Ray Bradbury Forums
Favorite 'obscure' story
08 April 2007, 11:55 PM
oz-crumleyFavorite 'obscure' story
There may already have been a thread along these lines, but ...
There are many well known RB 'classics' (eg. 'All Summer in a Day', 'A Sound of Thunder', 'Pedestrian' to name just a few), but what are some of your favorite obscure or lesser known stories?
A few from
The Toynbee Convector are unsung gems: 'One Night in your Life' and 'The Last Circus' are lovely, poignant stories of longing and loss; and the title story from that collection now seems quite timely.
'Forever and the Earth' (not sure if it qualifies as 'lesser-known'?) is a memorable story about writing and the inadequacy of words.
'The Pumpernickel' is a beautifully simple minor tragedy, unashamedly sentimental.
Any other obscure favorites??
09 April 2007, 12:25 AM
Doug Spaulding One for His Lordship, and One for the Road!Remember that appeared in
Playboy in January 1985. Wonderful story.
"Live Forever!"
09 April 2007, 06:07 AM
RichardRay's poem, "Imagine", has always moved me very much. However, beyond its original appearance in a magazine or newspaper, and then as a limited edition broadside from Lord John Press in the early 1980's, I am not aware of anywhere else it has appeared.
09 April 2007, 01:43 PM
philnicAnother poem: Remembrance, from (I think) When Elephants Last in the Dooryard Bloomed.
09 April 2007, 05:01 PM
Mr. DarkShort on time. It's not really obscure, but I like the story about the baby born in the wrong dimension. He appears here as a blue pyramid, and we assume in another dimension lies the human child. The human parents decide to love the pyramid and raise it as thier own. I thought it was a very cool story. I think it's called "Tomorrow's Child" in the book, I Sing The Body Electric.
Again, while they aren't really obscure, I like the Laurel and Hardy stories, too.
10 April 2007, 09:12 AM
philnic"Tomorrow's Child" is right. OK story, but came across as just plain daft when they did it on Ray Bradbury Theater!
10 April 2007, 11:57 AM
Doug SpauldingDaft is a good word.
"Live Forever!"
10 April 2007, 05:34 PM
PrioryHave you read the collection
Memory of Murder? It includes a number of weird stories, including "It Burns Me Up!" which is from the p.o.v. of the murder victim.
Priory
11 April 2007, 06:15 AM
RichardPriory, I love the paperback collection, A MEMORY OF MURDER (and that great pulpish cover art, with the skeleton clutching the beautiful girl!). For those who may not have ever read it, the book is composed of stories Ray wrote for the mystery pulps (DETECTIVE TALES, DIME MYSTERY, and so forth) during the 1940's. In his introduction to the book, Ray notes that, with the exception of "The Small Assassin" and one or two others, he is not especially pleased today about many of these stories, and considers them the work of a young man who had not yet found his true voice and who had not yet learned how to craft a mystery. However, I find the stories very interesting and great fun, a showcase for the work of an obviously very talented young writer who is still learning and honing his craft. One of my personal favorites is "The Long Night", set during the Zoot Suit riots in Los Angeles during World War II.
17 April 2007, 05:01 PM
groonquote:
Originally posted by philnic:
Another poem: Remembrance, from (I think) When Elephants Last in the Dooryard Bloomed.
Nuts! You totally stole mine! Haha, isn't that the most moving piece of literature ever!? I get all misty each and every time!
24 April 2007, 07:11 PM
NicoI suppose that
Pillar of Fire isn't too obscure, but I don't hear it mentioned very often. It is one of my favorites.
Email: ordinis@gmail.com
28 September 2007, 03:15 PM
greencomet1379Hey,howcome nobody ever really talks about the Short Story Boys ! Raise Giant Mushrooms in your Cellar ? I happen to like this one very much & believe strongly that it is one of Bradbury's most paranoid,well it ranks right up there w/ Zero Hour for me anyways ...

02 October 2007, 12:14 PM
grasstainsI like "The Lost City Of Mars".
02 October 2007, 12:17 PM
Braling II...and
it likes
you!
05 October 2007, 06:16 PM
dragonfly"Have I Got a Chocolate Bar For You!"
Poems "Doing is Being", "What I Do is Me - For That I Came", and "Que Bella, the Flagella of the Beasts".
Beloved.