You love doing that B-Two, even in just writing, it's a touch creepy!
grasstains, I can feel your pain coming out of your words from two thousand miles away. I wish I could alleviate it somehow. There is a new friend who just started at work and I kid you not, even though he must be in his early to mid twenties, he is an illustrated man. He is literally covered with color. He is very nice, and when I am at the register with him talking, its sometimes hard not to stare. I was asking if he ever read any Bradbury and he said no but that Heinlein was his favorite. I said Heinlein was the brain, but Bradbury is the heart of sci-fi. I can't believe he hasn't read any before. I'm going to try and give him a couple of extra books I have. I don't think right now, I have an extra Illustrated Man. May freak him out too. Anyhow, I was searching on here about a thread dealing with Illustrated Man and this was one that popped up. grasstains, did you follow it back to the beginning of the thread? I saw rain when I did that. You been around these dusty halls for a spell. Even though the big truck with the flags on the side and the little truck saying stay back 100 feet came and took our old abode away and stashed it here much like Dorothy's house crashed in Oz. I read your original post and it was very moving just like your latest one did. Hope your doing well my friend!
She stood silently looking out into the great sallow distances of sea bottom, as if recalling something, her yellow eyes soft and moist...
rocketsummer@insightbb.com
Posts: 1397 | Location: Louisville, KY | Registered: 08 February 2006
Yup, that was me. I used to CAP every single word, because that's the way I scribble out my notes at home and work. I used to think of this place as a bunch of scribbled out notes posted on a bulletin board. That was the first typing I'd ever done. We got our computer up and running, signed online for the very first time, and the first website address I punched up was www.raybradbury.com, because everything on the internet has www. in the front and .com in the back, right? I guess I just got lucky.
Good times.
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"Years from now we want to go into the pub and tell about the Terrible Conflagration up at the Place, do we not?"
And, no, I did not realize this was that old thread from so many years ago.
The broken family thing is a legacy passed on to me and one which I, in turn, may have passed on to my kids. I never saw my parents working out their differences, setting common goals, or appearing to be united on any front. Both of them were also raised by single parents, so I don't blame them. My current Spouse (also from a broken family) and I are going to a counselor and learning the tools of the trade. It's going well and I've grown quite a bit in the last few months. So, my kids still stand a chance. At times I still have the urge to bolt, fantasize about starting over, find validation in being a victim and comfort in defeat. But I'm working on it. I'm dedicated to making this a winning team.
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"Years from now we want to go into the pub and tell about the Terrible Conflagration up at the Place, do we not?"
Good for you, Grassy! To paraphrase Mother Theresa, it may not get any easier, but it can become more worthwhile.
As for picking a favourite IM story, I really can't. The endings of "Marionettes", "The Veldt" and "Zero Hour" are disturbing enough to haunt one for years; but the story I keep coming back to is "The Exiles". I think I explained my love for this story somewhere else on this site...
Posts: 3167 | Location: Box in Braling I's cellar | Registered: 02 July 2004
Nor can I - Kaleidoscope is heartbreakingly beautiful, The Rocket Man likewise, The Last Night of the World is the epitome of subtle, Zero Hour is frightening in its implications, The Rocket is beautifully heartwarming, and perhaps my favourite, the incredible piece of fiction, The Exiles.
Also, any story that begins, "George, I wish you'd look at the nursery", has my attention from the start!
One of his best books.
A cup of tea, anyone?This message has been edited. Last edited by: Doug Spaulding,
"Live Forever!"
Posts: 6909 | Location: 11 South Saint James Street, Green Town, Illinois | Registered: 02 October 2002
I've just finished re-reading ILL.MAN. I don't think there's a more perfect story than 'Rocket Man' in the book. I love the imagery of the son gathering all the space dust out of his father's suit - a wonderful, heartbreaking metaphor. The ending still sends chills down my spine, despite multiple readings. A similar theme resonates in 'The Rocket' as well (though in a very different way) - a beautiful piece about fatherly love and the power of illusion.This message has been edited. Last edited by: oz-crumley,
Posts: 125 | Location: NSW South Coast, Australia | Registered: 07 April 2007
I just finished a story Mr. B. mentions in "The Exiles": Lovecraft's "The Shadow Over Innsmouth", which Bradbury calls "The Weird Shadow Over Innsmouth". Weird it is. It's been a while since I read any Lovceaft. Pretty good writing, though not really my thing.
Posts: 3167 | Location: Box in Braling I's cellar | Registered: 02 July 2004
I like The Long Rain a lot. The words pour off the page in a torrent and just invoke the relentless force of nature so well. The Rocket Man is a sweet heartfelt classic , but the superb ending to Kaleidoscope is the passage that makes the whole book resonate for days after.This message has been edited. Last edited by: willpenny,
Mr. Bradbury is Fiorello Bodoni. One of his quaintest and most loving stories. The essences of RB is on display from opening line to its wonderful conclusion ~ The Rocket!
Posts: 2822 | Location: Basement of a NNY Library | Registered: 07 April 2005
Originally posted by willpenny: I like The Long Rain a lot...
Welcome, willpenny! I agree with what you say about "Kaleidoscope". It's a great story even without the ending, but the final paragraphs are wonderful.
I can't pick any single story of the FUNtastic book....I love all of them, but I DO dig the part were there is NO image on the body.....empty like death itself
Rob
"Why do people take drugs anymore when reality has become hallucination?!!"
This is my next Bradbury book to read after today finishing Something Wicked
The character of Mr Dark is most intriguing and arcane
Reflection is useless, the world is senseless. Evil is its only permanence. God is not alive. Love cannot be trusted. Surface, surface, surface was all that anyone found meaning in...this was civilization as I saw it, colossal and jagged.
Posts: 8 | Location: Manchester, UK | Registered: 11 October 2009
Hoo-boy. Asking me to name my favorite Illustrated Man stories (probably my favorite Bradbury book) is like asking me to name a favorite Papermate pen. My fav's:
The Rocketman (I like the climax at the end)
The Fire Balloons (I'm a Christian, and I found this to be both fascinating and funny)
Marionettes, Inc (what happens when robots start thinking for themselves?)
I also liked the story Last Night until the End of the World, because it captures a resigned bleakness of how man knows the world will end and there's nothing he can do to stop it.
Professional writer since 2000, working on fiction career
Posts: 3 | Location: Michigan | Registered: 18 March 2010
Every single story of that marvellous..and slightly underrated book (and movie!).....the part where the white spot is explained gives me the chills still today after so many moons .
"Once a Ray Bradbury fan, always a Ray Bradbury fan!"
