hey everyone i've been reading some short stories by Ray and I was wondering if you guys could tell me some essential stories that really show his full brilliance as an author. If so let me know... sorry about the rhyme.

Any!

Sorry, but it's true. I'll try to post some later - off to bed!

I'm sure others will do the same.

thanks... I guess

"Brilliance" is a good word! Here are few. Let us know when you are through!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T...ries_of_Ray_Bradbury

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B...ost_Celebrated_Tales

Hi Brodie C.,

Douglas and fjp451 are right, but a handful of my favorites and some that showcase a spectrum of his creativity are:

Frost and Fire
The Toynbee Convector
Usher II
The Scythe
The Man
Night Meeting
I See you Never
and the novella Leviathan 99.

Hope this helps. I think its important you discover what you like by way of surprise too.

Thanks... you guys rule!!!!

I consider the following to be essential Bradbury stories (not an exhaustive list, I hasten to add!):

A Sound of Thunder
The Pedestrian
The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl
The Crowd
The Million Year Picnic
The Lake

To keep it simple, I'll mention just three that haven't been mentioned:

The Small Assassin
There Will Come Soft Rains
The Veldt

I don't know where you found the stories that you've read so far, but the obvious place to start is one of Bradbury's books. If you're quite new to Bradbury, I'd recommend The Martian Chronicles or R Is for Rocket as a first book.

And if you're a really voracious reader, try The Stories of Ray Bradbury, a huge book with 100 stories in it!

I've always thought that The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair should be on a must-read list...

quote:

Originally posted by douglasSP:
I'd recommend The Martian Chronicles or R Is for Rocket as a first book.

Yeah, I'd say that The Martian Chronicles is the most essential of all the essential! After that, Dandelion Wine, followed by Something Wicked This Way Comes, and The October Country.

That should get you started.

quote:

And if you're a really voracious reader, try The Stories of Ray Bradbury, a huge book with 100 stories in it!

I am, and I will thanks douglasSP

I find I love so (very) many RB stories as they are being read. They are like old friends come to visit. Familiar, comforting to hear their voices once again, and somehow always a new lesson to be gained by the experience of the visit.

I have taught "Drummer Boy of Shiloh" to various (HS) grades levels. This and "A Device Out of Time" with the Green Town boys visiting with the centenarian Civil War Colonel Freeleigh always strike a cord with me (when read orally).

(The presentation of Steven Wollenberg at the Fremont Theater this summer was perfect. I told him so. I related my experiences with the literary pieces over the years. I told him he "Was" the Colonel!! This seemed to please him greatly!)

Let me ponder... a few quickly, each for a special reason:
The Sound of Thunder
The Rocket
All Summer in a Day
Million Year Picnic
The Murderer
Fog Horn
Picasso Summer
The Jar
The Leave Taking
Anthem Sprinters
The Great Black and White Game
The Great Wide World over There
The Beggar on O'Connell Bridge
The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair
The Exiles
The Sound of Summer Running
The Pedestrian
Marionettes, Inc.
Usher II
There Will Come Soft Rains
Fahrenheit 451
Dandelion Wine
Green Shadows, White Whale
Something Wicked This Way Comes
(...whatever happened to "Chap31" on this board?!)
and The Martian Chronicles, of course!!

(Golden Apples of the Sun, my first RB read as wide-eyed 9th grader!)

Thank you all, again