R.I.P. Ray Bradbury

[AWS260]

Dead at 91.

I think it's time to re-read Something Wicked This Way Comes. (And re-watch F Me, Ray Bradbury.)

[LordMortis]

Fuck me, Ray Bradbury?

RIP. 91's a pretty good age to go.

[hepcat]

I honestly feel he should be firmly placed in the same category as Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Whitman and all other great American writers. The man did more to shape my childhood than any other writer I can think of. Heaven just got a better library.

[Brian]

So I mentioned this to my coworker and he had no idea who Ray Bradbury was at all.

Keep in mind, that this coworker is not some young, fresh out of college 20-something. He's a 48 year old man.

So I rattled off a few select titles; Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451, The Illustrated Man, Something Wicked Etc... nothing. He's never heard of any of them.

It boggles the mind.

[tgb]

I honestly feel he should be firmly placed in the same category as Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Whitman and all other great American writers

I kind of think he is. RIP.

[hepcat]

I honestly feel he should be firmly placed in the same category as Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Whitman and all other great American writers

I kind of think he is. RIP.

See Brian's reply above. Because of the genre he usually worked in, I think he gets short shrift from a lot of folks. I know I've mentioned it to a couple of office workers today and only one of them responded with anything other than a shrug.

And that's a tragedy.

[silverjon]

Or, people simply aren't readers.

Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Whitman would probably net you some blank stares too. Oh yeah, Gatsby is that book about the guy who throws parties, right?

[Brian]

Yeah, in the case of my coworker I'd be willing to bet he might recognize some of the names but probably wouldn't be able to list any of their works.

He's an engineer and former high school math teacher after all.

[tgb]

Or, people simply aren't readers.

Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Whitman would probably net you some blank stares too. Oh yeah, Gatsby is that book about the guy who throws parties, right?

This. I suspect Brain's co-worker would have a tough time coming up with anything they wrote either.

[Brian]

Heh.

[coopasonic]

So I mentioned this to my coworker and he had no idea who Ray Bradbury was at all.

Keep in mind, that this coworker is not some young, fresh out of college 20-something. He's a 48 year old man.

So I rattled off a few select titles; Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451, The Illustrated Man, Something Wicked Etc... nothing. He's never heard of any of them.

It boggles the mind.

I'm a sci-fi/fantasy fan, but I've never read anything he's written. Admittedly I am much more of a fantasy fan than a sci-fi fan. I think my brother read Fahreneir 451 for a class in high school. I am aware of the name, but nothing beyond that. On the other hand, I have read some Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Whitman, but all only because school made me.

LOTR may be the only thing I have read voluntarily that was written prior to 1980. Kids these days.

[hepcat]

I'm guessing you've actually watched film or tv adaptations of a lot of his work and were unaware of it though.

p.s. you're not REALLY a sci fi fan if you haven't read any Bradbury, for god's sake. At least not a fan of sci fi in the written word.

[Freezer-TPF-]

When I was a kid, I raided my mother's bookshelf and read anything Bradbury she had. I should revisit some of those titles.

[tgb]

hepcat might actually be right. I just went to ew.com to see how extensive an obit they gave him, and there's not a word about it.

Are we sure he's not just playing possum?

[edit] They finally put something up.

[rshetts2]

Yeah, Bradburys footprint is all over hollywood so those who have never heard of him have certainly seen adaptations of his fiction. He was most certainly a genius with a huge imagination and is one of the greatest american writers of our or anytime. Thanks for all the entertainment and enjoyment your works gave me, RIP Ray

[Anonymous Bosch]

So I mentioned this to my coworker and he had no idea who Ray Bradbury was at all.

Keep in mind, that this coworker is not some young, fresh out of college 20-something. He's a 48 year old man.

So I rattled off a few select titles; Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451, The Illustrated Man, Something Wicked Etc... nothing. He's never heard of any of them.

It boggles the mind.

That's just sad. Fahrenheit 451 is a must-read, IMHO. I also loved Martian Chronicles, and could never seem to get enough of Bradbury's short stories as a wee nipper.

RIP.

[GreenGoo]

Or, people simply aren't readers.

Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Whitman would probably net you some blank stares too. Oh yeah, Gatsby is that book about the guy who throws parties, right?

This. I suspect Brain's co-worker would have a tough time coming up with anything they wrote either.

Well, Bradbury was a staple at school when I was growing up, which is why I'm scratching my head over Brian's co-worker as well. Fahrenheit 451 is pretty iconic. I would expect people to understand that it exists at least.

[LordMortis]

If it's of any consequence, Bradbury, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald (Fahrenheit 451, Old Man and the Sea, and The Great Gatsby) are all standard high school American Lit and college American Lit Survey studies and Whitman is not. "The Sound of Thunder" is not only taught in most middle schools but the symbolism is almost universally recognized as pop culture, even if they don't remember the actual story or author.

Generally, I think people would at least recognize the name Something Wicked before they recognize anything by Whitman.

(I also seem to remember the TV show for Martian Chronicles was wildly popular but I was 8 when it came out so it could have just been wildly popular around me)

[hepcat]

Conversely, my high school English classes taught Leaves of Grass but never once mentioned anything by Bradbury.

Whitman was also taught in my college American Lit class...alongside Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Thoreau and Twain.

I'm not trying to downgrade any of these authors, by the way. Simply trying to get across my opinion that Bradbury is of equal import in the realm of American literature.

