When I was growing up, there were two genres of books that
my granddad especially liked to read; there were westerns, particularly Louis L’Amour
and Zane Grey, and then there was sci-fi. I remember many times going to spend
the night at his house and watching “The Twilight Zone” and “Amazing Stories” together.
It was fantastic stuff. Also my Uncle Earl, the same one who got me into
mysteries by giving me Agatha Christie books and all his old Ellery Queen
Mystery Magazines, used to let me have all of his old Isaac Asimov magazines as
well. Because of this, reading science fiction, and particularly the style of
science fiction in Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles is like a nostalgic
trip down memory lane.
The Martian Chronicles is a difficult book to review.
This is mainly due to the fact that it’s really a collection of short stories
that were originally published separately and then were fixed up by a publisher
into one book with Ray Bradbury writing little connection pieces to connect all
the pieces into more or less one big story. What comes out is something that is
more than a collection of short stories but less than a novel. “Chronicles” is
a good title choice; the book chronicles a span of 27 years, from 1999 through
2026, of man’s colonization of Mars. I don’t want to spoil the storyline, so I’m
not going to give away much about the particular stories themselves. I will
say, though, that there is a great variety in the types of stories told. Some
are meant to be humorous, some darkly so, as with “The Earth Men” or “Ussher II”.
Some border on “Twilight Zone”-style horror such as “And the Moon Be Still as
Bright” and “The Earth Men”. Some are social commentary like “The Way in the
Middle of the Air”. Some are poignant reflections on life and religion like “The
Fire Balloons”. And even though I’m categorizing these stories broadly, they
overlap as well, humor mingling with horror, high concept sci-fi with political
satire.
I liked The Martian Chronicles much better than I
expected to. I had wanted to read it for years, but kept putting it off until I
was in the right mood. I expected something grittier and more somber. I should
have known better with Bradbury. It was a pleasure to read from start to
finish, a dose of pure, golden age science fiction, critical of society’s
shortcomings, but not ultimately cynical or bitter. There is a celebration of
life, literature, love, religion, and all the things that make humanity great
while at the same time a warning to humanity about all the things we may use to
destroy ourselves, envy, ignorance, and bureaucracy. Whether you’re an old fan
of sci-fi, like myself, who has somehow managed to miss this book, or whether
you’re new to the genre and want somewhere to start, I high recommend Bradbury’s
The Martian Chronicles.
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