I love lists, and I hope other members do. Out of mr Bradbury's hundreds of stories, only a fool would try to name the ten best (or at any rate, the top ten personal favorites). But since trouble is my middle name, here goes:

1. Frost and Fire
2. The Small Assassin
3. Gotcha!
4. A Sound of Thunder
5. Jack-In-the-Box
6. And the Rock Cried Out
7. The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl
8. The Jar
9. The Whole Town's Sleeping
10. Some Live Like Lazarus

Your comments, ripostes, rival lists, praise, and downright slurs will be appreciated.

You said it, no two people in the universe will agree on this particular topic!

With that said:

What about "Powerhouse"? You have several great tales on your list, and I can't really argue with any of those making anyone's top ten. The spiritual undercurrent of "Powerhouse" is just too well crafted to leave off the list, however, as is the downright masterful imagery presented in "The Day it Rained Forever," which in many ways seems to be the quintessential Bradbury story.

And now that I look, Mars doesn't seem to be very well represented on your list.

I do so love the Bradbury Theater's take on "The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl," with Nick Mancuso.

Well, geez, Douglas, why don't you ask something hard, LOL? Really, I am amazed at the diversity of people's choices. I have a few top favorites, but the rest would probably be heavily influenced by what I'd been reading/thinking at the time. Considering recent events on this board, I think "Downwind from Gettysburg" is especially approprite right now. That said,
1. Uncle Einar
2. Homecoming
3. Exorcism
4. I Sing the Body Electric!
5. The Haunting of the New
6. Forever and the Earth
7. Jack-in-the-Box
8. The Next in Line
9. One Night in Your Life
10. Frost and Fire
The first several I'm fairly confident about, the rest might change, but as you see I'm a very October-oriented person. Might I add that choosing even a hundred for "The Stories of Ray Bradbury" was hard enough!

[This message has been edited by dandelion (edited 01-19-2002).]

Okay, I'm up for it, too. Why not?

1. The Night
2. The Emissary
3. The Handler
4. The Man Upstairs
5. The October Game
6. The Smiling People
7. The Lake
8. Interim
9. The Trunk Lady
10. The Whole Town's Sleeping

Man, ten isn't enough. I need a lot more!

This is all subject to mood swings, but I am reasonably sure.
1. A Medicine For Melancholy
2. The Man
3. Dark They Were And Golden Eyed
4. Fever Dream
5. The Dragon
6. The Sound Of Thunder
7. The April Witch
8. Chrysalis
9. The Pedestrian
10. Pillar of Fire

douglasSP you have the distinction of making my mind squirm at this odd hour of the morning, I hope you are quietly contemplating the headache that you have had me give myself. And so it goes, I bit the bait so I should not blame you. I do confirm though that my list is liable to change on a whim. Thanks for the chaallllaaaaaggge! "Clousou"

What an interesting choice "Powerhouse" is. I distinctly remember it as one of the bitterly few stories I didn't "get" at all.

I didn't get it the first time either, Doug. At a later point its message electrified me.

quote:

Originally posted by douglasSP:
What an interesting choice "Powerhouse" is. I distinctly remember it as one of the bitterly few stories I didn't "get" at all.

The words in this story are unmatched. For example: "His body held a faith like a maze, and the sorrow that struck into him was lost and gone before it finally reached where it wanted to hurt him."

Gosh, this Bradbury chap never ceases to thrill and baffle me, catapult and shake me. Themes aside, the prose alone is worth the price of admission.

Ok, I'm in too.
1. The Small Assasin (particularly now that I'm having a baby.)
2. The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl
3. The Gentle Murders
4. One Timeless Spring
5. The Burning Man
6. The Exiles
7. Unterderseaboat Doktor
8. The Terrible Conflagration Up at the Place
9. The Witch Door
Unfortunately, I can't remember the title of the last story, but it's about the woman who wanted to leave her husband because of the transformation the body undergoes every 7 (or is it 9?) years. Can anybody help me out?

Yep. That story is "At the End of the Ninth Year", from Quicker Than the Eye.

The concept is that all the cells in your body are replaced in a cycle of about 9 years ... so does that mean you're not the same person any more? That's the story idea.

Bradbury had been sitting on this idea for about 40 years, since it is also mentioned in Dandelion Wine (I think in a chapter about Grandma).

Nothing is wasted!

I don't believe that I could ever possibly
rank Bradbury's stories on a top ten list,
but, having said that, I should say that one
of my very favorite short stories would have to be The Emissary. There is something about that story,the deep connection between boy and dog, the pain and hopelessness of dog's absence, and the suspicous joy of his homcoming, that deeply moved me in some way,
the beauty of this story is it's simplicity.
the simple friendship, the lovebond between dog and boy that conjures up memories for me that I never knew were there.memories that I did'nt have before.If you have not yet encountered this story, I strongly suggest running to the bookshop and purchasing a copy of The October Country.

well here it is id like some constructive critism on my top ten
10.Zaharoff/richter mark V
9.the crowd
8.in a season of calm weather
7.the million year picnic
6.the lake
5.the night
4.kaliedoscope
3.the wonderful ice cream suit
2.dark they were and golden eyed
1.the end of the begining

Yes, but if you were *really* a different person every nine years you wouldn't remember why you'd written down a fact 40 years ago or what you intended to do with it. Of course that happens all the time with ordinary things. (Did I save *this*? WHY?) The saving of really important ideas, though, proves some sort of carryover through the decades--which is GOOD--I think.

Checking off my Top Ten! Not necessarily order, but pretty close:

And the Sailor, Home from the Sea

The Tombling Day

The Scythe

Death and the Maiden

The April Witch

The Man

The Women

The Illustrated Woman

Invisible Boy

Embroidery




[This message has been edited by Nard Kordell (edited 08-26-2004).]