[Freezer-TPF-]

The Kindle offerings of his works are very slim (a quick look showed F451 as the only mainstream title). Was it Bradbury who was very anti e-book?

[Chaosraven]

Farenheit 72. RIP.

[Smoove_B]

I'm guessing you've actually watched film or tv adaptations of a lot of his work and were unaware of it though.

I feel Richard Matheson is going to suffer the same fate...or worse, people are actually going to think he wrote the Will Smith adaptation of I am Legend. Regardless, 91 years is a hell of a run.

Was it Bradbury who was very anti e-book?

Yes, very much against the whole idea.

"We have too many cellphones. We've got too many internets. We have got to get rid of those machines. We have too many machines now."

[Isgrimnur]

Was it Bradbury who was very anti e-book?

Yes, very much against the whole idea.

"We have too many cellphones. We've got too many internets. We have got to get rid of those machines. We have too many machines now."

Cite

[hepcat]

I'm guessing you've actually watched film or tv adaptations of a lot of his work and were unaware of it though.

I feel Richard Matheson is going to suffer the same fate...or worse, people are actually going to think he wrote the Will Smith adaptation of I am Legend. Regardless, 91 years is a hell of a run.

If you haven't picked them up already, check out the short story collections from Matheson. There's a fantastic intro in one of them by Matheson in which he relates the story about Bradbury buying him a ticket to come see him in New York after Matheson published his first short story. It's really touching and shows how much Bradbury did for his peers (young and old).

fun fact: matheson actually wrote the screen adaptation for Bradbury's Martian Chronicles that LM mentioned earlier.

[tgb]

I feel Richard Matheson is going to suffer the same fate...or worse, people are actually going to think he wrote the Will Smith adaptation of I am Legend. Regardless, 91 years is a hell of a run.

Matheson will probably be remembered more for the excellent work he did on Twilight Zone than any of his books or short stories.

[hepcat]

Was it Bradbury who was very anti e-book?

Yes, very much against the whole idea.

"We have too many cellphones. We've got too many internets. We have got to get rid of those machines. We have too many machines now."

Cite

He earned the right to be a Luddite.

[Daehawk]

He had a long great run so I can't feel all that bad . A great writer and a person who stands out among his peers. RIP Ray.

[Carpet_pissr]

(I also seem to remember the TV show for Martian Chronicles was wildly popular but I was 8 when it came out so it could have just been wildly popular around me)

I remember that, and also remember it creeping me right the hell out. IIRC, I had nightmares for a few days after seeing that! Great success!

[Odin]

Color me shocked that Bradbury was still alive. That said, I'll continue to cherish the work of his which I've read (my wife had read more than I have).

[Enough]

I knew he was old, but this one stings. One of the most influential writers for me growing up and he holds a special sentimental place. Dang getting old sucks, RIP.

[Carpet_pissr]

Re: the TV version of Martian Chronicles (I was 6! No wonder I had nightmares! Nice parenting Mom and Dad!)

"In 1979 NBC commissioned a three-episode miniseries adaptation in partnership with the BBC with a total running time of just over four hours, The Martian Chronicles. The adaptation was written by Richard Matheson and was directed by Michael Anderson. The series star was Rock Hudson as 'Wilder', with Darren McGavin as 'Parkhill', Bernadette Peters as 'Genevieve Selsor', Bernie Casey as 'Jeff Spender', Roddy McDowall as 'Father Stone', and Barry Morse as 'Hathaway', as well as Fritz Weaver. Bradbury found the miniseries "just boring".[11]"

"Just boring"? Speak for yourself, Mister....Mister... Author Man! Oh.

[hepcat]

He was a well known curmudgeon. But he was OUR curmudgeon, damn it.

(and yes, I still miss JeffV)

[WYBaugh]

Thanks for everything Ray!

[Rumpy]

I thought he had died awhile back, but I guess not. The good man has had a long life though.

[Pyperkub]

Hopefully we never forget some of the lessons. RIP Mr. Bradbury

"Do you ever read any of the books you burn?"
He laughed. "That's against the law!"
"Oh. Of course."

[SpaceLord]

See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.

[JonathanStrange]

My favorite childhood author. Or one of them anyway - I had little access to new sci-fi but the classic authors Bradbury, Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, etc. were a great intro to the genre.

My fav Bradbury: The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man.

A great short story author.

For old time's sake, I've put Library Holds on the audiobook editions of the two above books.

I'll probably pick up some of the short story collections too.

[SpaceLord]

Following Ray Bradbury's Death, Thousands Of People Buy Kindle Version Of Book About Demise Of Paper Books - The Onion

[YellowKing]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

I can't say I was a huge Bradbury fan in terms of reading everything he wrote, but I definitely respected his importance in geek literature and the influence he had on the genres I loved. 'Tis a sad day in nerd history.

[hentzau]

I have vivid memories of sitting in 4th grade, Mrs. Blesse's class, being bored because I had finished the reading assignment and there was still like a half hour to go while the rest of the class worked. Mrs. Blesse walked over to her bookshelf and placed a book on my desk. Dandelion Wine.

Thanks, Mrs. Blesse. And thank you, Mr. Bradbury.

I'm not too far from Waukegan. I may head over there to Ray Bradbury park over lunch tomorrow.