill up the vacuum of their lives. Every element feeds into the other to create the current sorry state we're in.

To clarify once more, I did not state that the literary establishment repudiated Bradbury, only many of my generation who have actually read him found him "soft" and "irrelevant". I am not "refining" on 20 year old opinions - only reporting direct quotes, however unappetizing they may be to some with a love for Bradbury's particular brand of magic. Jumping from the frying pan into the fire, many of the younger generation haven't even heard of him, let alone read him and formulated an opinion of his works (I know this for a fact because I teach at the university level in a subject that attracts genre fans).

As far as the issuance of my invective goes: I hold the conviction that it is well-placed, even more well-deserved and I certainly have no regrets if certain guilty parties have been scathed in the writing of my previous post. Besides, a pinch of spice will flavour the stew!

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Well, I'm afraid that under the barrage of clever words and vituperation I'm still having a certain amount of difficulty following your logic.

Of course, if you were to develop the habit of stating your case with a little more clarity and a lot less heat, you might open yourself to the Wycliffian heresy of actually being understood. Which in turn invites a response, doesn't it? Then you have a dialogue going instead of keeping the floor to yourself

So far as the book publishers go, corporate greed invariably dictates that they give the public what it already wants. The results are not always pretty, but they're at least democratic. I fail to see how you can "foist" anything on readers who are already eager to buy it.

And it's really a waste of time getting angry because other people don't like or appreciate the same things we do. I know this because it's an error I often fall into myself, and it's not only unproductive, but it plays havoc with my digestion. Any gratification it provides is temporary at best -- and then everyone else goes on displaying the same execrable taste as before. (How can this be, I ask myself, when I've taken such trouble to enlighten them?)

Why can't we celebrate Bradbury in this thread, rather than engage in the pointless exercise of railing against those who don't share our high opinion of him?

From the Dust Returned, the last thing by Bradbury that I've had the pleasure of reading, didn't strike me as romantic in any way. There was, in fact, a subtle creepiness to the whole thing that I quite enjoyed. It made me think a little of the few things I've read by Joyce Carol Oates, although Bradbury, of course is far more economical in his prose, and never more so than here.

 

[j d worthington]

On From the Dust Returned... I've an especial fondness for that one, I must admit, having encountered that particular family when I was in my very early teens and then again about ten years later when I was lucky enough to end up with a copy of Dark Carnival (sans dj *sigh* but, ah, well). And a few months ago I did pick up several of Ray's more recent books, but haven't yet read them... again, on the TBR stack; perhaps I can get around to some of them soon.

However... From the Dust Returned: it was just such a wonderful thing for me personally, for him to be returning to something he'd revisited off and on through his earlier career, and bringing various aspects of that together with new material into a very special little novel; closing the circle, as it were.

And no matter whether the younger readers have read his work or not, Bradbury will always be a truly magic man. If they have not, then perhaps they've yet got that joy awaiting them; and if they have and missed the magic, then they've missed something very special indeed. Either way, we are incredibly fortunate to have ever had him among us, and even more so that he is still with us, and still writing today....

 

[Curt Chiarelli]

Well, I'm afraid that under the barrage of clever words and vituperation I'm still having a certain amount of difficulty following your logic.

Of course, if you were to develop the habit of stating your case with a little more clarity and a lot less heat, you might open yourself to the Wycliffian heresy of actually being understood. Which in turn invites a response, doesn't it? Then you have a dialogue going instead of keeping the floor to yourself

So far as the book publishers go, corporate greed invariably dictates that they give the public what it already wants. The results are not always pretty, but they're at least democratic. I fail to see how you can "foist" anything on readers who are already eager to buy it.

And it's really a waste of time getting angry because other people don't like or appreciate the same things we do. I know this because it's an error I often fall into myself, and it's not only unproductive, but it plays havoc with my digestion. Any gratification it provides is temporary at best -- and then everyone else goes on displaying the same execrable taste as before. (How can this be, I ask myself, when I've taken such trouble to enlighten them?)

Why can't we celebrate Bradbury in this thread, rather than engage in the pointless exercise of railing against those who don't share our high opinion of him?

From the Dust Returned, the last thing by Bradbury that I've had the pleasure of reading, didn't strike me as romantic in any way. There was, in fact, a subtle creepiness to the whole thing that I quite enjoyed. It made me think a little of the few things I've read by Joyce Carol Oates, although Bradbury, of course is far more economical in his prose, and never more so than here.

Let's cut to the chase and discuss what's truly operating here.

You know Teresa, you might do well to avoid trying to play high-handed oneupsmanship games with others - especially ones who are not easily bullied or flummoxed. I have stated my case clearly - at least clear enough to serve the requirements of any intelligent human being with a firm grasp of the English language.

If you do not comprehend my writing or agree with it, fine: I think I can live out the rest of my life safe in the knowledge that I do not meet your approval. But do not tell me how to order my thoughts, how to express myself or cast aspersions upon my abilities, intellect or ulterior motives.

The bottomline is respect. I have shown you respect - it is your responsiblity as an active member of this forum to reciprocate (sorry lady, no special dispensation for published authors). If your ego happens to present an insurmountable obstacle to that particular task may I, in turn, make a recommendation to you? Restrain yourself from reponding to my posts.

And that is about clear as crystal.

 

[Culhwch]

Wow, a lot of big words being thrown around in this thread, I'm not sure I understand it all....

Please, can we stay away from personal attacks and maintain a little civility. Opinions are always going to be divergent, and there is little use taking personal offense when another disagrees with you, no matter how vocally.

With that in mind let's keep the discussion going about Bradbury and his work. I've not ever read anything by Bradbury, but after the recommendations in this thread I may have to hunt some down... Any suggestions on the best place to start?

 

[Urien]

I've always loved "Something wicked this way comes."

 

[jackokent]

Wow, a lot of big words being thrown around in this thread, I'm not sure I understand it all....

Glad someone else said it.

I haven't read too much Bradbury but what I have read was very good. Not sure for me it was the best ever. It's many many years since I read any and my overall sense (and sense it is only as I don't remember details) is that the concept were amazing but the characters were not quite as sympathetic as I would want in my very favorite authors.

 

[j d worthington]

I suppose that depends on what you're after. Despite his "voice" being very similar, he's done quite a wide variety of work (including the screenplay for John Huston's film of Moby-Dick). But I suppose some of the quintessential Bradbury would be either The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, or The October Country for his early short stories; Dandelion Wine or Something Wicked This Way Comes for his novels, or possibly The Halloween Tree for his juvenile/YA work; and either The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit and Other Plays or The Anthem Sprinters for some of his plays. He's also done several books of poetry, among which it's difficult to choose... but how can you go wrong with titles such as Where Robot Mice and Robot Men Run Round in Robot Towns, Where Elephants Last in the Dooryard Bloomed, or The Haunted Computer and the Android Pope?

As for his later work -- I'm partial to A Graveyard for Lunatics and From the Dust Returned. Or you could simply go whole hog and tackle that ginormous volume, The Stories of Ray Bradbury....

Essentially... just pick any that look good... chances are whatever it is, it will be.... (see... ain't I helpful? )

 

[Curt Chiarelli]

Yes! And The October Country is at the top of my list too (if you like a more macabre flavour to your reading). Dandelion Wine is really a superb read, but know going into it that it's not genre related. Some may consider The Martian Chronicles somewhat irrelevant in light of our current scientific knowledge of Mars. I disagree: amongst other extremely worthwhile qualities, it should be read as a parable of man's tendency to corrupt everything he touches. A truly powerful work.