The Martian Chronicles
Ratings496
Average rating4
It might be the decades apart from when this book was written but it was hard for me to connect to it.I like how [a:Ray Bradbury 1630 Ray Bradbury https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1445955959p2/1630.jpg] and other authors of the time used SciFi to dissert on human behavior.
All right nerd confession: this is actually the first time I've read Ray Bradbury. I know! Shame! I don't often enjoy older sci-fi, so it was pretty easy to not get around to reading any. That said, I'm glad the book club picked this one. While there are dated sections (only one woman left on Mars and she's fat!), there were also truly poignant and progressive sections. And Bradbury's prose is just as lush and beautiful as I've been told. It was progressive for the time, and really read more like philosophy than sci-fi often. I see why it's a classic, and I'm glad I finally read it.
A perfect blend of humor and tragedy—depressing, but in an enlightening way, if that makes any sense. The Martian Chronicles presents a very dim view of human society and how we are hellbent on destroying ourselves, which I think has retained its relevancy up to 2019, hence the enlightenment. My favorite story from the collection was “The Earth Men”. As one can expect with Bradbury, the writing and storytelling is phenomenal.
What is this book? It is philosophy wrapped in poetry packaged as vignettes, all related using the most sparse language with an almost hypnotic eloquence.
Through the imaginary foil of a habitable Mars the author delves into the hopes and fears of humanity and holds up for our consideration the depths we can fall to and the assured destruction we face if we continue down the path of prejudice.
I laughed, I was confused, I wanted more from some stories and less from others. This book is actually a series of short stories about colonization of Mars. The stories are mostly funny, usually in a misunderstanding kind of way. Some stories reminded me of Twilight Zone episodes, while others of romantic comedies. Considering when this was written, it's held up amazingly well.
I laughed, I was confused, I wanted more from some stories and less from others. This book is actually a series of short stories about colonization of Mars. The stories are mostly funny, usually in a misunderstanding kind of way. Some stories reminded me of Twilight Zone episodes, while others of romantic comedies. Considering when this was written, it's held up amazingly well.
Bradbury's work continues to transcend time and provide painfully relevant and thought provoking material.
For me, one of a few early post war sci-fi books that stands the test of time, not because of the science (there is no attempt to make the book scientifically accurate) but because of the ideas and the quality of the writing.
Je me souviens avoir lu ce roman après que ma soeur l'ait étudié au lycée. J'en garde un bon souvenir, et c'est peut-être l'un de mes premiers contacts avec les grands auteurs de science-fiction.
One of my favorite Sci-Fi books ever, The Martian Chronicles is a collection of short stories that take place in Earth and Mars. They tell us about the rise and fall of civilisations, of how society could respond to encounters with beings that, albeit extraterrestrial, they're not really that different from us. Love, yearning, hope, despair, you can find everything and more between these pages.
Esa prosa, maldita sea, tan cautivadora y exquisita. Ese puño que en la ficción es suave y elegante, sin muchos rodeos y sin detenerse en nimiedades tecnológicas. Basta un párrafo para despegar de la Tierra y aterrizar en Marte. Esta es una de las razones por la cual este libro parece inmune al paso de los años.⠀
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El tema principal es la conquista y la colonización; una mirada menos superficial resaltaría temas como la muerte, la codicia, el racismo, la soledad y la añoranza. El personaje principal acá es el cuento mismo, algo que el autor domina de manera magistral. ⠀
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Leer este libro fue una experiencia maravillosa. Después de otras de sus colecciones y su “Fahrenheit 451”, y aunque todavía falta mucho de su obra por leer, puedo decir que esta es mi favorita hasta ahora. Con esto quiero decir que Bradbury tiene muchos cuentos buenos pero estos en particular tienen un hilo que, aunque no marquen una línea directa, se fusionan para dar forma a una hermosa novela. Brillante.
Executive Summary: My first by Mr. Bradbury, but won't be my last. Then again since I'll be reviewing [b:Something Wicked This Way Comes 248596 Something Wicked This Way Comes (Green Town, #2) Ray Bradbury https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1409596011s/248596.jpg 1183550] for SFFAudio later this month..that was probably going to happen anyways. :-DAudio book: Mark Boyett's voice reminds me a bit of Rod Serling, which as I get into a bit below seemed a perfect fit. I know there are multiple versions of the audiobook. I'm not sure how easy they are to get a hold of, but this one seems like a good option.Full ReviewI've never read anything by Mr. Bradbury before. I'm not really well read in the “classics”. There is too much modern stuff I want to read, and in general I prefer fantasy to Sci-Fi. But when Brilliance Audio was releasing some of his better known works on Audio CD (although the production itself was done by Audible) last year, I jumped at the chance to finally give him a try.I've been in a bit of a reading funk this year, and was trying to figure out what to read AFTER this book to get me out of it. Since it was short though, I wanted to listen to it sooner rather than later, write up my review then move onto something else.Apparently I just needed to listen to this. Apart from one story (Way in the Middle of the Air) which made me really uncomfortable and showed it's age. It appears to have been eliminated from several of the more recent editions of this book, and I wish I had skipped it as it really adds very little to this collection.Everything else was enjoyable. A bit depressing, but enjoyable. Mr. Bradbury paints a bleak picture of a future that thankfully never came. This isn't hard sci-fi by any means, but more like dystopian space opera.I would have never thought something bleak would lighten my mood, but the stories were that good, and the prose are excellent. They reminded me a lot of the Twilight Zone, although I know these stories predate that show. I think The Silent Towns could easily have been an episode of the show, as could several others.I think my favorite of the collection is Usher II. I can't pretend to get all the references apart from Poe and Lovecraft, but his tale of revenge for censorship is quite good. I'll have to check out the Poe story [b:The Fall of the House of Usher 175516 The Fall of the House of Usher Edgar Allan Poe https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1387708966s/175516.jpg 15570703] that seems to have influenced it.Overall this is an excellent collection of stories, and if like me you haven't read it/anything by Mr. Bradbury, this seems like as good a place as any to start.
I actually listened to this on BBC Radio 4 (here). This was a great adaptation which I enjoyed although it was very clear that these stories were loosely woven together with a series of short, interstitial vignettes for publication.
Oh, wow. That was like... a religious experience. I honestly don't want to speak of it, except in hushed tones and very indirectly. Let's just say that:
- After A Princess of Mars, this was SUCH a balm. Like rain on the desert.
- Once I figured out the meta of this book - i.e. its structure, and how each chapter related to the book as a whole - I may have peed a little from excitement.
- 99% of it was perfect. The only 1% was one chapter (the House of Usher one) which threw me out of the story with its hokey, sci-fi/goth humor vibe.
- Deeply moving, and troubling, and amazing. Like all really good sci-fi, it makes you think about the here and now.
- If, like me, you choose to YouTube “Martian Chronicles” and you end up at the 1980s TV miniseries clips, beware. They may re-ignite some childhood fears of the dark rooms in your home. Eeeeeep.
Overall, amazing. Just amazing. I guess that Bradbury fella is good! Who knew!
Great collection of short stories/chapters regarding humans travel to Mars. Very interesting read.
Ray Bradbury lacks both vision of the future and imagination. “The Martian Chronicles” are hugely overrated and I don't think they deserve the moniker “sci-fi classic”.