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I was born on an army base in Augsburg, Germany in 1969. Currently, I live in South Orange County, California.

Now to my gripe.

In response to the first post of the thread, what a total crock that Mr. Bradbury's work could be incomprehensible to anyone born after 1940! My father was born in 1941, and he's a huge Ray Bradbury fan; I was born in 1969 and I understood what Mr. Bradbury wrote.

I consider it's the critic's failing not to be able to understand it. As a child of the tail end of the Cold War, science fiction really spoke to me. From H.G. Wells's gaslight tech to
Asimov's Lucky Starr "space cowboy" adventures to Heinlein's use of the slide rule to enter data into a navigational computer to Gibson's dark biotech future, all of literature reflects its time and the timelessness of the message:

Human nature transcends all epochs.

Right now, Fahrenheit 451 has an eerily prophetic quality to it, though instead of fire, it's disinterest. If the message from a man born in 1920 can resonate in 2007, then I insist the "Case" against the author has no merit.

Thanks, Jess, keep 'em coming!

Yes, Bradbury has on more than one occasion said things to the effect of not having to burn books, just not read them, to produce the same effect.

Born in 1973 in rural Australia.
I'm one of relatively few RB fans in my country, which surprises me. There is something distinctly American about his work, but much that is universal as well, and he is such an acrobat with words.
Every once in a while, a colleague (I'm a high school English teacher) will mention well-known stories like 'All summer in a day' or 'A sound of thunder', without knowing who Bradbury is!

"[Bradbury]...so tied to his own time and place as to make his work incomprehensible to anyone not born in America during the years 1920-1940!..."

Well, authors should write about what they know. As for comprehensibility, our culture is becoming one in which (for many reasons) each successive generation has less and less 'handed down' to it by its progenitors; whether it be history, music, writing, ethics, or anything that has been traditionally passed on.
I believe this to be the condition in which the writer quoted above must be in order to make such an assertion.
An example that comes to mind is how many of my generation can relate to Biblical aphorisms, morals from Aesop's fables, catch phrases from old radio shows, characters from old books, and old songs; none of which were taught , but somehow caught.
Will our children's children know the works of Dickens, Twain, Poe, or Bradbury apart from having to read them in school?

Sorry for the digression, but I felt compelled...

Off to Merrie Olde England tomorrow, so my posts will be few and far between, if any!

I was born in 1977 in the Bay Area of California. I first discovered RB in 10th grade. It was love at first read!

quote:

Originally posted by Braling II:
Off to Merrie Olde England tomorrow, so my posts will be few and far between, if any!

Merrie Olde England looks forward to welcoming you. You may even get greeted by good weather, as we have had an uncharacteristically fine Easter weekend over here!

My sister's going to England. Wah. Everyone but me!

I'll raise a pint to you whilst I'm there, dear lass...

In honor of our most recent members this thread is being moved up.

Green Town, Illinois. But wait - I'm not a new member.

Mog the Dog here.

I am not a new member, but this is the first time I have wandered into this thread, so I will press my pushpin into the map precisely 43.09 miles south southwest of Allendale, CA.

I ought to take the forty-six minute trek up that way to visit the old (or shall I say new?)There Will Come Soft Rains automated house, but I fear that my forty-four-year-old faux fur would set off the cleaning robot alarms faster than the radiation sores on that poor old pup in the story. And my goal in this iteration of my existence in this world is to be forgotten prior to being incinerated.

So I will stay put here for now.

MTD

The Forest of Aokigahara, Japan. Raised by the spirit of my great ancestor, Kukai the Monk.

I am a new-ish member.

I was born in 1944 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and currently reside in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I honestly cannot remember a time when I had not read Ray Bradbury, and I'm certain that he has been the single greatest influence on my own writing. And now for a question: Is the spelling of "Ray Bradbury Hompage” a play on homage? It's in too many places to be a typo.

Edit: A quick search of Google turned up well over 1 million examples of this peculiar word. Of them all the following is perhaps the most useful. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG5vGgpjcKc

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bglassman,

quote:

Originally posted by bglassman:
...Is the spelling of "Ray Bradbury Hompage” a play on homage?...

No, it's just a dumb mistake!