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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Honestamente de los mejores libros de ciencia ficción que hay o que habrá en el futuro. Me recordó mucho a yo, robot. Te quiero para siempre, Ray bradbury.
A great collection of short stories that enrapture and stay with you in long afterward. It is easy to see why so many recommended and love Ray Bradbury. This is the first book of his that I have read, but it will not be the last!
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
I think his prose is bland and his characters bored me. My favourite story was The Veldt, which was the first story. It quickly went downhill from there.
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Finally knocking a long-sitting one off my Currently Reading- apologies to my friend's attempted book club in 2017 where I didn't even finish the short story collection, whoops. In the intervening years I've since read Fahrenheit 451 for my other book club and I really enjoy Bradbury's prose. Of course, his stories do lean a bit male-centric in terms of point of view characters and while you could argue that that's just how things were in the 1940s and 1950s, I feel like if you're imaginative to dream of worlds beyond worlds in space, you can be a little more flexible with our paradigms, yes?
Anyway, this is also a perfect example of how great short stories can be, packing in a punch but not lingering too long (and also having to be efficient based on their length). Going through my notes for the 18 stories (which: I also love the framing device here, the titular Illustrated Man. And upon glancing at the wiki entry, I see it's also replaced the Fire Balloons story which is absent in my copy, huh):
The Veldt- the one that's stuck in my mind the longest, maybe because it's the first, but also because it makes me think about ceding responsibility of parenting/caretaking to devices (and how you should be aware of the content)
Kaleidoscope- space is scary, man
The Other Foot - another one that's stuck with me, what if Black people all left and went to Mars, and a white man lands 20 years later...
The Highway - must be nice, to be like Hernando and not aware of global events (that people are presumably fleeing from)
The Man - JESUS CHRIST, SUPERSTAR
The Long Rain - just fascinated by all these mid-century and older sci-fi stories that imagine Venus as a raining, steaming jungle of a place.
The Rocket Man - An astronaut visits his family on earth, but longs for space, and I wonder if there are similar stories of men who wish to be at sea more than being at home (a whole dad genre, I bet)
The Last Night of the World - mildly reminded of The Last Policeman for "what's the point if the world is ending" but also: why did only the men dream of impending doom?
The Exiles - a silly story about literary figures and authors fleeing to Mars when books are burnt on Earth (and based on Bradbury's 1999 intro to this collection, oddly a precursor to Fahrenheit 451)
No Particular Night or Morning- I wondered if the character names were once again literary allusions. Existential dread that reminds me of the AI psychosis stories IRL
The Fox and the Forest - time travelers trying to flee the wartorn future are pursued, and they think they can tell other travelers apart.
The Visitor - greed of men on Mars, killing a golden goose (not literal)
The Concrete Mixer - oops, Earth achieved a Cultural Victory ala Sid Meier's Civilization over invading Martians
Marionettes Inc. - Westworld, essentially also why did these men get married if they were going to ignore their wives???
The City - a long slumbering biological entity gets revenge on the species that devastated it: humans.
Zero Hour - oh my god plz pay attention to your kids and don't dismiss their imaginings and also kids don't murder your parents
The Rocket - I was very afraid this would end in tragedy after the last couple stories, but it ended up being very sweet.
The Illustrated Man - how did our frame story come to be? also a tragedy.
Anyway, this is also a perfect example of how great short stories can be, packing in a punch but not lingering too long (and also having to be efficient based on their length). Going through my notes for the 18 stories (which: I also love the framing device here, the titular Illustrated Man. And upon glancing at the wiki entry, I see it's also replaced the Fire Balloons story which is absent in my copy, huh):
The Veldt- the one that's stuck in my mind the longest, maybe because it's the first, but also because it makes me think about ceding responsibility of parenting/caretaking to devices (and how you should be aware of the content)
Kaleidoscope- space is scary, man
The Other Foot - another one that's stuck with me, what if Black people all left and went to Mars, and a white man lands 20 years later...
The Highway - must be nice, to be like Hernando and not aware of global events (that people are presumably fleeing from)
The Man - JESUS CHRIST, SUPERSTAR
The Long Rain - just fascinated by all these mid-century and older sci-fi stories that imagine Venus as a raining, steaming jungle of a place.
The Rocket Man - An astronaut visits his family on earth, but longs for space, and I wonder if there are similar stories of men who wish to be at sea more than being at home (a whole dad genre, I bet)
The Last Night of the World - mildly reminded of The Last Policeman for "what's the point if the world is ending" but also: why did only the men dream of impending doom?
The Exiles - a silly story about literary figures and authors fleeing to Mars when books are burnt on Earth (and based on Bradbury's 1999 intro to this collection, oddly a precursor to Fahrenheit 451)
No Particular Night or Morning- I wondered if the character names were once again literary allusions. Existential dread that reminds me of the AI psychosis stories IRL
The Fox and the Forest - time travelers trying to flee the wartorn future are pursued, and they think they can tell other travelers apart.
The Visitor - greed of men on Mars, killing a golden goose (not literal)
The Concrete Mixer - oops, Earth achieved a Cultural Victory ala Sid Meier's Civilization over invading Martians
Marionettes Inc. - Westworld, essentially also why did these men get married if they were going to ignore their wives???
The City - a long slumbering biological entity gets revenge on the species that devastated it: humans.
Zero Hour - oh my god plz pay attention to your kids and don't dismiss their imaginings and also kids don't murder your parents
The Rocket - I was very afraid this would end in tragedy after the last couple stories, but it ended up being very sweet.
The Illustrated Man - how did our frame story come to be? also a tragedy.
I enjoyed the depth of each character in the short story. Some of these stories will forever stick with me
Dnf. Authors pov as a white man in 1950 was too apparent in the text and detracted heavily. Made it through “The long rain”. Disliked them all except: liked the prologue, mixed on kaleidoscope and the other foot. (6/18 plus prologue)
You know those old sci-fi stories that are scary in how they predict the future? This collectioon is not it.
adventurous
funny
fast-paced