The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury

~~~~A bit of Background on the Author~~~~

Each writer puts a bit of him or herself into their writing as the stories flow from somewhere deep within their soul. Hence, I feel it is always pertinent to learn at least a bit about the writer to gain a deeper appreciation of their work. Ray Bradbury is no exception to this rule. Born in the US state of Illinois to Swedish immigrant parents in 1920, Ray came from a family who had newspapers ...
...was no great surprise to the family when the young avid reader grew up and decided to sell newspapers himself and educate himself rather than go on to college. Literally selling newspaper from a corner in LA, he spent all his spare time at the public library, reading everything he could get his hands on. Like many young men of the period, he had grown up idolising Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, and began also spending some of his time writing science ... more

~~~~A bit of Background on the Author~~~~

Each writer puts a bit of him or herself into their writing as the stories flow from somewhere deep within their soul. Hence, I feel it is always pertinent to learn at least a bit about the writer to gain a deeper appreciation of their work. Ray Bradbury is no exception to this rule. Born in the US state of Illinois to Swedish immigrant parents in 1920, Ray came from a family who had newspapers in the blood. Both his great grandfather and grandfather were newspaper publishers, and it was no great surprise to the family when the young avid reader grew up and decided to sell newspapers himself and educate himself rather than go on to college. Literally selling newspaper from a corner in LA, he spent all his spare time at the public library, reading everything he could get his hands on. Like many young men of the period, he had grown up idolising Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, and began also spending some of his time writing science fiction stories for various fanzines. Tasting success, he moved onto paid submissions with pulp science fiction magazines of the day. A chance encounter at a bookstore with the British writer Christopher Isherwood ended with the opportunity to put a manuscript of a selection of short stories before him. Isherwood read the manuscript, and wrote a glowing review. This review helped propel Bradbury to the heights during the Golden Age of science fiction. The book? A gem entitled "The Martian Chronicles."

~~~~The Book~~~
The book itself is as the title suggests, a chronicle, thus the book is made up of a series of short stories that follow a chronological order, and present a historical viewpoint of an epoch of Martian history. These range from those in the area of the space centre on Earth who are affected by the rocket take off, and of the Martians themselves, to the astronauts who first visit, to the colonists who follow, The stories are strangely moving, and often provide psychological insight into assumptions we make about who we are, and the nature of reality. The effect is that the reader is deeply drawn into the very entertaining stories, but when finished, finds himself hyper aware of what is going on around him. The book opens the mind to the possibilities that exist, the nature of who we are, and how we treat people as well as our expectations of others, and the changing landscape of Mars from alien world to a world of fast food, trendy clothing shops, and at last, an empty place, echoes the booming of many modern towns and their later abandonment.

One might think that the facts as we know them today might date this book. This is astoundingly not true. Indeed, The astronauts land upon what they understand to be a dead planet, and so are utterly unprepared for the events that unfold. With the return of man to space and the planned manned exploration to Mars with technology based upon the original lunar landings for cost effectiveness, this book instead feels like a glimpse into a rather near future, or a possible alternate history with the timeline running eerily close to our own. It is an alternate future history that is all too realistic in some ways, giving the reader the feeling that perhaps, just perhaps, this writer might know something we don't. With its theme of exploration, colonisation, and the supression/death from human disease of the natives, it is a very familiar story indeed to the British and American public, with unsettling parallels that open questions on "what if" and "what should we do" if our explorations ever DO happen upon a native civilisation. in order to avoid our past mistakes.

These are perhaps questions that are worth thinking about, and it is very obvious that it is a lesson that needs to be learned at home. Bradbury addresses this as well, offering up views of "back home". with racism and even nuclear war all making appearances, with the vignettes written in such a way as to not shock, but rather to relate the human cost and reveal the failings for what they truly are. These remain very timely subjects, and despite being written in 1950, have an uncomfortable familiarity in some places about them. It is very much a book that explores who we were, who we are now, and who we would like to be.

~~~My thoughts~~~
I have to admit I first encountered The Martian Chronicles when it was run on television circa 1979. It was the school holidays, so I was allowed to stay up, and it looked interesting. The high quality of the 3 night mini series adaptation and its intriguingly haunting storyline awoke my preteen mind from the glories of Star Wars and the original Battlestar Galactica, and off to my public library to find the book. I will admit it was heavy reading for me at the time, and I did not grasp many of the nuances that were going on, but it was a cracking read. Rockets, aliens, intrigue, and even ghost towns were all to be had, what more could I ask?

Superbly written, the stories haunted me for years to come. I was to finally purchased this book to have always, and have now reread it so many times, I need a new copy! So much more than a sci fi romp, but full of action, intrigue, pathos, and deep human emotion, it remains a masterpiece of science fiction and a monument to the human condition and its quest to explore both themselves as well as the universe. 

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