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draculaura21's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
kuraikodesu's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
stephibabes's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this Bradbury novel. I enjoyed the premise, the pitch, the story. I especially loved the structure of the book. Initially I think I thought they were disconnected short stories (I probably wasn't paying attention in the first couple of chapters), but the progressive way in which humans reinserted themselves on Mars again and again, was profoundly believable to me. The manner in which Martians are near wiped out due to the arrogant, clumsy, wrong-footed and self-interested motivations of Mankind and therefore colonise, and ultimately destroy, Mars is so very believable.
How does this novel seem more prescient now than it might have done in 1950? The wealth-hoarding billionaire class might want to read and take notes. I found it very evocative and emotional. I was incensed by the cavalier and careless pursuit of acquisition at all costs. This novel has stayed with me for some time.
How does this novel seem more prescient now than it might have done in 1950? The wealth-hoarding billionaire class might want to read and take notes. I found it very evocative and emotional. I was incensed by the cavalier and careless pursuit of acquisition at all costs. This novel has stayed with me for some time.
bolzan's review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
angiedaz's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
newcombe74's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
zuly's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
beltsquid's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
Giving this a numerical rating is difficult and somewhat pointless. Bradbury was a very talented writer in that his prose is more lyrical and evocative than his peers, and in that it's very pleasant to read. The Martian Chronicles is, however, devastatingly Of Its Time and Place. The settlement of Mars is a very thin allegory for Manifest Destiny, with the Martians themselves being mystical brown-skinned natives who initially violently reject the blue-eyed well-meaning American explorers, but then very conveniently all lay down and die of disease before widespread settlement can begin in earnest. There is of course hand-wringing about the whole thing, but the inevitable American settlement of Mars continues apace, a sad inevitability. One thing I found particularly horrific is that before the Americans land, the psychic Martians just start uncontrollably citing Western poetry from children's rhymes to Lord Byron--cultural imperialism simply blossoms in their minds and they cannot stop it.
Also, these stories are also overwhelmingly concerned with the American small town, American suburban domesticity, and the nuclear family. Very symptomatic of the post-war (white) American project. Women are vapid attachments for their husbands; the one time we are given the point of view of a female character, it is spent on the psychic dreams she's having of another man.
There are things about it that are nominally progressive for the late 1940s, like a story where all the Black people in the American South build their own rockets and up and leave to escape Jim Crow, or Usher II, one of the precursors to Farenheit 451, that at one point directly calls out government paranoia about Communism, and even the aforementioned hand-wringing over the demise of the Martians says some very salient things about the inherent violence of colonizing land that isn't yours and impressing your own names over it. Archive.org houses all of a 1950s sci fi radio show called Dimension X, and they had adapted many of the stories in this book, but what I found notable about reading through the book for myself is that all these more progressive aspects had been brushed out of the adaptations that they aired. But I'm not kidding about the 'nominally' part, at the end of the day it was written by a white man in Los Angeles in the late 1940s. The hard r is in there. And 'what if all the black people just left' is not as progressive as maybe Bradbury thought it was.
Does this mean you should avoid this book, or that it needs to be consigned to the bin of history: no. Are you Missing Out on one of Science Fictions all time classics if you never read this: also, no. Do I regret reading this: also also no. If anything, you should seek out and read "There Will Come Soft Rains", which is easily the best of the lot.
Also, these stories are also overwhelmingly concerned with the American small town, American suburban domesticity, and the nuclear family. Very symptomatic of the post-war (white) American project. Women are vapid attachments for their husbands; the one time we are given the point of view of a female character, it is spent on the psychic dreams she's having of another man.
There are things about it that are nominally progressive for the late 1940s, like a story where all the Black people in the American South build their own rockets and up and leave to escape Jim Crow, or Usher II, one of the precursors to Farenheit 451, that at one point directly calls out government paranoia about Communism, and even the aforementioned hand-wringing over the demise of the Martians says some very salient things about the inherent violence of colonizing land that isn't yours and impressing your own names over it. Archive.org houses all of a 1950s sci fi radio show called Dimension X, and they had adapted many of the stories in this book, but what I found notable about reading through the book for myself is that all these more progressive aspects had been brushed out of the adaptations that they aired. But I'm not kidding about the 'nominally' part, at the end of the day it was written by a white man in Los Angeles in the late 1940s. The hard r is in there. And 'what if all the black people just left' is not as progressive as maybe Bradbury thought it was.
Does this mean you should avoid this book, or that it needs to be consigned to the bin of history: no. Are you Missing Out on one of Science Fictions all time classics if you never read this: also, no. Do I regret reading this: also also no. If anything, you should seek out and read "There Will Come Soft Rains", which is easily the best of the lot.