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Ray Bradbury Message Board


harpua posts on 12/7/2007 12:47:52 AM in response to schwe190, is there ever a point at which preserving the planet can trump human lives? Is the greater good, in this case, the planet and its resources, more intrinsically valuable than the lives of a couple of people. Personally I think I would be hard pressed to make this argument myself, but it as Spender has it happens in the book could be a haunting vision of earth's future. Will we ever reach that stage where we have to choose the life of our planet over the lives of a few or few thousand people?
moes posts on 12/6/2007 3:16:58 AM in response to Sam, Thomas & the martian were shown to be doing simmilar things in different times to show how simmilar they were to one another. both wanted fun, coffee, & to be with those they were like. I've noticed a lot of people have mentioned Europeans & the Americas, but has anyone considered that the story also largly reflects the ideas of Atlantis & how they over grew their knowledge & eventually killed themselves, simmilar to the nuclear war?
nels2426 posts on 10/29/2007 10:01:57 AM Many people have pointed out that Bradbury's Earthlings are representative of colonizers from Europe, or the modern United States, seeking to relentlessly adapt the environment to their vision, regardless of how suitable the environment is for that vision. But a society is made up of individuals, and (ideally) reflects their beliefs. Has this book made anybody stop and reflect on the environment of their own lives and consider how things in it may be good, even though they do not match the vision we would like?



Ryan Findell posts on 10/25/2007 10:39:24 AM I have say, that this book was too repetitive for me. It was a collection of short stories and they were good by themselves, but the first few were the same story, which in book form didn't work for me. People from earth arrived and they they died. It was a frustrating read for me. They end of the book made up for it some what, but by that time i was just waiting for the people to die.
pede0360 posts on 10/23/2007 5:02:46 PM This is the third or fourth time I have read the book or watched the 70's movie pack, so I find the story fatigued. Overall, the stories aren't bad. I don't know if this was the first, but the human-martian relationship has been played on several times. The story is based upon irrational thinking by all main characters, meaning the conflicts seemed somewhat forced. Again I say the stories aren't bad, but they aren't great either.
schwe190 posts on 10/9/2007 9:45:17 PM I also agree that the book was an extremely good read. Not only did the stories keep me interested, but I also stopped occasionally to really think about what other life forms there may be on distant planets. The book made me realize that we, the human race, should treasure and respect the beautiful planet we live on and also any other planets we discover and come in contact with. The previous post mentions the chapter in the book where Spender attempts to kill his crew members. I enjoyed this section of the book and I agree with Spender's ultimate goal of protecting the Martians and their planet, but I was not pleased with him killing his crew members, even if it was for a good reason. Also, on an unrelated topic, did anyone else find it odd that all but two people left Mars after they learned that there was a nuclear war on Earth?
Danny Singpiel posts on 10/3/2007 10:34:56 PM I can really relate to what the last two posts talked about. When I first started reading the book it was really boring and I was kind of confused. I had to re-read the first couple stories because I kept falling nodding off. After I got into the book I really started to enjoy it, I also could not seem to put it down. I found it quite interesting when Spender started trying to kill off his crew members because of the fact that they were disrespecting the "Martians" way of life. He must have really had a thing for them and their way of life in order to start killing his own crew. I was also fascinated by the whole idea of living on Mars after it was completely deserted. Imagine driving across the US when there are only a couple other people in the country, scary thought. I'm really glad I finished the novel. I guess it followed the saying of not judging a book by its cover.
stell062 posts on 9/26/2007 4:35:52 PM To be honest, when I first started reading it it took me awhile to get through the first section. I think it was more me thinking how much I would not like this, so I was overly critical on the material. However, after reading more and more I found myself not wanting to stop. I really enjoyed this book. The one thing I didn't like was as soon as I would get attached to a character their section would be over. I still want to know whatever happened with Mrs. K! And, Tomas and his Martian friend!
Brittany Schubitzke posts on 9/21/2007 11:35:51 AM I could not put the book down! I have to admit, I wasn't insanely excited about reading it. I went into reading the book thinking that I wouldn't at all be able to relate to it, for the idea of Martians and living on a different planet seem so far away from my life - unrelatable. Upon reading it, however, I realized that I COULD relate to the feelings of these "earthlings". The frustration I felt when one crew was mistaken as lunatics made me want to scream - awesome! Ray Bradbury does a great job of taking an entirely "out-there" subject matter and making it relatable and close to home. The way he broke it up into short stories made me excited to see whose point of view we would see Mars from next: the old racist stuck on earth, the small boy forced to Mars, the grieving couple needing their dead son. I also loved that Captain Wilder appeared at the end after touring even more planets!
Meagan Dinsmore posts on 9/5/2007 10:15:56 PM I enjoyed this book more than I had anticipated. The short stories were simple and easy to read, unlike a lot of science fiction books I have encountered. I like Ray Bradbury's approach to life on Mars. His ideas are unique and very versatile. I found myself drawn into each character like a typical novel would draw me in. Of the stories, I believe that Rocket Summer is one of my favorites. It's so interesting to think of a rockets heat providing a relief to a winter day. I also loved The Earth Men. To think that people on Mars viewed travelers from Earth as simple lunatics is pretty astounding. It was a creative way to induce someone to think that maybe humans we have on Earth that are considered insane may actually be telling the truth. Also, stuff we see may simply be a figment of someone's imagination, displayed to create a hallucination for you. It's all pretty interesting and makes you think, which is the mark of a good book, to me.
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