Ray Bradbury Turns 88 194
Lawrence Person writes "Legendary science fiction writer Ray Bradbury turned 88 years old on August 22. Happy Birthday Ray! 'The Illustrated Man' was one of the first science fiction books I ever read, and I've been hooked ever since. I'm sure that's true of a lot of science fiction writers and readers, be it that, or 'The Martian Chronicles,' or 'Fahrenheit 451.' There are also several videos of Ray on that page, including one where he doesn't endorse Sunsweet Prunes." I remember when another student on the bus loaned me "Fahrenheit 451," and my middle-school English teacher Mrs. Young was smart enough to include "All Summer in a Day" in her curriculum.
Bradbury and Bukowski in the same graduating class (Score:3, Informative)
It seems Bradbury and Bukowski were in the same graduating class. According to their respective Wikipedia entries, both were born in 1920, and both graduated from Los Angeles High School.
Interesting bit of trivia if true...
-- anthony
Re:"Slow News Day" tag? (Score:3, Informative)
I should think not.
Bradbury was one of the first science fiction authors to have a wider cultural impact outside of sci-fi fandom, and is still one of the most important.
Of course, there's no way to precisely rank the importance of writers in a genre; perhaps there were more influential writers within the genre, but clearly he is a writer of the first rank. Within his historical cohort, many have passed away: Poul Anderson, Isaac Asimov, James Blish, Robert Bloch, Arthur Clarke, Philip K. Dick, Gordy Dickson, Frank Herbert, Damon Knight, Stanislaw Lem, Kurt Vonnegut ... all were his contemporaries, all gone. Even Gene Roddenberry and Rod Serling if you choose to include them.
Bradbury belongs to a seminal generation of science fiction writers. If you go back a decade earlier by birth date, you get a few names who are recognizably and undeniably part of the genre: H. Beam Piper, Robert Heinlein, Clifford D. Simak. Bradbury himself was a later bloomer, beginning his most important work in the 1950s, while his near exact contemporary Isaac Asimov was publishing a decade earlier, and who perhaps is a link to an earlier, pulpier age. If you go back even further, you get figures like Doc Smith (who was very advanced for his era) who were writing in a very different kind of genre.
The distinctive accomplishment of this generation of writers is that they raised the science fiction bar from thrilling adventure (although not stinting in that department) with serious literary craft, social critique, and scientific speculation, a fact that escaped the notice of wider audiences for years. Bradbury was one of the first to get noticed outside the club. And he did it without having to cross over into social satire, with sci-fi served up neat.
It's remarkable and happy news that Bradbury is still with us. There aren't many of that generation who are. Brian Aldiss, Anne McCaffrey, and Ursula LeGuin among the top tier writers. John Christopher, and Kate Wilhelm certainly.
So, yes, it's newsworthy that he's still with us.
When I was fifteen,... (Score:3, Informative)
I liked Bradbury a lot. And Heinlein. And E.E. Smith.
A few years later, Farmer and Stapledon.
At the age of 25, I discovered two very witty and humourous authors, namely Robert Sheckley
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Sheckley [wikipedia.org]
and R.A. Lafferty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._A._Lafferty [wikipedia.org]
Not to forget Philip K. Dick, Stanislaw Lem, the Strugatskijs.
And of course, the British Authors: Douglas Adams, and Clarke, Moorcock, Brunner, Ballard, Aldiss,...
Among them, the great but not well-known David I. Masson ("The Caltraps of Time")
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_I._Masson [wikipedia.org]
Somebody just tell me to stop? ;-)
Thanks.
Here in the US (Score:1, Informative)
F 451, 1984, Animal Farm, and Brave New World were required reading in my schools in the late 70's - 80's.
Not sure if they still make the kids read these anymore. I hope so.
Re:"Slow News Day" tag? (Score:5, Informative)
No SF author has ever creeped me out as much as Bradbury can. He can describe a happy summer day with just a note of ... something ... that makes you think you're in a horror story despite every description being pleasant. "There will come soft rains" from The Martian Chronicles still sticks with me 20 years after reading it for the first time, long after we stopped fearing the bomb. Truely a genius at his craft.
The Coda (Score:5, Informative)
Fahrenheit 451 itself was censored in exactly the method we wrote about for years, and he didn't know it. When he later discovered it, he wrote this new piece to go in the end of the book. Everyone should read it.
http://members.iquest.net/~jswartz/jks/humor/451.htm [iquest.net]
Nobody -- NOBODY -- does paranoia better. (Score:3, Informative)
"The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl." He makes it sound so reasonable.
Re:I remember when Ray Bradbury defended Bob Packw (Score:3, Informative)
Re:"Slow News Day" tag? (Score:2, Informative)
Worst.
Writer.
Ever.