I loved reading this book. I'm not usually a fan of Bradbury SciFi, but this was a gift from my son. Bradbury travels to Ireland in the early 1950s to meet with John Huston, who wants him to write the script for Moby Dick. What a job! So Bradbury moves there for a few months and makes a lot of friends who help him survive the haunting specter of the great white whale. For a writer, it's a great view into another writer's soul while struggling to create. Between the pubs, the pranks, the drinking, and the frustrations of working with a volatile John Huston, it's amazing the movie ever happened. But that man knows how to write!

Divertida colección de textos acerca de la estancia en Irlanda durante seis meses de Ray Bradbury. Es ágil, ameno y Bradbury es un narrador portentoso, con un humor muy fino.

Sobre su proceso de escritura hay páginas muy agudas, pero lo más bello, a mi parecer, es el retrato de la bella isla esmeralda. Como residente en el mismo lugar, me divierte e interesa saber la impresión del lugar en el pasado, sus semejanzas y la persistencia de dos elementos que justifican una obra, acaso una vida: jovialidad e imaginación. Y la conjunción de autor y territorio es inspirada.

No deja de ser un texto menor de melancolía y homenaje, pero es grato. Recomendable.

Sono pazzi questi irlandesi!
E ci voleva Bradbury per raccontarli! Lui, per Dio! E chi altro? Prestigiatore della scrittura, con abili mosse infila la mano nel cappello e....puff! Ecco uscirne veglie funebri alcoliche, imponenti manieri che sembrano ciò che non sono, mendicanti misteriosi, donne di gelo e neve che soffrono per amore, interminabili, nebbiose, grigie domeniche dublinesi. Con al suo fianco una Balena ingombrante, un regista tirannico, interminabili tempeste di pioggia irlandese e molteplici tonalità di verde, Bradbury descrive l'Irlanda più surreale e più bella. Ma alla fine sarà riuscito a capire gli irlandesi? Beh, sicuramente ha saputo fare molto di più: ce li ha raccontati con passione e incanto.

Для автора таких шикарных книг как «Вино из одуванчиков», «Марсианские хроники» и «451 градус по Фаренгейту» данное произведение откровенно слабое. Брэдбери, вроде бы, и пишет об ирландцах, но дух этой нации, на мой взгляд, так и не раскрыл. Практически нет в этом романе ничего об истории и культуре Ирландии.

This is my favorite Ray Bradbury book, which is odd I suppose since its the least like the majority of his work. But in this book you catch glimpses of the man himself. Its clearly not all factual, but that doesn't make it fiction either. The truth as it often does, lies somewhere in between those two extremes. For many years I entertained the notion of getting my copy of this book autographed by him, I'm a very distant cousin and thought perhaps I could leverage that fact to get his signature. Ultimately I never worked up the never to ask, because I was too afraid to let my copy of this book out of my hands. I've been to some of the places he mentions in Ireland, and with each subsequent trip the more fantastic portions of this book start to sound far more possible then they did upon first reading.

Never before have I so disliked a book by an author that I usually really enjoy. I dont wish to say anything further.

Don't even ask me why I read this because I really couldn't tell you. It was kinda super boring to me but I also really didn't even understand it... It was like a bit entertaining some times at least

If you like Hunter S. Thomson, this is a must read! Hilarious journey through Ireland with Ray Bradbury and sometimes, John Huston. From the lads at the local pub to a group of IRA members who walk away with precious artwork after their plans of burning the vicar's house are thwarted because he's home, this is a delightful walk through lovely characters deeply grounded in their beloved Ireland.

Bradbury’s ethereal writing style worked well for this memoir of living in Ireland in the 50’s. It worked particularly well when describing the Irish or retelling one of their bizarre tales. They are an inscrutable people. The book itself would have been fun except for the parts about John Huston abusing his wife. The descriptions of the witnesses and how they stood around awkwardly watching the abuse, not sure what to do, were just too realistic. It was jarring having such a fun book with crazy people and adventures and then you get these gut clinches when you see Huston’s name come up as you know something dreadful is bound to happen. Maybe there is a big payoff at the end where Huston’s wife finally stands up for herself and embarrasses him publicly for a change, but I highly doubt it.

The closest thing you can get to a vacation to Ireland short of a plane ticket to take you there

I tried to read a library hardbound and bogged down repeatedly, finally giving up about a third of the way through, despite the fact that individual sentences and paragraphs were interesting and sometimes funny. Your results will undoubtedly vary if you're a serious cinema lover and/or in intensely interested in the creative/writing process.

A really fascinating read. I’m not entirely sure how much of this narrative is fact, but it weaves three interesting threads together: one, the difficult act of adapting a classic piece of American literature; two, a rough portrait of the Irish people; and three, a character study of John Huston, a man whose personality was considerably darker than I would have assumed.

But I think what I liked best here was the way Bradbury plays against type. I’d compare it to Steinbeck’s “The Short Reign of Pippin IV,” in that both are entertaining, quick reads on subjects their authors wouldn’t seem like to explore. And that’s the book’s greatest triumph, the novel sensibility Bradbury brings to this genre.