Ray Bradbury was a terrific writer with an amazing imagination. I've known many of his stories since I was a kid, and the images of the boats on the canals of Mars or the torrential rain on Venus still live in my imagination with surprising power. I discovered Ray Bradbury as a kid in 1966, when I first read "The Martian Chronicles", and I've loved his work ever since. I *so* wanted to see the Martians from the book wandering around on Mars when Viking 1 landed in 1976, even though I knew better by that point. Among my favorite short stories by him are "The Long Rain" and "I Sing the Body Electric."
I've read "Something Wicked" and half of "Illustraded Man", and he's quickly risen as someone I'll read as much of their work as I can. Not every short story is perfect, but their all entertaining and posit something interesting. I really fell in love with "Something Wicked" though; there's a fluid poetry and abundance of metaphor to his prose I can only so far equate to to Ursula Le Guin, though there's differences I want to nail down (I think she's slightly better at keeping me enraptured - without pausing to wonder what that means.) I really need to read more of both. Thanks for including that childhood story of "Mr. Electro" at the carnival granting him immortality, because that's literally a large part of what the book is about, so it's cool to learn that.
My love affair with sci-fi began in the '60s when I was in grade 5. The school librarian handed me Bradbury's collection of short stories _S is for Space_ with the simple words, "Here, I think you'll like this." Two stories in, I felt as if my whole life had changed. For the next twenty years, I read nothing but sci-fi.
Fahrenheit 451 was one of the first books I ever read at school. I remember being absolutely flabberghasted by the idea of reading being prohibited, given most kids had to be forced into it. 🤔
Martin Prince: "As your president, I would demand a science-fiction library, featuring an ABC of the genre. Asimov, Bester, Clarke. Student: What about Ray Bradbury? Martin Prince: I'm aware of his work..." I always why Martin Prince was dismissive of Ray Bradbury's science fiction, but it seems Bradbury didn't consider himself a SF writer.
i love Bradbury. The Illustrated Man, Fahrenheit 451, and the Halloween Tree are among my favorites. and Buster Crabbe’s Flash Gordon will always live in my mind - one of my favorites ( via television. it’s very vivid in my mind. i still remember the the music of the clay people :) 🚀👾
My favorite story by Ray Bradbury is Way in the Middle of the Air, one of the stories that was included in the first publication of The Martan Chronicles. Basically, it was a story about African Americans leaving Earth for Mars due to segregation and Jim Crow laws. I love this story not just because of its content but also because of what it says about the limits of even the most creative and imaginative people. For all his creativity and imagination, when he wrote this story, Ray Bradbury was still a man living in the 1940s United States. So he could imagine a future where people can travel to Mars, but could not imagine a future where segregation and Jim Crow had been abolished. Sitting in the United States during the 1940s, Ray Bradbury, the futurist who invisioned space travel and entirely new universes, could not believe that the end of segregation was possible enough to even include it in a science fiction story. I am definitely not saying that I think Bradbury was racist. Far from it. Way in the Middle of the Air is definitely an anti-racist story. But the fact that even someone as incredibly creative as Bradbury was imaginatively limited by the society and times he lived in says a lot about how deeply our expectations and imagination are molded by our society and times. In the 1940s United States, a young incredibly talented science fiction writer could look around and see enough to believe in the possibility of future space travel and colonizing mars But living in that time and place, that same person could not see the possibility of an end to segregation and Jim Crow. All of us, the futurists, the visionaries, even the most wildly creative geniuses, are limited in our imaginations of the future by what we are told by the world around us. Had Bradbury not been othwise so profoundly limitless in his imagination, what I learned from Way in the Middle of the Air about the limits of our imagination would not have rung so true.
"You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them." - RB
Ray Bradbury was a terrific writer with an amazing imagination. I've known many of his stories since I was a kid, and the images of the boats on the canals of Mars or the torrential rain on Venus still live in my imagination with surprising power.
I discovered Ray Bradbury as a kid in 1966, when I first read "The Martian Chronicles", and I've loved his work ever since. I *so* wanted to see the Martians from the book wandering around on Mars when Viking 1 landed in 1976, even though I knew better by that point. Among my favorite short stories by him are "The Long Rain" and "I Sing the Body Electric."
