Do you guys think that Bradbury has a dark side, or that he is just looney

I don't that I think he has a dark side (although all of us have something), but he definitely sees the dark side to humanity.I think he balances that with a strong sense of the beauty inherent in man, also.

I agree that all of us have something dark within. Afterall, humanity is flawed. However, Bradbury is looking at the dark side and pointing out our horrible, destructive flaws rather than showing his own darkness. Now, Edgar Allen Poe is a dark man and writes to it purposefully I believe! But again, Poe points out the darknesses within each of us--possibly in an attempt to correct some things before they come to close to reality!

I am not sure Poe wrote to warn anyone about the darker side of things. Rather, he really lived such melancholies, saw such demons, thought such vengeful thoughts, and dreamed such gruesome dreams. That's what made him so great.

He laid it all out there from the deepest realms of his tormented pysche. His life's experiences created metaphors for his amazing tales. Second to None!!

Poe was as harsh a literary critic as there was in his time. He cut no one any slack. Therefore, he made more enemies than friends when it came to his bitterly honest analysis of the literature being attempted by his contemporaries. Add to this the fact that his post-humous biographer Rufus Griswald had much to do with the "bad rep" for which Poe is most frequently identified.

Definitive source: http://www.eapoe.org/aries.

Maybe the #1 greatest irony of all time:
There never was any Amontillado!!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: fjp451,

Poe was also a renaissance man - knew several languages and kept abreast of all the latest achievements in science, mathematics, astronomy, biology, etc. Check out "Some Words With A Mummy" and "The 1002nd Tale of Scheherazade".

Yes, Poe is a remarkable author. I agree that he probably wrote his many works as a response to his own tortured soul and mind, however, I think that we can heed the warnings that lie within. He may not have meant to warn us about such things, but how many authors write with such purpose other to discuss something of interest to them? Heck, even Emily Dickison wrote her poetry for herself. Her 1775 poems were never to have been published. AND, she wrote many more than that which never got published because her family couldn't find them after her death. Dickinson didn't write for anyone but herself and actually relished the thought of having others (who could not understand her) read her stuff.

Funmow, True! My point was that the intent may never have been in the forefront of EA's mind as he wrote. It is the reader who recognizes the most relevant meaning produced by a writer. Dickinson is an excellent example.

I think of Anne Frank and also Hellen Keller. Anne's works were never intended to be seen but continue to inspire with each generation. Then there is Hellen, who never saw or heard her own words. However, today countless millions are still moved by her life and philosophies.

RB has a different effect on all of us, at different times: laughter, fears, tears, spirit, and reflection.

Why? Who can say really? For four years it has been debated here with each person having his/her own theory. That's the magic of the written and spoken words of the great artists.

As spring settles in across the far NNY:
"...he imagined the seeds he had placed today sprouting up with green and taking hold on the sky, pushing out branch by branch, until Mars was an afternoon forest, Mars was a shining orchard. M.C. "The Green Morning"
(With memories of my Dad)

I don't think he actually has a "dark Side" maybe just a crazy obsessions with carnivals. Sure he might think differently than everybody else, but not "dark". At least he picks a subject that can make a book interesting.

I think that there is something inside of him, something that no one knows that makes the darkness permeate from his writing

I don't believe that he has a dark side. I think that it is just how he writes that makes it seem as if he does. Most writers are like this in my opinion, they write totally different then from who they really are.

Would you say that Stephen King has a dark side?
What is interesting is that in the Bradbury Chronicles, Stephen King is quoted as having been influenced by Ray Bradbury. Yet, King's darkness is far greater, in my mind, than Ray's in that the ferocity of the situations that Ray's people find themselves in no way compares to those of King's settings.

Despite the subject matter of Stephen King's writings I have never heard of him saying that he isn't an alright fellow.

As Mr. Dark points out, don't we all have a corner of ourselves that we really don't want anyone else to know about?

Well- If you have seen the picture in the back of SWTWC you will see him with his black cat-- Kinda funny- brought laughter to me-looney -- maybe dark-- ??? well the black cat is weird but funny so who knows!

"There is no dark side of the moon really. Matter of fact -- it's all dark!".

I think Bradbury has something inside of him that only he hears. He has all these thoughts and ideas in his head, but it doesn't make sense to anyone unless he writes it down on paper.

quote:

Originally posted by Bernan:
I don't believe that he has a dark side. I think that it is just how he writes that makes it seem as if he does. Most writers are like this in my opinion, they write totally different then from who they really are.

I disagree because the author has to come up with these ideas from somewhere. Therefore he must imagine these ideas, and make them into something more than just thoughts, I believe that most people are capable of thinking this way but they just don't want to.