I would be very interested in reading your opinions on the short story collections Mr. Bradbury published from the mid-1990's onwards. These include QUICKER THAN THE EYE, DRIVING BLIND, ONE MORE FROM THE ROAD among others. It seems that such books and the stories within them rarely get discussed. I feel they are underrated. While they may not represent Bradbury at his absolute best, I found them all a pleasure to read. The full range of the author's moods are presented, from the sentimental, to the bittersweet, to the melancholy and creepy. Such stories as "The Electrocution," "The Finnegan," and "That Woman on the Lawn" remind me of THE OCTOBER COUNTRY. I know the contents of these books contain some work that was written much earlier, back in the 1940's in some cases.
I recently re-read the story "Applecore Baltimore" from WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS. In just a few pages Bradbury evokes sympathy for the main character who suffered bullying in high school at the hands of his supposed best friend as he visit's this friend's grave.
Originally posted by Sean Etches: I would be very interested in reading your opinions on the short story collections Mr. Bradbury published from the mid-1990's onwards. These include QUICKER THAN THE EYE, DRIVING BLIND, ONE MORE FOR THE ROAD among others. It seems that such books and the stories within them rarely get discussed. I feel they are underrated. While they may not represent Bradbury at his absolute best, I found them all a pleasure to read. The full range of the author's moods are presented, from the sentimental, to the bittersweet, to the melancholy and creepy. Such stories as "The Electrocution," "The Finnegan," and "That Woman on the Lawn" remind me of THE OCTOBER COUNTRY. I know the contents of these books contain some work that was written much earlier, back in the 1940's in some cases.
I recently re-read the story "Applecore Baltimore" from WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS. In just a few pages Bradbury evokes sympathy for the main character who suffered bullying in high school at the hands of his supposed best friend as he visit's this friend's grave.
Sean, I completely agree with you regarding your thoughts about Ray Bradbury's later collections. Many of the stories in those books had been started and/or written in years past, and were retrieved from Ray's files by his close friend and bibliographer Donn Albright, who urged Ray to finish them. I personally found most of the stories in those later books to be well written and very enjoyable. I think my favorite may be one recently praised by Board member dragonfly: "Last Rites" from QUICKER THAN THE EYE, in which a time traveller goes back in time to the death beds of several still well-known authors, to make them understand that their work had not been forgotten in the future.
