I got to listen to it some time ago (bradbury was the reader.) I perfer it over the book. It definitely read out like a whole norman rockwell appoarch.

Yeah!!! I have that. I'd love to find His reading of THE ILLUSTRATED MAN.

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"I don't know anything."

As far as I know, the only commercial recording of Ray reading The Illustrated Man is from 1975, and is just a set of short stories including "The Illustrated Man". (i.e. it is NOT a reading of the book called The Illustrated Man.)

If you can find the tape set called "Ray Bradbury Himself: Reads 19 Complete Stories" (sometimes available via Amazon.com), you will find that one of the two tapes is that 1975 recording.

(There are other complete audiobooks of The Illustrated Man, but they are not read by Ray himself.

I think that Ray is a very good reader of his own stories. He's not an actor, but he sure gets into his role. I often find in his readings there will be a rhythm or inflection that I had not been conscious of in the text on the page.

I also think many of Ray's stories are just made to be read out loud.

quote:

Originally posted by philnic:
I also think many of Ray's stories are just made to be read out loud.

Aye - stories are meant to be read but they're also definitely meant to be told!

Phil,

NEWMAN BOOKS-ON-CASSETTE has a version of "THE ILLUSTRATED MAN by Ray Bradbury--Reader: Ray Bradbury"
2 Cassettes 2 Hours 54 Minutes. 20050 ISBN 0-88690-005-0

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I've just checked that ISBN on Amazon.com, and the review text says it's read by somebody else: see here.

Wow!!! That's false advertising. Inside the box of my MARTIAN CHRONICLES book-on-tape there is a small catalog of other tapes available from NEWMAN which lists THE ILLUSTRATED MAN with the exact description that was in my earlier post, hence the quotation marks. I don't understand it.

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Amazon could be wrong - it wouldn't be the first time. It is referencing an out-of-print item which is only available used from a third-party; and the review does have the "this review refers to an out-of-print edition" disclaimer, which means it may be correct.

Anyone fancy spending the $3.99 to find out? Actually, that's not a bad idea. For me, the shipping will be more than the tapes!

I have the 1975 Illustrated Man & Martian Chronicles that I couldn't resist getting from Amazon. I love Ray both talking about the writing of Martian Chronicles and man's quest in space, and actually reading the book. It was made decades ago but it is pure gold to hear Ray read his book. He acts out all the parts so purely, it is amazing. The way he changes his voice on different characters is great!

Sidebar: About five people at my work have read F-451 and were really surprised how amazing it was! Now, Laura, a friend and coworker, came up to me and excitedly told me she is reading Martian Chronicles and how much she is loving it. You should have seen how excited and happy she was telling me about it! I completely love to watch as people get turned on to Ray Bradbury for the first time ever. I just tell them it gets better and better.

I just succumbed to the financial logic of my earlier post, and ordered a used copy of the Illustrated Man tapes. If they turn out to be a recording of the whole book (or even just part of it) read by RB, I will be overjoyed at the bargain. (Even more so, with the highly favourable dollar-pound exchange rate we currently enjoy.)

If it turns out to be read by someone else, I will be heard to say "aww, rats".

Borders called to say that my copy of The Martian Chronicles CD is in, but I did not have time to stop by and pick it up. Can't wait to listen to it.

Yeah, Amazon makes mistakes. There was one book of a set of classics illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith, and they mistakenly listed EVERY book in that set as illustrated by her, even those whose sellers had NOT listed them that way! I ordered several due to this error and quite a lot of mixup had to be corrected!

Just started the Martian Chronicles (from cover to cover) with audio tapes read by Maikel Bailey (BOT version, 1988). I think I got them on the Bay for a few dollars. 6 cassettes, we listen and read along for about 15-20 minutes each class. Captivated frosh...now that's saying something! Numerous RBTh and selections from videos will supplement the unit.

I thought we could do masks at some point as a project, and students can write and do orals on the meaning and mythology of their specific "Martian" character.
(Bring on Spender!)

We stop for discussions and comments on style and interpretations. This should set them up well for IM, DW later in the semester. Thanks, Mr. B, for the pure pleasure!

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

I wish I could do those things at my job!

Finally received the second-hand ILLUSTRATED MAN tapes I referred to above. Ray Bradbury is indeed the reader!

However, despite the title it's NOT a reading of the book of the same name, but a collection of short stories from various sources. I haven't had time to compare, but I strongly suspect the recordings have been extracted from FANTASTIC TALES OF RAY BRADBURY, which I already own.