Good observations.
Also, for a pubescent boy, here's an adult who can actually remember what it was like going through all these changes - a sense of wonder, appreciation of being alive, angst, and describe it like no other writer.

I was introduced to Bradbury about 23-24 years ago with "The Halloween tree" which I read at 12 or 13. I have many hobbies, so I am a "binge" reader as opposed to a regular reader, but I have enjoyed everything I have read by Bradbury.

Bryant

I'm 15 right now. Fahrenheit 451 was the first book of Bradbury's I read, and I read that when I was 13 or 14... I don't quite remember exactly. I loved that book. The only other work of his I've read was a collection of his short stories though, but I do intend to read The Martian Chronicles once I make my way through Atlas Shrugged, which by the way, is a bitchin book. So, I guess about 2 years I've loved Bradbury.

Atlas Shrugged is an interesting book. I'm impressed that you're reading it at 15!

Yes, interesting indeed.

[This message has been edited by John Galt (edited 07-25-2004).]

The first Ray Bradbury book I read was "Something Wicked This Way Comes." I think it was in 1979 or 1980.

My love of his work was cemented later that year when I bought a massive, two-volume anthology of his short stories. Maybe someone else owned that set... it as a British edition, with one of the book covers being red and the other yellow.

I read Dandelion Wine in third grade and was hooked. That was hmmm, 37 years ago. We used to have a sailboat, named it April Witch after the short story.

I'm 29 and started reading Bradbury on April 30th. (I remember this date so well because I purchased a copy of "One More for the Road" the day before and started reading it on a long journey by train from the very north to the very south of Germany.) That makes about 3 months now. What I really enjoy about this is the fact that there's still a vast amount of stories and novels to read in the next weeks, months, years...
Right now I'm reading "The Illustrated Man" and realized that I had actually read its first story ("The Veldt") in a German translation when I was 11 or 12. I remember that I didn't quite like the story then, I think it made me sort of uneasy - maybe because of my being a child then, and being confronted with these really dark aspect in a child's soul (i.e. the thought of murdering your own parents). But regarding the fact that I recognized this story instantly when I started reading it lately, it must have made quite an impression on me. (I wonder if there are more similar "deja vus" to come...)

I have only known about ray for about 3 months now. I learned about him by a summer reading list that was assigned to me and one of the books was fahrenheit 451, After reading the book i am very glad that it was assigned and have grown to really respect the ways Ray thinks about books and i am happy that i have had the chance to read this book!

Hi --- this is my first post --- and this seems to be the best thread to jump into --- because I want to share the fun and recommend some books and writers that will probably form as valued and well-remembered a part of your life as RB has. Incidentally, I read him at 13 and became a fanatic for life, but as a realist I must say he had declined in power if not technique. I am now an old guy, so you may think of me as Charles Halloway in Something Wicked.
First is John Collier --- his short stories are sharp, witty, intelligent. Half the time they involve the supernatural, half the time the people get into deep trouble through their own vanity.
Next: H. P. Lovecraft. Read the guy who inspired RB when he was young.
Next, a book variously published as 'The Dark Child' and 'The African Child' --- by Camara Laye --- first-person reminisce about growing up in an African village --- it was a delicious read for me --- take a chance, go off your beaten path and try it!
John Wyndham --- 'Re-Birth' --- a growing-up-alienated novel that has its own cult website.
Frances Farmer --- 'Will There Really Be a Morning?' --- true horror in this incorrigibly angry memoir by an ex-movie star. Has its own cult website too.
That's enough for now --- also, Henri Rousseau's paintings have that magic/naive viewpoint an RB fan would dig, and I urge you to go to the art-book section of the library and feast on his color plates. I chose his name for myself because it's a nice play off The Watchful Poker Chip of H. Matisse.
Perhaps some of you have read these writers already?
I guess I'll jump into the Moore/Bradbury controversy which I see boiling-to-overflow in several other discussion groups . . . follow me to . . . oh . . . pick one . . . 'An Unjustified Theft'.

I'm a Lovecraft afficionado and have read and studied his writings extensively. After a ressurgence of interest which peaked in the mid-eighties to mid-nineties (mostly due to the people behind Necronomicon Press), Lovecraft studies appear to be on the wane again. Possibly he has been over-analyzed. Try to get hold of S.T. Joshi's monumental H.P. Lovecraft: a Life, the ultimate Lovecraft biography.

I have loved Lovecraft's writing since I was 15 (hence the nick), and what is more, I have been fascinated not only by his writing but also by his person and his life - or the little I read about it yet. (This is a bit exceptional, as I usually tend to be more interested in the books and what they are telling me and not so much in the author who wrote them.) Therefore, I'm also trying to get hold on a copy of Joshi's much appraised Lovecraft biogaphy. Unfortunately, this is a tougher business than I thought, because the book must have gone out of print pretty soon after it's first publishing - you have to pay immense sums to purchase a second-hand copy. (One might think it is almost as hard to get as the Necronomicon itself...) I wonder why - maybe you're right, Gothic, when you say he's been over-analyzed, but still, I can't imagine there are not enough Lovecraft fans interested in this legendary book so that another edition would sell...
So I'm really enjoying the many references to Lovecraft (along with Poe, Bierce, Machen etc.) in Bradbury's work. One of my favorites is from "Pillar of Fire", as Lantry enters a library, inquires about Lovecraft and the librarian asks him: "Is that a sex book?" - nice one!

LOOK AT ALL THOSE VIRGOS! I'm 38-Sept.2, 1966

I've loved Ray since reading SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES in the 6th grade-1978-when I was 11 years old.

Count me in. Today's my birthday.

Cheers, dandelion.
Cheers, Translator