n  "Ignorance is fatal"n

I always get a little nervous reading classic sci-fi. Will it feel dated? Will it come off as silly and naive? Will it still be relevant? But I should have known better than to doubt Ray Bradbury. This is the third book I've read by him, and to say that he is a master of his craft feels like an inadequate description at a time when words like "master", "epic", and "masterpiece" get thrown around pretty regularly. But he truly is a Master of his craft.

I can't tell you how many times I had to stop and underline something while reading The Martian Chronicles, to make a quick note because I need to remember a lot of this. There is so much here! Human nature, the American Dream, disrespect for the "other", the pursuit of happiness, colonization, thoughts on morality, religion, and censorship... the list goes on and on. But above all, what really breaks my heart, is this:

n  "We Earth Men have a talent for ruining big, beautiful things. The only reason we didn't set up hot-dog stands in the midst of the Egyptian temple of Karnak is because it was out of the way and served no large commercial purpose. And Egypt is a small part of Earth. But here, this whole thing is ancient and indifferent, and we have to set down somewhere and start fouling it up."n

Like any book of short stories, The Martian Chronicles contains some stories that are weaker than others, but to take "points" off for that seems like a silly thing to do in this case. This book is greater than the sum of its parts, and it deserves the highest rating for Bradbury's poetic writing, for his striking ideas that are relevant to this day and cut deep into our faults as humans, for the melancholy and the imagination with which he creates this home away from home, and for every plot twist that took me by surprise, as if everything else wasn't enough.

***

n  Love books and movies? Check out my YouTube channel for more reviews, recommendations, discussions, and rankings.n

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4.5 stars

“I have something to fight for and live for; that makes me a better killer. I've got what amounts to a religion now. It's learning how to breathe all over again. And how to lie in the sun getting a tan, letting the sun work into you. And how to hear music and how to read a book. What does your civilization offer?”

I’m basically a noob when it comes to science fiction. Other than one Sci-fi book I dared (and enjoyed) a few years ago and a sampling of alien creature-features, I haven’t explored much inside this complex genre. Enter a book like this, a classic by an author who has given man several other timeless warnings.

At first I worried it’d be difficult to get into since it seemed too out there, too surreal, but it didn’t take long to grab my interest and shake off my annoyance that the visitors were being given such a hard time. It’s a pet peeve of mine when characters aren’t believed. All made sense soon enough, so have a small amount of patience and all will be rewarded.

When the final page is closed, what echoes and stands out is how beautifully unique this work is. It’s clever and much more layered than it starts. There is not only one central story or one central theme, but a showcase of journeys and stories throughout different ages. As time passes, more worsens and less progresses. Clearly it should be the other way around, but Bradbury’s heart seemed to be in dystopian and twisted futuristic fiction that shows man ruins societies and worlds he tries to improve.

Pacing is no struggle at all once the beginning has eroded away. Each small story that shows a different view and time piece flies by, all leaving an impression without boring me. Sometimes I had to pause between pieces to mentally fathom the emotional jabbing. There is no one larger-than-life lesson or story here, for the pieces are too varied and artistic to come together where it would only fit into one mere puzzle.

I think what impressed me most is how the surreal feel and epic imagery with the talented writing made me picture certain scenes so clearly. The slow movements of the faces and the turning heads with the wine pouring over the lips was downright creepy. The tragic face-changing finale of a particular tragic figure wanting to fit in and be loved is not forgettable. The haunting ending with the reflections – all shiver inducing stuff.

‘The Martian Chronicles’ was such a strange beauty of a book. I shall not forget it. Varied and tragic, clever and haunting, it definitely deserves the classic stamp.

Oh, and how nifty was that mini tribute to Edgar Allen Poe in one of the timelines? May the books never be burned.

“All down the way the pursued and the pursuing, the dream and the dreamers, the quarry and the hounds. All down the way the sudden revealment, the flash of familiar eyes, the cry of an old, old name. Everyone leaping forward as, like an image reflected from ten thousand mirrors, ten thousand eyes, the running dream came and went, a different face to those ahead, those behind, those yet to be met, those unseen... And here they all are now, at the boat, wanting the dream for their own.”

This is my Book Of the Month- February 2017, with GR group- Nothing But Reading Challenges- Category: Adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy BOM.

