I'm another fan who doesn't get "Powerhouse" at all. Definitely deserves a re-reading.

Short comments: ettil, please get another least favorite RB book. Dandelion Wine does not belong in last place!

I'm afraid I disagree about the Irish stories. "The Anthem Sprinters" is hilarious, and Maybe Americans don't really get it because the British anthem was never played after movies in the U.S.

I read Dandelion Wine in HS, and thought it was okay. But it definitely didn't fit into what I was reading Ray for at the time. I was into his fantasy, sci-fi, and bizarre stuff. It may have counted as my least favorite RB book back then.

But I re-read Dandelion Wine last year at the ripe old age of 48 and loved it.

I dont' know how old Ettil is, but if she's young, she may want to re-read it ten years down the road and re-assess.

douglasSP,

you may be right about Americans not getting The Anthem Sprinters - but I'm British, so it makes a lot of sense to me.

Actually, this reminds me that it's not the plots of these stories that bothers me (the idea of Anthem Sprinters is funny, as is "One for His Lordship, and One for the Road"). It's the pantomime portrayal of Irish people I can't stand. It just doesn't ring true.

It MAY just be that Ray's vision of the Irish is fixed in the 1950s, that being the time when he stayed there for a few months; and so the stories are just thoroughly old-fashioned. But I suspect his depiction of Irish people never was anything but broad caricature.

- Phil

ok, ok, good news!!!!! i found a new least favorite!!!!!!!!! from "the illustrated man" is.........(drum roll) "no particular night or morning" much wuch worse than dandelion wine, right? i think so because its quite a boring story with few interresting parts. i was very glad to get on the the rest of the book after i had finished it.


Mr. Dark- I AM NOT A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
if you remember from (also in illustrated) "The Cement Mixer" there is a martian character named Ettil who is male. i know this because in the begginning he had a wife and later in the story an earth girl came on to him. i hope you remember that now!

also: i am in high school, so im pretty young compareed to alot of you.

[This message has been edited by Ettil (edited 05-21-2004).]

[This message has been edited by Ettil (edited 05-21-2004).]

Ettil: Sorry about that. Old age isn't all it's cracked up to be!!!!

)

I read the story again quite recently and also remember the RBT episode and how good Ben Cross was as Ettil.

Ettil, the trick is to find a whole book you like less than Dandelion Wine - not just one short story! Dandelion Wine is full of quiet, sentimental masterpieces such as "The Swan" and "The Leave-Taking". Don't get fixated on Martians!

Philnic, I guess the Irish characters are stereotyped, but Ireland was very different then. By the way, I love your website. It contains just the information I wanted. I looked over it a while back and thought I found a few minor mistakes, but nothing worth e-mailing about.

To be philosophical about it, I guess I should see Ray's Irish characters as pure fantasy, just as his Martians are. The difference being that the Irish characters have a connection to reality and so are caricatures rather than fantasy figures.

If you see any errors on my site, please let me know, by the way. Doesn't matter how trivial.

- Phil

I think one must have at least reached middle age and be a male to fully appreciate the incredible sensitivity and humor that Ray embodied in the story "Junior". It is one of my favorites of all of Ray's stories, because I never expected it to come from Ray. Junior had and annual "uprising", his owner called his past girlfriends to celebrate his, and their, good fortune, and before they can arrive to witness his pride and joy, he has an "unsizing". I cannot read this piece without seeing another example of the human side of Ray's characterizations. If done today, there would be other words used to describe the actions of the small protagonist, and the humour would be lost to be replaced with common street language, which would spoil the piece's charm and great sensitivity to the plight of old men and their former lovers. Here's to Junior, may he rise annually to give us all hope.

[This message has been edited by patrask (edited 06-09-2004).]

I'm another one who enjoyed "Junior", but certainly understand why it wouldn't do much for some others. It cracked me up for the kind of mocking celebration of something that seems trivial, but can be so psychologically fulfilling, yet Ray handled with real gusto and humor. I also was surprised it was Ray's.

Somewhere in "When Elephants Last in the Dooryard Bloomed" is a poem along the same theme.

I question the statement about having to be a male to appreciate it, but I do admit that it was a fine story.

Cheers, Translator