| This 1976 volume is the last of Bradbury's great short story collections, and my personal favorite. "One Timeless Spring" is a unique coming-of-age tale of a 12-year-old who is convinced his parents are poisoning him; "The Utterly Perfect Murder" details a 48-year-old's revenge on the boy who bullied him when they were 12; "Have I Got a Chocolate Bar for You!" depicts the relationship between a Catholic priest and the rotund young man who periodically comes to confession to talk of his peculiar obsession; "The Parrot Who Met Papa" is an utterly hilarious spoof of Hemingway (or maybe Chandler) and his literary groupies; the title story is a very different one for Bradbury, about a lonely oceanside suicide ... and then there are some of Bradbury's usual stories about friendly robots and light horror. A truly marvelous mix. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of book - FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - fantasy world/fantasy past Coming of age Yes Explore/1st contact/ enviro story Yes Explore: Romance Yes Romance plotlets: - Robots, Computers, VR Yes Robot, PC, VR Plotlets: Inner Struggle Yes Plotlet: - - - - change of heart Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Cultural problems, alien culture Yes Culture clash- - feelings of a human growing up among aliens - one culture tries to impose its culture on another group Main Adversary How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Average intelligence Setting Terrain Earth setting: - 20th century - general past - medium future 22-24th century A substantial portion of this book takes place on a non-Earth planetary body: - inhabited by friendly aliens - big overbuilt futuristic city Takes place on Earth? Yes Planet outside solar system? Yes Takes place in spaceship? Yes Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment scientific jargon? (SF only) - none/very little science jargon needed Sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - vague references only - descript of kissing - How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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