A classic in Science-Fiction category, this book was originally published in the year 1949 and I have to applaud the author's imagination and story-telling!



At first the book was not something that I expected but then it became something that I kind of expected and then again it veered in a direction that I did not expect. There were times I was confused and at times I could not stop reading.

My main point is this book is interesting and keeps you hooked.

We get to meet the Martians and get a glimpse in their life.
n  "I've seen that what these Martians had was just as good as anything we'll ever hope to have. They stopped where we should have stopped a hundred years ago. I've walked in their cities and I know these people and I'd be glad to call them my ancestors."n

The above quote does not mean they were not super creepy at times. There were times when I liked them and then when I was scared of them. They were bumbling idiots at times and then very intelligent in the others.

And then there are the Earthlings, and the desperation to escape from Earth.
n  "They came because they were afraid or unafraid, because they were happy or unhappy, because they felt like Pilgrims or did not feel like Pilgrims. There was a reason for each man. They were leaving bad wives or bad jobs or bad towns, they were coming to find something or leave something or get something, to dig up something or bury something or leave something."n

The ending did take me by surprise but it is a suitable one. I would recommend this to all science- fiction lovers.

I had read a lot about The Martian Chronicles before I read this book - and I must say that for a change, the hype was justified. This is an absolutely fantastic piece of literature.

I am a bit lenient with the stars in genre fiction - I don't hold them to the exacting standards that I do with literature. So in SF, if the concept is unusual, it tends to gather five stars. But in case of this book, the five stars have nothing to do with genre. It's purely for the literary merit.

There are two writers whose stories grew with me - Roald Dahl and Ray Bradbury. I first enjoyed their stories as a pre-teen, right through my teens and youth: and I find that still give me pleasure in a somewhat cynical and crabby middle age.

-----------------

These set of connected stories about Mankind's Martian expeditions starting from the early nineties to 2026 is not about science. They are about mankind, its infinite need to expand and push the boundaries: at the same time dancing on the edges of self-destruction. It is about exploration, the meeting between alien races who interact and destroy one another without meaning to, most of the time. It is about the casual disrespect of an uppity race and their callous disregard for a centuries-old culture they cannot understand. It is about man, who thinks might is right and that most disputes can be settled with firearms. Ultimately, it is about man who looks on the ruins of his own world, brought about by his own hands, and dreams of building another civilisation on top of it.

Reading Ray Bradbury is the sheer, unalloyed pleasure of losing oneself among the pages of a book: of wandering unfettered through a bountiful and boundless imagination. Mars is just a prop: he could have used any planet, any fantasy world. These stories skirt the thin boundary between hard SF and fantasy, and do it masterfully. But ultimately they address human concerns, as all good literature does.

Five golden stars!

2018 UPDATE: Not sure why I tackled this again, other than it was staring out at me from the library's audiobook shelf. Still holds up as fiction - Bradbury's a great writer - but never really worked as science fiction, as there really isn't a trace of science anywhere to be found. Rocket travel to Mars is just a given, much as wagon travel is in a Western, and then it's really more "How the West Was Won" than "The Expanse." And 1940s-50s Bradbury (the stories were written between 1946 and 1958 before being assembled in the Chronicles) still envisioned a Year 2030 full of jukeboxes and phonographs, telephone lines and soda fountains, liverwurst sandwiches and orange soda, etc. - but then so much of his writing has always been a celebration of the post-WWII "golden age" of the American midwest.

There was one nice moment at the very end, where Bradbury comes closest to actual prescience:

Science ran too far ahead of us too quickly, and the people got lost in a mechanical wilderness, like children making over pretty things, gadgets, helicopters, rockets; emphasizinng the wrong items, emphasizing machines instead of how to run the machines…

Nice. Sad, scary, way too true...but nicely put.
____________________________________

ORIGINAL REVIEW: Visionary, speculative, wildly creative and just amazingly wrong - talking about Bradbury as much as the book itself. Can't imagine anyone reading it today, but man I loved this guy when I was a kid. I can still remember the 1980 mini-series on TV with Rock Hudson and Darren McGavin.

(Anyone else remember when Darren McGavin totally kicked Mako's ass in "The Challenge," fighting on some tropical island to decide the fate of the world - basically "Rambo" fifteen years before "Rambo"? Man, Darren McGavin...)

