Finally finished my July reading of Dandelion Wine. Started early, finished late. What can I say?

I hadn't seen anyone else indicate they were starting Martian Chronicles for the August reading, as we have previously discussed, and I was wondering if anyone had begun.

I'm reading the Avon books hardcover with the introduction, "Green Town, Somewhere on Mars; Mars, somewhere in Egypt". So, tonight I finished DW and read the introduction to Martian Chronicles.

I thought it was interesting that he credits Sherwood Anderson's "Winesburg Ohio" for influencing BOTH Martian Chronicles and Dandelion Wine. All three books are stories -- loosely joined together. I've read some of his comments on Sherwood Anderson's "Winesburg Ohio" before, but didn't remember that it had influenced both books. I read it in a college American Lit class and loved it. Since Bradbury cites it as a direct influence on both MC and DW, it would be worth the investment of time to read it.

When he turned in his outline of MC, he was given a $1500.00 check -- which paid his $30.00 per month rent for two years! Pretty incredible! (pre-1950)

He also talked about the influence of Tutankhaman on the Martian Chronicles. I thought I had seen whispers of American Indian religiosity in the MC when I read it, but he cites the ancient Egyptian mythology as a significant influence.

He also talked about MC NOT being science fiction, but about it being fables and fantasy. In other places, Bradbury has cited Nathaniel Hawthorne as one of his favorite authors, and Hawthorne frequently spoke/wrote of his desire to write "tales". Hawthorne compared these tales to a room at dusk. The light is darkening, but still coming in the window, and there is also light coming into the room from the fire in the fireplace. Each type of light represented different aspects of perception, and he wanted the twilight type of writing because it gave him more latitude than straight fiction. Bradbury is the same. He is not interested in telling stories tied to technology, as much as he's interested in telling stories that open us up to what the human condition really is. For that, he needs the latitude of a kind of tale/fantasy/fable, and he needs the durability of myth.

Great stuff, and I'm eager to get into it.


[This message has been edited by Mr. Dark (edited 08-09-2003).]

Just fof the record, I did re-read MC following DW, and then did SWTWC. So I am full of tears, cheers and fears. Next, the new 100 stories book. An there is a book of Ray's gravic novels coming out very soon as well.

I'm intimidated by your voluminous pace! I may as well throw in the towel now and be done with it!

I have pre-ordered the Bradbury book on the graphic novel versions of some of his stories. I had heard/read it was due out in August.

I've read several of the stories out of 100 Celebrated Stories that I hadn't read before, and they've been pretty fun, so far.

I just finished the Martian Chronicles a couple of weeks ago and, as with all of Mr. Bradbury's work, I regretted not having read it years ago. The night I finished reading it I got up to let my dog out at about three in the morning (the midnight of the soul) and the planet Mars was high in the night sky. As the moon was new, I live in the country and Mars is closer right now than it has been in thousands of years it was breathtakingly big and brilliant. Even to the naked eye I could make out its disk-shape burning bright red in black summer night. It was a candle in the window. I brought my wife outside to see and we just watched it for a while. I imagined Mr. Bradbury, all those years ago, getting his wonderful ideas for those stories about the planet that I was gazing on at that moment. I pondered the book and the characters in it and thought, the Martian Chronicles is not a book about Mars, it's a book about people, about their hearts and their minds. And I thought about Spender and related to him as the same person I might have been in his shoes. I was up for some time thinking that night and I thanked Mr. Bradbury in my soul.

By the way, is Darabont still planning on filming The Martian Chronicles after Fahrenheit 451?

Depends which web site you go to...but it seems to be so.

Also, interesting note... is that Mars will be closest to Earth on August 27th, at 4:51 Am, Waukegan (Green Town) time....(check out that official time!)

[This message has been edited by Nard Kordell (edited 08-14-2003).]

From Greentown Illinois--What a cool experience you had!! I agree totally that the book is about people much more than the planet. I taught the novel for many years to seventh graders, but it is no longer a part of our curriculum (believe me, not my choice), and I really miss teaching it! At first the students were a bit confused by the format of the novel and the fact that it wasn't one plot and one set of characters all the way through, but once they adapted to the unusual format, they loved it. For some of the chapters such as "Usher II," I had to do a lot of prep work to help them through the chapter, but it was always well worth it. Many of them related to Spender, too, and another chapter that always blew them away was "There Will Come Soft Rains."

I think it is nice for Mr. Bradbury that Mars is so very close during the week of his birthday.

In honor of Ray's 83d:

"A VISIT TO A RED PLANET:
What would you say to a Martian?
What would a Martian say to you?"

Leave your answer in 255 characters or less at Writing.com

There's also a link to post your birthday greetings (only two days left) to August's brightest star and another link to the Planentary Society's Mars Watch Site.

Go here:

http://Writing.com/authors/celestial

and then just scroll to

"A Visit To A Red Planet."


Gosh, I'm feeling red all over.

There's a pretty good article in today's "Chicago Tribune" newspaper, about our fascination with Mars. Also contains a recent telephone interview with Ray Bradbury, with biographer Sam Weller thrown in for good measure.
Article title is: WHY MARS, by Julia Keller.

You may or may not wish to 'register' with a password, etc...to access the complete article. You don't have to buy anything. I'm not pushing subscriptions.
Heavens to Betsy!! Service is FREE!
Contrary to what it may infer, my request was activated 'immediately'....
Took less than 30 seconds, and was able to obtain access to the entire article. Thought it was worth reading.... And if something 'tones' up and says you can't connect because of some problem, ignore it...and click on 'continue'. [And after all is said and done and your computer explodes, pick up the pieces and call repair...]

If so interested, click on or type into finder, and follow a few instructions:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/site/registration/show-createprofile.register



[This message has been edited by Nard Kordell (edited 08-24-2003).]