Hello - I just watched a video of Mr. Bradbury in which he discussed a short story called "The Lake". He stated that it was this story which turned his early career around as it was the first story written about a real event in his life. Does anyone know where this story can be found?

Hi Mssr. Shill, and welcome.

It's at times like this that you need my Bradbury Short Story Finder... which will point you towards THE STORIES OF RAY BRADBURY.

It's also in the out-of-print Dark Carnival and the UK-only The Small Assassin.

"The Lake" can be found in two in-print books, OCTOBER COUNTRY and the Everyman's Library Edition of THE STORIES OF RAY BRADBURY. Here is a link to a complete listing of everywhere this great story has appeared over the years, starting from its orignal publication in the May, 1944 issue of WEIRD TALES magazine.

http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?58399

Ray had already been writing for several years before he wrote this story. However, Ray has said that when he finished "The Lake", the hair on the back of his neck stood up and he had tears in his eyes, as he knew he had written something that he himself considered REALLY good for the first time.

quote:

Originally posted by Richard:
"The Lake" can be found in two in-print books, OCTOBER COUNTRY and the Everyman's Library Edition of THE STORIES OF RAY BRADBURY. Here is a link to a complete listing of everywhere this great story has appeared over the years, starting from its orignal publication in the May, 1944 issue of WEIRD TALES magazine.

http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?58399

Look: "Dark Carnival, (1947, Ray Bradbury, publ. Arkham House, $3.00, 313pp, hc, coll)"

Three dollars! If only I could have given my eleven year-old mother $30 and had her go to the book shoppe and pick up ten copies and put them in plastic for me! Oh, where are the keys to my time machine when I need it?!

Do you know what these copies sell for now?! Do you know?!

Hey, Richard's post points up an omission in my Short Story Finder: I don't have THE OCTOBER COUNTRY listed for "The Lake"!

(Possible reason: my UK version of THE OCTOBER COUNTRY likely*** doesn't contain "The Lake". In the UK, some of the stories ended up in THE SMALL ASSASSIN instead, for reasons that are lost in the mists of time.)


***I don't have the book immediately to hand as I write this, so I can't verify this.

The Hart-Davis hardcover does have "The Lake", but the Ace UK, Four Square, and NEL paperbacks don't.

Thanks to all who responded with such helpful info. I have read The October Country, but it was at least a decade ago and for some reason The Lake did not stick with me. I will be ordering a copy immediately. What a great site this is. Did Dandelion Wine alter the lives of any of you? It hit me like a literary brick, all those years ago.

I just recently read a few choice selections from DW to an entirely adult class of participants. Our life experiences made it that much more enjoyable when the discussions ensued. We were, indeed, once again "hit like a literary brick" when these scenes were read aloud: Great Grandma Spaulding's Leave Taking, John Huff So Long, Colonel Freeleigh's last, long distance call, Crossing the Ravine to out run the Lonely One, and Mr. Jonas's early morning gift to the ailing Douglas.

Over the years, I taught the novel many dozens of times (in classes 8-10) and always loved every new encounter. (Ah, the dandelions are now exploding all over the fields here in Northern NY!)

quote:

Originally posted by Mssr. Shill:
Did Dandelion Wine alter the lives of any of you? It hit me like a literary brick, all those years ago.

Why, yes. It was a Valentine to my twelfth summer. And now it lives where I live.

I think "The Lake" as it appears in OC is a revision (perhaps the preferred one). It differs somewhat to the same in SRB.

Linnl, I quickly looked at the text of "The Lake" in STORIES OF RAY BRADBURY, and see that it begins "They cut the sky donw to my size." This is the opening of the story as it appeared in DARK CARNIVAL (1947).

Bradbury revised the story for THE OCTOBER COUNTRY (1955), and the new opening line begins "The wave shut me off from the world".

This means the two versions of "The Lake" are still in print! In most other cases, I think, the DARK CARNIVAL text has been "retired", leaving only the OCTOBER COUNTRY revisions to remain.

While on this topic, it's worth mentioning that "The Lake" originally appeared in WEIRD TALES magazine c.1944, and I believe that earliest published version was slightly different again from the two "book" versions.

I would hope that COLLECTED STORIES VOL.2 will give us the full analysis of the changes.

quote:

Originally posted by douglasSP:
The Hart-Davis hardcover does have "The Lake", but the Ace UK, Four Square, and NEL paperbacks don't.

Thanks, douglasSP. My default copy is always the NEL paperback - the first Bradbury book I ever owned, bought for 5p at a jumble sale. I looked in it this morning, and "The Lake" is missing. I also have a US edition, but must have been working from the UK paperback when I put together the information on my website.