The Martian Chronicles is an amazing collection of interconnected stories about Mars. Human missions to Mars, religious missions to Mars, nervous breakdowns on Mars, etc... Even though some of the tales are outdated by today's views, the underlying values and messages remain the same; they are timeless.

Some of the stories have been released previously, and some have been changed over the years. I discovered, thanks to Wiki, that one tale having to do with race relations, was not included in this collection at all. I'm not sure it really matters, but just know that this anthology is NOT the same as it was upon its original release.

There's not much new I can add to what's already been said about The Martian Chronicles. Ray Bradbury's writing is so simple, yet so evocative-he can get across in just a few words what it takes me paragraphs to say. His observations on human nature are spot on and even though these stories were written back in the 40's and 50's, most of them are still relevant today.

Classics are classics for a reason and this one is truly special. My highest recommendation!

4.5 ⭐

„Марсиански хроники“ е много хубава и въздействаща книга! Тя представлява сборник с фентъзи разкази, чието действие се развива на Марс. Рей Бредбъри изключително сладкодумно и поетично разказва за драматични събития, случващи се при заселването на тази планета, както и прави чудесни препратки към творби на други автори...

За мен, основното послание в книгата е това, че човечеството не бива да подхожда със завоевателни амбиции и да се опитва да налага насилствено своята култура при пристигането си на Марс (или което и да е място във Вселената), защото по този начин пропилява възможностите за мечтания по-добър живот. Всяка от историите в „Марсиански хроники“ дава на читателите ценни морални поуки, запознавайки ни с богатото въображение на големия писател!





„— Защото разбрах, че ние можем само да мечтаем за всичко това, което марсианците са притежавали. Те са спрели там, където ние би трябвало да спрем преди сто години. Аз походих из техните градове, опознах тия хора и бих бил щастлив да ги нарека мои прадеди.
— Да, там са имали прекрасен град. — Капитанът кимна с глава към едно от многото селища.
— Но не е само това. Разбира се, градовете им са добри. Те са знаели как да съчетават изкуството със своя начин на живот. За американците изкуството винаги е било отделно, странично — нещо, което намира място само в таванската стая на побъркания син...“

September 7, 2021, 6pm ~~ We have just finished this book, and my worries about reading it aloud were needless. It worked amazingly well, and we both were lost on Mars during every Book Day.

The back cover says Bradbury "exposes our ambitions, weaknesses, and ignorance in a strange and breathtaking world where man does not belong."

Only man invites himself in, doesn't he. The way he always has here on Earth. Stomping into new territories without trying to understand or respect whoever (or whatever) may already be living there. What an arrogant bunch of fools we can be.


August 7, 2021, 915pm ~~ Marco and I are reading this for our Zapata Reading Club, beginning today. I will be back in a month or so to make additional comments. Since we have Book Days only three times a week, that is generally the amount of time we need to finish each title. (This is the tenth of this fun project!) I am not sure how this will work as a Read-Aloud book, but we will be finding out, won't we. lol
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
November 2019, original review

I ordered this book after reading the graphic novel adaptation recently.

I had known about it, of course, but somehow in all my years of reading I had omitted this classic.

Silly me.

It was amazing, and I'm sure I will re-read both versions many more times.

RIDDLE ME A MARTIAN RIDDLE

۞

A Riddle: What walks on two legs, uses two arms, talks like a human, acts like a human, kills humans, replaces humans, wants to be accepted and loved by a human?

Answer: A Martian!

۞

A Riddle: What walks on two legs, uses two arms, talks like a human, acts like an animal except that's unfair to animals, kills others of its kind, wages war on its own kind, and destroys its own planet?

Answer: A Human!

۞

A Riddle: What is built like a succession of linked stories, feels at times like a play by Brecht, feels at times like a mournful and elegiac ode to the dying of small towns, is a wise tale of human nature, is written with melancholy and sighs, is quietly sinister, is gently tragic, yet is also a science fiction novel?

Answer: The Martian Chronicles!

۞

A Riddle: What is a ball of blue fire, a transcended entity, a being that lives in God's grace, a model of wisdom and goodness, and a terrifying symbol of the unknowable? What is meek and shall inherit their earth - but has lost the inclination?

Answer: A Martian!

