cdm72's Full Review: Ray Bradbury - The Illustrated Man
When you talk about science fiction and legends of the genre, one name always pops up. Ray Bradbury. At 84, the fact he still writes and publishes is a testament to his dedication to the work. His body of work combined with his public displays of affection for books and stories in general has made the man an icon to all aspiring writers, no matter their area of interest. He’s given us many wonderful novels (Something Wicked This Way Comes and the brilliant Fahrenheit 451 are just two of these amazing books), plus countless short story collections, providing us with an almost unlimited supply of creative genius.
One of those collections, The Illustrated Man, first appeared in 1951, over FIFTY years ago. And it’s still just as relevant a piece of work today as it was then.
The Illustrated Man is a collection of 18 stories bookended by the story of an illustrated man, a wanderer whose body is covered in tattoos that tell stories if you stare at them long enough. The stories in this book are the stories his illustrations tell.
The collection starts with “The Veldt”, one of Bradbury’s most reprinted stories, about a childrens’ automated nursery that becomes a little too real to the parents. Later there’s “Marionettes, Inc.”, another famous one in which an unhappy man has a duplicate of himself built to keep his wife occupied while the man, Braling, keeps some freedom from his unhappy marriage. And later still there’s “The Rocket”, about a man who just wants to give his children something they’ll always remember, a trip to Mars. Even if he has to deceive them to do it. This was a pretty touching story and one I wouldn’t have minded writing myself.
While the constant ideas of trips to Mars, and rockets, and outer space did get very repetitive and annoying after a while (come on, I know these stories were written in the 40s, but did he think rockets would be the ONLY form of transportation in the future? And there ARE other planets besides Mars. Let’s try something a little different next time), what I found myself doing was ignoring those details and focusing instead on the STORY, the IDEA he was presenting.
For me, “Kaleidoscope”, is one of the most . . . potential stories I’ve ever read. The story stars when a rocket (what else) explodes in space (where else) and the entire crew is jettisoned into space, everyone protected by their space suits, and everyone flying off in a different direction. The entire story is nothing more than dialogue between the characters as they drift further and further from each other. This could have been a disaster, but Bradbury, in his skillful way, manages to make it one of the best in the book.
Another moment of true genius was “The Fire Balloons”, about a small band of missionaries sent to Mars (where else) to determine if lifeforms there possess souls and, if they do, to save them. Another spot where things could have gone wrong, but this story contained some of the most beautiful prose I’ve ever read from Ray Bradbury. An example:
Of course they couldn’t let these Martians go to hell, could they? With a compromise to their consciences they go back to the new colonial towns, those towns so full of sinful gullets and women with scintilla eyes and white oyster bodies rollicking in beds with lonely laborers? Wasn't that the place for the Fathers? Wasn’t this trek into the hills merely a personal whim? Was he really thinking of God’s Church, or was he quenching the thirst of a spongelike curiosity? Those blue round globes of St. Anthony’s fire--how they burned in his mind! What a challenge, to find the man behind the mask, the human behind the inhuman. Wouldn’t he be proud if he could say, evn to his secret self, that he had converted a rolling huge pool table full of fiery spheres! What a sin of pride! Worth doing penance for! But then one did many prideful things out of Love, and he loved the Lord so much and was so happy at it that he wanted everyone else to be happy too.
The last thing he saw before sleep was the return of the blue fires, like a flight of burning angels silently singing him to his worried rest.
So, while the ideas and details are recurring and, eventually, monotonous, it’s Bradbury’s IDEAS that carry these stories into history. It’s not all just action and invasions and saving the world, there are solid foundations from which to build a career as a serious writer. And that’s why I think Bradbury is seen, not only as a great writer of science fiction, but as a great writer period, because the science fiction is only one ingredient in a complex and well-developed plot.
Another example would be “The Man”, about a part arriving on Mars, the first Earthmen to land. Only their arrival goes mostly unnoticed because, just days before, the Martians had been visited by a man who did great things.
“Well, what did he do that was wonderful that nobody even looks at our ship?”
“For one thing,” said Martin steadily, “he healed the sick and comforted the poor. He fought hypocrisy and dirty politics and sat among the people, talking, through the day.”
Sound familiar? And on Mars? Brilliant.
No, I did not love every word of every story in The Illustrated Man, but when I step back and take a look at it as a writer, I see that it is a brilliant piece of work and that Bradbury is a writer who has earned his place in history.
Classic Bradbury, this collection of tales offers images that are as keen as a tattooist s needle and as colorful as the inks that stain the body. Fea...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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