Ray Bradbury Message Board
Brent S. -UMD posts on 12/12/2008 11:52:32 PM
I have to agree Sarah as I found this book to be very interesting as a collection of different short stories that do not directly relate to each other. However, I think that they do relate in that Bradbury is trying to challenge people’s thinking about what has existed, exists now, or may exist in the universe. He also challenges people’s idea of what time is and if and how we can prove what we consider time to be. I think it is interesting that the book was written in 1950 and challenges different “norms” of the time.
Sarah-UMD posts on 12/8/2008 9:19:40 AM
Martian Chronicles is definitely a little hard to get into at first, but it got a little more interesting as I read more. I think the way to story was plotted and written was different but cool too. Each chapter was like it’s one little short story. I have never read a book that It is funny to look at when this book was actually published too, because the story is supposedly taking place in the future which is actually close to today’s present date. Even though this is science fiction, it is weird to look at how the author describes what the future may be like. Bradbury’s whole concept of what the future is like is different, yet as the book goes on some of it actually makes sense like landing on Mars. Martian Chronicles really does make the reader think about whether or not there is life on another planet. Are humans really the only ones?
Tom posts on 12/4/2008 7:50:39 PM
I thought that the story line was good. I especially like the way it went through the landings and how it was a replay of history. The stories that were told seemed that they were stories out of a history book, only the location and people were different. I didn't understand how the final part of the book played out but still found his style of writing very fascinating. (Great recommendation)
steph292 UMD posts on 11/25/2008 2:32:38 PM
I loved this book from the first page. I thought the way he jumped from story to story and from one time period to another. I was very interesting to try and keep track of the characters and realizing that they did not always continue on to the next story. I think I liked the chapter where the animated house did everything just as if the humans were still alive. The whole description of what how the house did EVERYTHING for the humans, something I have always thought would be awesome, turned out to be useless without the humans.
mark bauch umd posts on 11/21/2008 4:27:50 PM
this was great book. i didnt know if i would like it or not, im not really into martians and space but this was more than a book. it was a way to show how our past actions towards the natives and mexicans were only actions that destroyed. the same thing happened with mar, we over took it and killed it along with earth itself. the one part that was really fascinating was the guy with the house of usher. that part of the book was out there. the pure thought of it was bizarre.
Brittany posts on 10/27/2008 1:21:02 PM
I actually liked Martian Chronicles. I found the book a fairly easy read even though it jumped around to many different people quite often. Martian Chronicles displayed quite the message about the people of Earth. Great job Mr. Bradbury.
Courtney UMD posts on 10/21/2008 9:44:49 PM
I absolutely loved the Martian Chronicle novel. The way the book fluctuated between characters from past and present was intriguing - especially having been originally published in 1946. My favorite chapter was probably the "night meeting" where the man meets the Martian and they are unable to view the same city- the entire concept of not being able to see though the other's eyes. It was very interesting.
Jorden UMD posts on 10/21/2008 4:29:53 PM
When I first started reading this book I found it kind of boring and I couldn't get into it. These feelings changed throughout the book however. Some chapters I found very interesting and others I had no interest in. Overall, I found the book to be pretty interesting. I enjoyed seeing how people thought the future would be like. I thought the house described in the chapter "There Will Come Soft Rains" was very interessting and creative. I would never have thought of some of the inventions described. I also felt this way about the descriptions of the martian cities. It was very elaborate and creative.
jorg0231 - UMD posts on 10/21/2008 2:38:48 PM
When I first picked up The Martian Chronicles I had an extremely difficult time getting into it. The way the story was written was rather irksome to me, with some chapters spanning pages while others were simply a few paragraphs. However, as I neared the ending I realized that I had really gotten into the story. It seemed to me that the more I read, the better the format was for the particular story that was being told. Once I read the last page of the book, I was slightly upset by how the book had ended. To me the book was highly imaginative (especially for when the book was written) and the ending was a little too cliche for my tastes. It was certainly not the imaginative ending that I was expecting.
ellis UMD posts on 10/17/2008 8:44:42 PM
What I really enjoyed about this book was that it was complied of short stories that all together gave you a well rounded picture as to the past and future of Mars and Earth. One of my favorite sections was the story about Walter Gripp and Genevieve Selsor, which cleverly told of the now ghost towns on Mars due to the wars on Earth. I love how a something as sad as being left all alone ends up being the better option for Walter. Basically it was a story of I wouldn't date you if you were the last woman on Mars.
Another story I found to be very powerful was the "There Will Come Soft Rains." The part that really stuck out to me in this section was how the house behaved like people religiously worshiping the gods who has left. It was so eerie because the house seemed so alive and yet it was not living. I wonder if this is how it will be if humans leave this planet? If everything that we have worked so hard to create will go up in fire and nothing will be left to show that we were here?
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