Topic: Ray Bradbury

[trapeze]

I read a lot of science fiction stuff over the years but I will admit that Bradbury was never to my liking. I don't know why. At any rate...he passed away at the age of 91.

LINK

[IronDioPriest]

I was never a huge fan either, although I remember enjoying "The Illustrated Man" and "Fahrenheit 451" as a young boy. I also seem to remember reading some Bradbury short stories in sci-fi compilation books, and I enjoyed those short story compilation books a great deal. But I couldn't name one of those stories, or even tell you what any were about.

[Libertas]

Yeah, I think a lot of people read F451, but I never cared for his writing much either.  don't really know much about him than his name and association with a few books he wrote.

[ToddF]

Another golden ager gone. 

Heck, even the "young" ones are getting elderly.  George RR Martin, Orson Scott Card, ect.

[LadyVirginia]

I couldn't get into his stuff but obviously many others did.

[Alphabet Soup]

I'll readily admit to being an unwavering fan of Bradbury.

As someone afflicted with Melancholia for most of my life I was instantly attracted to Ray's uncanny ability to draw stunning word-pictures and notably to depict the bitter-sweetness in life. That briefest of moments when the world stops around you and with dazzling clarity you realize that this instant in time is upon you, here, and gone never to return.

Read "Dandelion Wine" to get a glimpse of what I'm describing.

He also wrote "It Came from Outer Space" which was a minor success on the movie circuit in the early 1950's. I devoured "The Illustrated Man", "The Martian Chronicles", and "Something Wicked This Way Comes" and shared Bradbury's disappointment with the movie treatments.

I thought "I Sing The Body Electric" was corny and have always disliked "Fahrenheit 451".

[charlesoakwood]

The Martian Chronicles
The Illustrated Man
R Is for Rocket
I SING THE BODY ELECTRIC. A collection of short stories by Ray Bradbury.

RIP

ETA:  http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/302040/remembering-ray-ted-elrick

Ray explained to me that he really didn’t consider himself a science-fiction writer, but he did have a very interesting example of a science-fiction film — Singing in the Rain. He explained that the plot exists solely because of a technological advancement, in this case sound coming to movies, and how that technology affects every character’s life.

I had to ask [Harlan] Ellison a follow-up question, and in the process wondered what he thought of Ray’s example. Ellison said, “Well, I respect Ray greatly, but you have to remember . . . ”

And there was a long pause. Then he said, “You know, Ray has a point.”

[LadyVirginia]

Local radio host this morning made fun of Diane Sawyer retitling Bradbury's book as Fahrenheit Four Five One.

Like to see her on Jeopardy.

[Libertas]

Local radio host this morning made fun of Diane Sawyer retitling Bradbury's book as Fahrenheit Four Five One.

Like to see her on Jeopardy.

 

[Alphabet Soup]

I thought this a very nice sentiment on the lasting legacy of Ray Bradbury:

What is true of totalitarianism is true of leftism today.  The left swoons at Silent Spring or Earth in the Balance, despite the uninspired writing and dreadful science in those books.  The approach of leftism to science is perfectly exposed in the University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit and its sibling global warming cadres: e-mails and documentary evidence were withheld and sometimes purged.  Such acts make for the antithesis of true science, which makes a point of keeping records even of what fits uncomfortably into hypotheses.

The left lives on emotions and images.  There is no leftist counterpart to Thomas Sowell or C.S. Lewis or Ayn Rand or Alexander Solzhenitsyn.  Bradbury grasped the unique vitality of the written word.  Bradbury once said, "Libraries raised me.  I don't believe in colleges and universities."

Inevitably, Ray Bradbury, who knew the value of books as collected human wisdom, knowledge, and ideas, became a conservative who voted Republican and denounced excessive government.  He saw, in many ways, the explosion of information technology, which places many of us within a constant network of parroted talking points, empty gossip, and swiftly changing party lines, and he bemoaned our addiction to this drowning of the individual mind in the buzzing of the hive.  He was one of a kind, and he was one of us.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/06/the_conservative_legacy_of_bradbury.html#ixzz1xCwuRB62

[Libertas]

Walker posted a fine piece.

Did not know Bradbury was conservative.

Hate losing a patriot!