Re-reading Ray Bradbury

[King Bob]

Recently I thought I would re-read Something Wicked This Way Comes and I just couldn't do it. It was straining way too hard to be meaningful and I found it over-written (too much flowery language). It made me wonder about his other books (Did I just like them because I was young and not discerning?)

For a vacation read, I carried along The Illustrated Man. I hadn't read it since I was in high school. The framing device of the illustrated man is very clever, but the collection is actually mostly mediocre old pulp stuff. I was surprised by that. There are three standouts: "The Veldt" (which I still remembered), "The Fox and the Forest", and "Zero Hour", and the rest is IMO just potboilers. I am starting on The Martian Chronicles next.

[King Bob]

I am going to reply to my own post. It seemed better than editing. Just finished The Martian Chronicles. I felt the same - a few really strong stories and standard pulp filler. The early part with the Martians was good, and a couple of the stories at the end were solid, but the rest was forgettable, which is probably why I had forgotten it. Of course you will all remember "There Will Come Soft Rains", which is still a classic.

Next I am tackling The October Country, which was my favorite back in the day, so I'll see if it's held up. And I notice that all the stuff I've read so far is only up to about 1955, so maybe he got stronger later. I'll see; I have several books to go.

And if you just want great pulp SF, then I would skip Bradbury and go for Philip K. Dick (all the stuff in the fairly recent Selected Stories is good) or A.E. Van Vogt (the one to read from him is Destination Universe which has several great stories).

[El Dingo]

I need to reread his stuff. He did an in-store at Tower when I was there and was an insufferable diva asshole, so I need to remind myself he had talent.

If you are famous, and don't like being adored by fans, don't do appearances. If you do appearances, put up a sign saying you are there due to contractual obligation and do not make eye contact.

[King Bob]

Well Bradbury wrote a story called "Rocket Man" about a boy's father who is a spacecraft pilot. I just heard the Elton John song of the same name and it got me wondering if the story was an influence on the song - those are the only two places I've ever heard the term, and "astronaut" was already in wide usage when the song was written. Just wondering, and will probably never know, but it is possible....

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

So, Wikipedia . . .

The lyrics in the song, inspired by the short story "The Rocket Man" in The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury, and written by John's longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin, describe a Mars-bound astronaut's mixed feelings at leaving his family in order to do his job. Musically, the song is a highly arranged pop ballad anchored by piano, with atmospheric texture added by synthesizer (played on the recording by engineer Dave Hentschel) and processed slide guitar. It is also known for being the first song in John's catalog to feature what would become the signature backing vocal combination of his band at the time, Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson and Davey Johnstone.

[King Bob]

This book was also early work, c. 1943-1955, but this time focused on horror themes. By today's standards it's probably pretty tame stuff, but clever and mostly well-done. I found it much more convincing than his early SF stuff. (I think you could cite it as a direct precursor to, although perhaps not influence on, Steven King.) There are several strong stories here: The Emissary, The Small Assassin, The Man Upstairs, The Scythe. Over half the stories were good, and he mostly avoided trying to write poetically or experiment with style, which tend to ruin his stories for me. Plus the illustrations are good.

Next is The Machineries of Joy...