This is a thread to post anything by authors who may have been influenced by Ray or that you think his readers would enjoy.
For anyone who enjoyed "I Sing the Body Electric!" I highly recommend The Magnificent Mummy Maker by Elvira Woodruff. It's a kids' book about a boy who finds himself in the same sort of dilemma as the kids in that story and how he deals with his problem.
Posts: 7332 | Location: Dayton, Washington, USA | Registered: 03 December 2001
Author Richard Bach has been influenced by Ray Bradbury. Readers of Ray Bradbury would enjoy the books Out of My Mind and Hypnotizing Maria and most likley other Bach titles.
If you like Bradbury's novella Somewhere A Band Is Playing, I think you will especially enjoy Bach's Out of My Mind.
An alltime favorite since childhood which I would put on a par with the best of Ray's is Mystery of the Witches' Bridge by Barbee Oliver Carleton, not only a fantastic story but a fully realized setting which compelled me to seek out actual places. This author had ancestors involved in the Salem Witch trials as did Ray.
Posts: 7332 | Location: Dayton, Washington, USA | Registered: 03 December 2001
Notice how I have not posted in this thread in nearly seven years, as it is extremely rare that I recommend any book on a level with Ray Bradbury's.
I just finished reading A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote for the second time. I am very glad it exists, but sad to see it seems to be from a cycle of only three stories, "A Christmas Memory," "A Thanksgiving Visitor," and "One Christmas." The first two are available in picture books illustrated by Beth Peck, and all three are collected in one volume from Modern Library. I certainly intend to obtain and read these. I only wish these stories could have been expanded into a book at least the size of Dandelion Wine.
Again, I am sorry that Ray Bradbury did not write a companion book to Dandelion Wine set during winter and including Christmas.
Many years ago, when Truman Capote was either still alive or had only recently died, I read about a fictionalized version of his childhood written by another author, in which Truman was the hero in several incidents. I have been unable to find that so far, but a recent novel for young people explores his childhood friendship with Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird. https://www.goodreads.com/book...w/25897850-tru-nelleThis message has been edited. Last edited by: dandelion,
Posts: 7332 | Location: Dayton, Washington, USA | Registered: 03 December 2001
Originally posted by dandelion: No one has posted to this thread in over a year, and today my uncle asked if I wasn't a little obsessed with Ray Bradbury. Humpfh.
"Your uncle said, your uncle said. Your uncle must be a remarkable man."
i hope Ms. Dandelion reads and edits this quickly, because the sort of abject pleading that follows is unseemly.
I'm a 71-year-old guy doing the work of a man of 35, carpentry and sheetrock and door hanging and general fix-it, still bearing up pretty well, trying to support a second family, and I wrote a book that Bradbury fans ought to love. Since this thread is dedicated to books of that sort, this promo shouldn't be too out of place. Kirkus said, " . . . drifts assuredly between the plainspoken and the lyrical in a buoyant, unpretentious style still able to achieve moments of brilliance." Clarion Reviews gave it a big thumbs-up, and one poet-laureate of Texas said, "Rich . . . sparkling." I wrote it as a gift from way-back-then to now, and it disappoints me to see the gift still lying on the doorstop unopened --- because, of course, the publishing world has moved on to other things --- fads? --- so in my impatience I self-published. Of course I feel it is a pillar of American literature, and enjoyable to boot, both for old and young alike, so I would like to add it to the recommended list. The title is 'Cloud of Expectation', and I would happily send Ms. Dandelion a copy if there were a mailing address available. Because the extra income from a few sales would be welcome.
While we await Dandelion's verdict on that one --- with all the restraint of a tethered boar --- we may as well share two writers whom I've not seen mentioned in these forums. . . although they are wholly appropriate. Sitting here in my book-lined study, gathering my satin evening robe about me, petting my Venusian cannibal frog and having a shot of Texas rotgut whiskey . . . ah yes, those were the days . . . my mind goes back to Manly Wade Wellman's Silver John series and M. R. James' Victorian ghost stories --- always well-done, no gore, just creepy and intelligent --- look 'em up, you won't be disappointed.
I very much enjoy the work of Manly Wade Wellman, and had the good fortune to meet him at the 1983 World Fantasy Convention, held in Chicago, where he was a Guest of Honor.
In addition, I absolutely love the writing of M.R. James. His collections, GHOST STORIES OF AN ANTIQUARY and MORE GHOST STORIES OF AN ANTIQUARY, are two of the best collections of such tales I have ever read, with the stories "Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad" and "Casting the Runes" being personal favorites. You are right...M. R. James knew how to terrify the reader with the power of words, without relying on the gore so many so-called "horror" writers use.
