"It was a warm afternoon in early September when I first met the Illustrated Man." That is the first sentence in Ray Bradbury's The Illustrated Man. That is not true for myself (it was actually an afternoon in March), but I am definitely glad that I read it.
Bradbury has a very peculiar style that is distinct, but excellent. Though he wrote a few novels (Fahrenheit 451 and Something Wicked This Way Comes being two of the more-well-known), the bulk of Bradbury's writing was made up of short stories. And he was definitely good at writing them.
In The Illustrated Man, Bradbury writes dark stories with chilling lessons and creepy plots. Eighteen stories (plus a prologue and an epilogue) make up this excellent anthology. My three favorites are "Zero Hour", "The Fox and the Forest", and "Marionettes, Inc." (in no particular order).
"The Fox and the Forest" concerns a couple in Mexico, 1935. They are from the future (the year 2155, actually), and used the company Travel in Time, Inc. to get to the past. Their trip was only supposed to last a few days, but they evaded security and escaped so that the husband in the relationship would not get drafted for the war in 2155. But the government figures them out and tries to catch them....
"Marionettes, Inc." is also very good. Braling and Smith are two good friends who just had a good night at the bar, when Braling says that he has to go home. They walk to Braling's home together, and Braling shows Smith how he was able to leave the house, even with his over-protective wife. It is because he has a robot that looks and is just like himself, tailored personally for him by Marionettes, Inc.
"Zero Hour" takes place on a futuristic Earth. All the kids in a certain town are playing a game that they call "Invasion" with each other. Their parents can hardly get them to do anything, they are so busy with the game. Mrs. Morris finds out that in fact it is a game that kids all across America are playing all at the same time. Very interesting.
Bradbury made an excellent collection of stories in The Illustrated Man. They all have the feel of a "Twilight Zone" episode. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone with a passion for reading and a taste for things a little bit quirky.
http://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-Man-Grand-Master-Editions/dp/055327449X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1223680907&sr=8-1
Grade: 8.5
Bradbury has a very peculiar style that is distinct, but excellent. Though he wrote a few novels (Fahrenheit 451 and Something Wicked This Way Comes being two of the more-well-known), the bulk of Bradbury's writing was made up of short stories. And he was definitely good at writing them.
In The Illustrated Man, Bradbury writes dark stories with chilling lessons and creepy plots. Eighteen stories (plus a prologue and an epilogue) make up this excellent anthology. My three favorites are "Zero Hour", "The Fox and the Forest", and "Marionettes, Inc." (in no particular order).
"The Fox and the Forest" concerns a couple in Mexico, 1935. They are from the future (the year 2155, actually), and used the company Travel in Time, Inc. to get to the past. Their trip was only supposed to last a few days, but they evaded security and escaped so that the husband in the relationship would not get drafted for the war in 2155. But the government figures them out and tries to catch them....
"Marionettes, Inc." is also very good. Braling and Smith are two good friends who just had a good night at the bar, when Braling says that he has to go home. They walk to Braling's home together, and Braling shows Smith how he was able to leave the house, even with his over-protective wife. It is because he has a robot that looks and is just like himself, tailored personally for him by Marionettes, Inc.
"Zero Hour" takes place on a futuristic Earth. All the kids in a certain town are playing a game that they call "Invasion" with each other. Their parents can hardly get them to do anything, they are so busy with the game. Mrs. Morris finds out that in fact it is a game that kids all across America are playing all at the same time. Very interesting.
Bradbury made an excellent collection of stories in The Illustrated Man. They all have the feel of a "Twilight Zone" episode. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone with a passion for reading and a taste for things a little bit quirky.
http://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-Man-Grand-Master-Editions/dp/055327449X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1223680907&sr=8-1
Grade: 8.5
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