From reading There Will Come Soft Rains, I have come to the conclusion that Mr. Bradbury does not like frivolous technology very much. Thus, I am somewhat befuddled with the comprehensive website he has. Mr. Bradbury is attempting to argue that unchecked technology is leading to a dismal demise. The home had an opportunity to �fight for its life,� while the people did not. But the home cannot win the battle because it has utilized all its water on �filled baths� (80) for people that are not alive and devotes its energy to sending the �last few cleaning mice dart[ed] bravely out to carry the horrid ashes� (80). But while the machine fights for its life, the �five spots of paint� (77) on the exterior of the house commemorate the exact moment the family lost their lives. Unlike the house, the people are not portrayed to have had the chance to scream and flight back, but rather were �moving the lawn� and �picking flowers� when their lives were taken.
From this imagery, Mr. Bradbury asserts that machines are gradually taking over every human action. Cleaning, cooking, bathing, and the fight for life, have all become tasks taken over my machines. The �radioactive glow� (77) �the ruined city gave off at night� (77) suggests that even the way the people died, was only capable though machinery like nuclear weapons. Thus even war, has been taken from mankind. Mr. Bradbury suggests that if we continue to let machinery and electronics control our lives will be disastrous. Machines cannot have feeling, ethics and morals bestowed in them. If machines controlled the world, they would be unable to prioritize urgent from regular and ultimately life from death.

If you think that "There Will Come Soft Rains" is something, wait till you read "The Veldt" and the more lighthearted "The Murderer." You'll get the idea he really hates machines! But he doesn't--he just hates the intrusion machines impose on the normal patterns of human life. He's said it's like a hand in a glove, the glove isn't bad, it depends on the hand put into it, etc., etc.

As for the website, Mr. Bradbury has little or no personal involvement in it, and his chosen way of dealing with its existence is for the most part to ignore it. What's more, it's not all that extensive. It could contain a lot regarding current and upcoming events which it doesn't. The fans carry all that on the message board. They even run the message board themselves. It's a good guess that the publisher doesn't look at it and a sure bet that Bradbury doesn't.

Could he be persuaded to confront the reality (if that is the correct way of putting it) of the website, I don't think he'd be all that against it as a means of distributing information. It fulfills a useful educational purpose--if only for the teachers here encouraging kids to "do your own homework!" It's not a machine that does things "for" you. Ray has expressed suspicion regarding the internet, as far as, too much input from too many people, providing a free forum for idiots to spout off, and the like. He was told that people talked about him here and basically said he doesn't care what they say. If that works for him, we're cool with it.

And speaking of frivolous technology... I recently saw on the television an advertisement for little robot vacuum cleaners. You just start them up, set them loose in the room, and walk away. I instantly thought of the little cleaning mice in "There Will Come Soft Rains" of course! I don't know how well these things work, but as a person who finds vacuuming a bore, the idea does have some appeal.

Bradbury has inadvertantly predicted many inventions that are commonplace today, or are on their way to being so. This, despite his disdain for such inventions! There's probably a list of these somewhere on the site. (For instance, the Happiness Machine in Dandelion Wine is a version of virtual reality technology. And society's penchant for sensory overload in the short story "The Murderer" has pretty much come true, completely and absolutely, in today's world...)

Dandelion: Ironic! "He was told that people talked about him here and basically said he doesn't care what they say. If that works for him, we're cool with it."

Maybe some of the best RB discussions in the world take place right here daily! Where else do they occur so regularly. (OK, maybe an occasional media review or article?)

What if there wasn't this forum for questions, debates, sharing of info, and updates of his activities. The net has allowed, I believe, his life and works to be more accessible and even revitalized (sites, ebays, new fans exposed, old fans connecting, projects previewed well ahead of time).

So, the same technology RB so often warns about has played well into his recent (and definitely well-deserved) recognition by a new generation.

I just finished studying "The Exiles." I take extra time to analyze the plot. So many of the allusions would be missed otherwise. Why?

Reading as a daily involvement is not what it used to be. Technology has transformed our society. Gadgets have become the entertainment, babysitters, informers, and companions for a major portion of our population. If it can become more fun and easier - that's the path to take. Why exert?

However, books, too, can get you to the same places, but they require active, intellectual involvement. One must think rather than be served. RB addressed this as a dilemma long before it became one!

[This message has been edited by fjpalumbo (edited 02-12-2004).]

I agree. I love Bradbury and the impact he's had on my life. But he underestimates the "power of good" in some of the internet communications. I do think this site has provided an excellent forum for the exchange of ideas and a greater appreciation for and exposure to Bradbury's works.

Also, this is a world wide forum. I know some of us contributed to Ana Mufalda's Master's Dissertation (in Portugal). Others have been here from South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Russia, England, etc.

A publisher found me to review a new youth-oriented biography on Ray Bradbury. Some of you have asked questions of stories I've not yet read, and those questions take me back to new stories. I learned of the book, "An Illustrated Life" from a poster at this site.

This kind of dialogue could not happen without the internet!


[This message has been edited by Mr. Dark (edited 02-12-2004).]

I really enjoyed the short story "There Will Come Soft Rains". I think the story really reflected the hindrances of new tachnology that we sometimes overlook. I am not a person that is really dependent on technology because I know there is always a possibility that something can go wrong with it. I got to read the story a few weeks ago and the metaphors he used to describe the objects in the house really made the story more influential because it kind of gives you a visual depiction of what it might look like through words. The story was really great and I am currently in the midst of reading Fahrenheit 451.