۞

A Riddle: What should have stayed on its own planet? What does not belong on Mars? What persists in persisting? What flees from home? What destroys that home? What flees back to that destruction? What eradicates much of what it comes into contact? What is a hopeless fool? What has a little - just a little - hope for it yet?

Answer: A Human!

۞

A Riddle: What is science fiction as parable? What creates a series of haunting and haunted tableaux onto which we can project our own desires and fears? What transcends genre trappings? What is a landscape of forgotten plans and failed goals? What is like a waking dream? What is a journey that begins in death and ends with a small, fragile chance that all is not lost? What is like tears painted on a page? What is witty and sardonic and tender and angry and, finally, full of its own strange and painfully human soulfulness?

Answer: The Martian Chronicles!

The title of the novel is 'The Martian Chronicles' but its focus is exceptionally on the people of the Earth, the humans - the human nature and its strenths and weaknesses and the social and global problems the human civilization faced back in 1940s and 1950s and, unfortunately, still faces today. This collection of stories is a sort of a warning to individuals, families, societies, nations, governments and politicians of the Earth - our planet is the only one we have and in case we destroy it or let the politicians do it, there won't be any Mars to escape to.

Overall, the book is sad (as it is about the suicidal behaviour of human race), full of vivid poetic descriptions of breathtaking views, incredible machines and unseen landscapes as if it is the reflection of the author's longing and desire to experience again all those things he experienced once.

'We Earth Men have a talent for ruining big, beautiful things. The only reason we didn't set up hot-dog stands in the midst of the Egyptian temple of Karnak is because it was out of the way and served no large commercial purpose.'
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
'There was always a minority afraid of something, and a great majority afraid of the dark, afraid of the future, afraid of the past, afraid of the present, afraid of themselves and shadows of themselves.'
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
'The rockets set the bony meadows afire, turned rock to lava, turned wood to charcoal, transmuted water to steam, made sand and silica into green glass which lay like shattered mirrors reflecting the invasion, all about. The rockets came like drums, beating in the night. The rockets came like locusts, swarming and settling in blooms of rosy smoke.'

n   “Nosotros, los habitantes de la Tierra, tenemos un talento especial para arruinar las cosas grandes y hermosas.” n

Las historias de terrícolas y marcianos que aquí se cuentan me recordaron a algo que dijo Juan José Millás acerca del libro que había escrito con Juan Luis Arsuaga, “La vida contada por un sapiens a un neandertal”: «Yo siempre he fantaseado con la idea de que los neandertales eran la especie humana que debería haber sobrevivido, en vez de los sapiens. Siempre he pensado que el neandertal era bondadoso, ingenuo y sentimental, mientras que el sapiens era retorcido y solo pensaba en sus intereses». En definitiva, que en aquella guerra ganamos los malos, igual que en la inmensa mayoría de las guerras que han acaecido a lo largo de toda nuestra historia conformando al hombre presente y presagiando al hombre futuro que acabará con esta sucesión de fatalidades con el gran desastre definitivo y fatal.

n   “Fuimos y somos todavía un pueblo extraviado.” n

La lectura, relectura en realidad, de estas crónicas ha sido una experiencia magnífica, muy superior a la que tuve en su día, siendo yo muy joven, quizás porque a estas alturas de la vida ya no me molesta tanto esa relevancia que el autor otorgó al declive de la religión y a la pérdida de la fe (algo muy cuestionable, en todo caso, tanto en su tiempo como en el nuestro) como causa del desastre en el que se había convertido nuestra existencia (si es que alguna vez fue otra cosa).

n   “Quisimos derribar a Darwin, Huxley y a Freud, pero eran inconmovibles. Y entonces, como unos idiotas, intentamos destruir la religión…Lo conseguimos bastante bien. Perdimos nuestra fe y empezamos a preguntarnos para qué vivíamos. Si el arte no era más que la derivación de un deseo frustrado, si la religión no era más que un engaño, ¿para qué la vida? La fe había explicado siempre todas las cosas. Luego todo se fue por el vertedero, junto con Freud y Darwin.” n

También pudiera ser que aquellas tres estrellas que le di se debieran a la rabia que sentí ante ese último relato totalmente prescindible para mí por esperanzador, que no por malo. Ojalá me equivoque. Del resto, destaco los de “Ylla” o “Aunque siga brillando la luna”, el humor de “Los hombres de la Tierra” o “Los pueblos silenciosos”, y, por encima de todos ellos: “Un camino a través del aire”.