I've read "Something Wicked" and half of "Illustraded Man", and he's quickly risen as someone I'll read as much of their work as I can. Not every short story is perfect, but their all entertaining and posit something interesting. I really fell in love with "Something Wicked" though; there's a fluid poetry and abundance of metaphor to his prose I can only so far equate to to Ursula Le Guin, though there's differences I want to nail down (I think she's slightly better at keeping me enraptured - without pausing to wonder what that means.) I really need to read more of both. Thanks for including that childhood story of "Mr. Electro" at the carnival granting him immortality, because that's literally a large part of what the book is about, so it's cool to learn that.
Excellent presentation. He is my fave author of all-time! Just subbed your channel.
My love affair with sci-fi began in the '60s when I was in grade 5. The school librarian handed me Bradbury's collection of short stories _S is for Space_ with the simple words, "Here, I think you'll like this." Two stories in, I felt as if my whole life had changed. For the next twenty years, I read nothing but sci-fi.
Fahrenheit 451 was one of the first books I ever read at school. I remember being absolutely flabberghasted by the idea of reading being prohibited, given most kids had to be forced into it. 🤔
This is a nice way to wake up on a Sunday morning 😀!
👍👍👍
Brilliant video. Thank you I feel so informed. I've only recently returned to Science fiction. Cheers
Thanks! And welcome back to SF. You're in for a great ride.
'Prey World' by A. Merow is also a great dystopian series from Germany. You should know it
Martin Prince:
"As your president, I would demand a science-fiction library, featuring an ABC of the genre. Asimov, Bester, Clarke.
Student:
What about Ray Bradbury?
Martin Prince:
I'm aware of his work..."
I always why Martin Prince was dismissive of Ray Bradbury's science fiction, but it seems Bradbury didn't consider himself a SF writer.
i love Bradbury. The Illustrated Man, Fahrenheit 451, and the Halloween Tree are among my favorites. and Buster Crabbe’s Flash Gordon will always live in my mind - one of my favorites ( via television. it’s very vivid in my mind. i still remember the the music of the clay people :) 🚀👾
was*
Will we get one of these on Frank Herbert?
My favorite story by Ray Bradbury is Way in the Middle of the Air, one of the stories that was included in the first publication of The Martan Chronicles.
Basically, it was a story about African Americans leaving Earth for Mars due to segregation and Jim Crow laws.
I love this story not just because of its content but also because of what it says about the limits of even the most creative and imaginative people.
For all his creativity and imagination, when he wrote this story, Ray Bradbury was still a man living in the 1940s United States.
So he could imagine a future where people can travel to Mars, but could not imagine a future where segregation and Jim Crow had been abolished.
Sitting in the United States during the 1940s, Ray Bradbury, the futurist who invisioned space travel and entirely new universes, could not believe that the end of segregation was possible enough to even include it in a science fiction story.
I am definitely not saying that I think Bradbury was racist. Far from it. Way in the Middle of the Air is definitely an anti-racist story.
But the fact that even someone as incredibly creative as Bradbury was imaginatively limited by the society and times he lived in says a lot about how deeply our expectations and imagination are molded by our society and times.
In the 1940s United States, a young incredibly talented science fiction writer could look around and see enough to believe in the possibility of future space travel and colonizing mars
But living in that time and place, that same person could not see the possibility of an end to segregation and Jim Crow.
All of us, the futurists, the visionaries, even the most wildly creative geniuses, are limited in our imaginations of the future by what we are told by the world around us.
Had Bradbury not been othwise so profoundly limitless in his imagination, what I learned from Way in the Middle of the Air about the limits of our imagination would not have rung so true.
Another great video! Have to admit I've not read any of Bradbury's books. Going to correct this soon with the Martian Chronicles.
“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.” ― Joseph Brodsky
I'm not a fan of Bradbury, but the channel is probably the best on SF literature, so I see it anyway.
As Martin said "I'm aware of his work". Never considered him a real sci-fi author.
I thought you have said, "as a martian, I'm aware of his work" 👽
Great video👍
Glad you enjoyed