Discussion on the Hemingway e-list brought up some comments on Bradbury today. I just thought some of you might be interested.

It started with a comment that Hemingway's stories are a really good way to turn young people on to good literature, as the novel is sometimes hard for a non-reader to get into.

I suggested adding some Bradbury stories to the pedagogical effort. Some responded and we discussed, "The Parrot Who Met Papa", "The Kilimanjaro Device", "The Veldt" "Something Wicked This Way Comes", Farenheit 451" "Martian Chronicles", and "Zen and the Art of Writing".

Some comments were:

"He's a just plain good read for this age group. I ruthlessly make 'em read classics, and Something Wicked This Way Comes is always a favorite for boys in this age bracket who want to go to college but have never enjoyed literature. Today I used The Martian Chronicles in a tutoring session. Ray Bradbury is the secret weapon of reading for this age group. I can still toss Fahrenheit 451 at the counter culture Know-No-it-alls and get a rise. I don't know why, as the book seemed rather unsophisticated to me at that age--I liked it better when I was older." -- KP

"You're right. That's about the age when Ray Bradbury first lit up my world: I remember that period (11-12) as one when I first became excited about fine, imaginative writing. Thanks to Bradbury (particularly "The Martian Chronicles"), I arrived at that understanding without feeling as if I were being made to consume "serious" literature -- you know, something of good taste that didn't taste good. And I remember, too, being quite disappointed when I later discovered how often Bradbury's work is branded as sci-fi, and then unfairly dismissed as mere genre work. "The Veldt" is an amazing piece of work. I found his "Zen in the Art of Writing," a collection of essays, to be impressive, too, and inspiring." -- PB

I loved this line: "Ray Bradbury is the secret weapon of reading for this age group."

Anyway, I thought some might be interested that a bunch of Hemingway scholars were discussing Bradbury today.

Thank you Mr. Dark for sharing these thoughts with us. I have enjoyed Hemingway's writing, particularly The Old Man and The Sea. It contains many elements which can be related to several of Ray's works.

"The secret weapon of reading." So much nicer, somehow, than "the ultimate gateway drug."