n   “Llegaron porque tenían miedo o porque no lo tenían, porque eran felices o desdichados, porque se sentían como los Peregrinos. Cada uno de ellos tenía una razón diferente. Abandonaban mujeres odiosas, trabajos odiosos o ciudades odiosas; venían para encontrar algo, enterrar algo o alejarse de algo. Venían con sueños ridículos, con sueños nobles o sin sueños.” n

4.5

Cronache marziane è una raccolta di ventotto racconti di fantascienza. Oltre ad avere un tema comune come l’esplorazione e la colonizzazione del pianeta Marte, i racconti seguono un ordine lineare per quanto riguarda il tempo: si parte da gennaio 1999 e si arriva a ottobre 2026; insieme è come se formassero un romanzo perché la storia procede, ha un inizio e una fine, e alcuni personaggi ritornano in racconti diversi.

Assieme a Fahrenheit 451, Cronache marziane è considerato il capolavoro dell’autore, e sebbene io abbia letto solo queste due opere non posso dare torto a chi dice ciò. Amo tantissimo Fahrenheit 451, e Cronache marziane mi è piaciuto veramente tanto.

Devo dire che avevo un po’ paura ad affrontare questo libro perché temevo di rimanerne delusa, e invece no, tutt’altro, mi ha piacevolmente sorpreso visto che non pensavo mi potesse piacere così tanto!

È interessante notare come nel libro si aspiri a una vita vissuta in stretto contatto con la natura, sembra quasi esserci una sorta di nostalgia per questo tipo di vita, nonostante il tutto sia comunque racchiuso in una cornice futuristica.

Una delle interpretazioni che si fanno inerenti Cronache marziane è vedere il libro come la storia dell’America, e devo dire che mi trovo d’accordo con chi ha questa visione. Marte rappresenta per noi terrestri quello che l’America rappresentava per gli europei: salvezza, e una vita nuova, migliore. In quest’ottica i marziani sono i nativi americani, popolazioni che abitavano il continente prima della colonizzazione. Ovviamente in tutto ciò la civiltà statunitense non è vista in ottica particolarmente positiva.

I terrestri (americani) sono violenti, arrivano in un luogo che non è di loro appartenenza, se ne infischiano di chi ci abita, uccidono gli abitanti, impongono la loro cultura, i loro pensieri, le loro opere architettoniche. Alla fine trasformano un altro pianeta nello stesso identico pianeta da cui sono scappati. Portando così alla distruzione non solo la Terra, ma pure Marte.

Alla fine è questo quello che gli uomini fanno, no? Rovinano e distruggono.

E gli uomini della Terra vennero su Marte.

Vennero perché avevano paura o perché non l’avevano, perché felici o infelici, perché erano come i Padri Pellegrini che avevano fondato le colonie americane, o perché non erano come i Padri Pellegrini. Ognuno aveva le sue buone ragioni per venire su Marte. Cattive mogli da abbandonare, lavori ingrati, città inospitali: venivano su Marte per trovare qualcosa o lasciare qualcosa o ottenere qualcosa, per scavare o seppellire o lasciare una volta per tutte in pace qualcosa. Venivano con piccoli sogni e sogni immensi, o niente sogni del tutto.

Il finale è ambiguo e può essere inteso in chiave ottimista o in chiave pessimista: nuovi terrestri sbarcano su Marte, possono vivere nel rispetto di quell’ambiente e diventare i nuovi marziani oppure i nuovi terrestri che sono sbarcati su Marte si definiscono i nuovi marziani, in barba al popolo marziano che viveva lì fin dall’origine e che è stato sterminato. Considerando che la società statunitense in questo romanzo di Ray Bradbury non è sotto una buona luce, io darei più un’interpretazione pessimista al finale, ma credo anche che Bradbury abbia voluto dare allo stesso tempo un messaggio di speranza perché è vero che i terrestri si definiranno un giorno i nuovi marziani, ma possono pur sempre essere dei nuovi marziani rispettosi del Pianeta che ha dato loro la possibilità di una nuova vita.

«Io non sono nessuno, soltanto me stesso; dovunque mi trovi sono qualcuno e adesso sono ciò che non puoi cambiare.»