Ray Bradbury Forums
finding the writing style of Ray Bradbury

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31 October 2004, 02:59 AM
kolistivra
finding the writing style of Ray Bradbury
I've read three stories of Ray Bradbury, which are selected completely at random. What I have to do is to extract RB's writing style out of these stories. I've read fahrenheit and some other short stories of RB before.

how should i start? What things should i pay attention to?

Thanks
31 October 2004, 05:33 AM
dandelion
Metaphor is probably the most obvious.
31 October 2004, 09:34 AM
Mr. Dark
Absolutely.

(1) I think another thing is his ability to take kind of bizarre ideas and make them real and personal. As he points out himself, Martian Chronicles assumes an atmosphere that supports human life. This is ridiculous. But when you read Martian Chronicales, does anyone care?

(2) Another one is that he has been called -- for decades -- the poet of science fiction. Look for samples in his writing that exemplify that.
01 November 2004, 02:21 AM
biplane1
Mr. Dark,

You are definately correct. Another thing that amazes me about Ray is his ability to construct sentences of sometimes 50 words which flow so smoothly and use connectives so deftly within the sentence to hold it together.
01 November 2004, 09:37 AM
fjpalumbo
I have commented on this in different posts here. RB style: "Poetic within a narrative genre!" You can readily take a passage from ---- (choose your favorite title) and read the words as if they were a poem, simply add phrasing and appropriate pauses. Try it and you will have evidence of what Bp1 and Mr. D. speak.

Currently in the middle of a major poetry and writing unit, I recently read the description of John Huff from Dandelion Wine. The assignment was to compose a free verse with a theme of someone who is important to you or best of friends. Read the passage (about 100 pages into the story). Another example is the very beginning and ending of the passing away of Great-grandmother Spaulding (180 or so pgs. in).

Obvious in The Martian Chronicles and Something Wicked countless times.
Others!??

---------
And then:
Dandelion, In the novel SWTWC no reference of a first name that I can recall. (Curious-Helen Loomis and Helen Bentley and Helen Greer all in DW!!!) Mary Grace Canfield was just "Miss Foley" in movie SWTWC.

In what TZ episode did Mary Canfield play?



[This message has been edited by fjpalumbo (edited 11-01-2004).]


fpalumbo
02 November 2004, 06:09 AM
dandelion
I must have imbibed a little too much Dandelion Wine and confused stories/characters there.