I received my copy of the Gauntlet Press limited edtion of Somewhere the Band is Playing. I've already read the novella but this book adds so much to the backstory that I know I'm not going to be able to put it down until I have finished it.

That's great news. Mine is on order, but I wasn't sure when they would start shipping.

My only problem is I 've got so much reading stacked up now, I don't know when I will ever get round to reading the torrent of new RB material that's coming through!. I've had to put aside Match to Flame, as I have other stuff I need to get to. And I STILL haven't got to Farewell Summer yet - that's nearly two summers gone since the book came out!

Phil, are you in a time warp? Two summers gone since Farewell Summer came out. I think not as I just finished reading it several months ago after I had ordered it from Amazon.com. Could you be thinking of some other Ray Bradbury novel?

Didn't it come out at the end of summer 2006? So the two summers are 2006 (gone!) and 2007 (nearly gone, not that we had much summer in the UK).

Actually, I've just checked Amazon, and it was published in OCTOBER 2006.

So, only one summer nearly gone! I must indeed be in a timewarp.

Phil, not much has been said about this, but I am curious as to your thoughts on Chapter 37 of Farewell Summer when Quartermain wakes up and discovers something different? Then Douglas also has a similar situation albeit perhaps new to his experience.

Without spoiling it for those who have not read the book, I am just curious as to your reaction to this. I asked Ray about it and he said that in about 40 years I, too, would have that same experience. Well in 40 years I would be over 100 so it'll be sooner than that.

With the headliner news last week about more seniors having active sexual lives way up into the later years, perhaps not all have the experience the same way and at the same time frame.

When I eventually get round to reading it, I'll let you know!

I like that the British say "get round".

Once again Doug has stopped me in my tracks with the surprising news that Brits say something that (I presume) Americans do not say! So what would you say, Doug?

Presumably, like the Beach Boys, it would be "Get Around".

Phil, you've sussed it. (Something else we don't say over here...)

Biplane.

That event is similar to the same event that happens in RB's short story, "Junior," when the same "pleasurable activity" occurs (I'm not worried about a spoiler as the book has been out awhile; but am not sure the gentle way to say it...). The old man is so "excited," he calls the women from his past who have "enjoyed it" with him to come and share the experience one more time.

In "Farewell summer," I think some of this is tied to RB's recognition that sexuality is a fundamental part of the human experience. The old guy has one last "event" before dying, and at the same time, Doug has his first event as the beginning of his male adult life. This book is partly about transitioning from childhood into adulthood and this event (for men) is a clear sign that life is indeed "moving forward and upward".

I think it is a bit heavy-handed (juxtaposing the two so that they occur at the same time), but great symbolism, nontheless. For Bradbury, sexuality is one of the true signs of life.

quote:

Originally posted by philnic:
Once again Doug has stopped me in my tracks with the surprising news that Brits say something that (I presume) Americans do not say! So what would you say, Doug?

Presumably, like the Beach Boys, it would be "Get Around".

They would say "I get around", indeed - Americans!

I would say "I get round", but then, I'm an Anglophile!

Mr. Dark, thank you for mentioning the previous work of Ray's as I will reread it.

Also thank you for your comments as well. What I have enjoyed most about Farewell Summer as well as Dandelion Wine, is that neither are science fiction nor fantasy. In fact many of Ray's later collections, i.e., The Cat's Pajamas and Driving Blind, all contain not one story that could be labeled as either science fiction or fantasy but a reflection upon life as it is.

I love his science fiction, but I also enjoy his stories about life. In his poetry is the most obviously religious and I enjoy those, also. He is far more multi-faceted--as a writer and a thinker--than he is generally given credit for.

Mr. Dark, you know I have most of Ray's books, many of them signed by him to me, but I don't own one book of his poetry. I am going to have remedy that either by Amazon.com or eBay.

Thank you for reminding me of his other talent. I do have quite a few poems that he would send out with a Holiday message, but all one sheet and from Ray and Marquerite.

quote:

I love his science fiction, but I also enjoy his stories about life.

But the sci-fi stories are about "life", too! The best science fiction (including Ray's) is not really about the future & techology at all; it is about NOW and about HUMANITY.

Anyway, Mr Dark, I do understand what you were getting at.