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Science fiction?
Jan. 23rd, 2004 09:05 amI've owned a copy of Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles for something around 15 years now, and had never read it until this week. I finally cracked it open while lounging in a bubble bath during the SoUA. No, I didn't watch dubya. Based on The Daily Show's recap, I'm very glad I didn't watch.
So TMC was published around 1950 or so, and the Chronicles are set in the 1990s and the first quarter of the 21st century. As in, now. What struck me as I read was a sense that Bradbury was wonderfully imaginative and insightful (which I already knew), but that he also seemed to lack imagination. I don't mean to contradict myself, but it's true.
I suppose I expected him to be more imaginative in his creation of what was then a futuristic human culture. Or at least more forward thinking. Or maybe just a little more optimistic in his pessimistic projections. There I go again, apparently contradicting myself. If you've read the book, perhaps you know what I'm trying to say. The people and their trappings and technology are described as unchanged from 1950. Bradbury described a segregated society straight out of 1950, complete with lynchings and abuse and servitude. Did Mr. Bradbury really see no possible end or improvement to the black-white situation that existed at the time? Was he unable to imagine a world of high-tech communications where recordings were stored on something other than wire coils? More than plastic houses, chintz and shaker shingles? Something beyond black-and-white movies and radio?
The house that took care of itself was the height of Bradbury's technical imagination, at least insofar as human ingenuity was concerned. I wonder whether Bradbury was simply limited by a lack of foresight, or if he was purposefully trying to connect with his audience - an audience that was likely unable to imagine a future even remotely similar to the one we have grown into, but was at the same time enthralled by the allure of space and Little Green Men(tm).
Food for my thoughts, I suppose. After finishing TMC last night, I began to read East of Eden, another book I've owned for more than 10 years but have never read. I loved The Grapes of Wrath once I got around to reading it, so I figured I would finally be able to dive into East of Eden. It really has taken me a long time to getting around to reading American literature :-) I've been stuck on Eco, Zola, Mahfouz, the Russians and the classic British authors for a long, long time.
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suladog, I'm moving very slowly through The Tale of Genji and I'm loving every page!
So TMC was published around 1950 or so, and the Chronicles are set in the 1990s and the first quarter of the 21st century. As in, now. What struck me as I read was a sense that Bradbury was wonderfully imaginative and insightful (which I already knew), but that he also seemed to lack imagination. I don't mean to contradict myself, but it's true.
I suppose I expected him to be more imaginative in his creation of what was then a futuristic human culture. Or at least more forward thinking. Or maybe just a little more optimistic in his pessimistic projections. There I go again, apparently contradicting myself. If you've read the book, perhaps you know what I'm trying to say. The people and their trappings and technology are described as unchanged from 1950. Bradbury described a segregated society straight out of 1950, complete with lynchings and abuse and servitude. Did Mr. Bradbury really see no possible end or improvement to the black-white situation that existed at the time? Was he unable to imagine a world of high-tech communications where recordings were stored on something other than wire coils? More than plastic houses, chintz and shaker shingles? Something beyond black-and-white movies and radio?
The house that took care of itself was the height of Bradbury's technical imagination, at least insofar as human ingenuity was concerned. I wonder whether Bradbury was simply limited by a lack of foresight, or if he was purposefully trying to connect with his audience - an audience that was likely unable to imagine a future even remotely similar to the one we have grown into, but was at the same time enthralled by the allure of space and Little Green Men(tm).
Food for my thoughts, I suppose. After finishing TMC last night, I began to read East of Eden, another book I've owned for more than 10 years but have never read. I loved The Grapes of Wrath once I got around to reading it, so I figured I would finally be able to dive into East of Eden. It really has taken me a long time to getting around to reading American literature :-) I've been stuck on Eco, Zola, Mahfouz, the Russians and the classic British authors for a long, long time.
suladog, I'm moving very slowly through The Tale of Genji and I'm loving every page!
