Leaving behind a world on the brink of destruction, man came to the Red planet and found the Martians waiting, dreamlike. Seeking the promise of a new beginning, man brought with him his oldest fears and his deepest desires. Man conquered Mars—and in that instant, Mars conquered him. The strange new world with its ancient, dying race and vast, red-gold deserts cast a spell on him, settled into his dreams, and changed him forever. Here are the captivating chronicles of man and Mars—the modern classic by the peerless Ray Bradbury.
The Martian Chronicles
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From "Rocket Summer" to "The Million-Year Picnic," Ray Bradbury's stories of the colonization of Mars form an eerie mesh of past and future. Written in the 1940s, the chronicles drip with nostalgic atmosphere--shady porches with tinkling pitchers of lemonade, grandfather clocks, chintz-covered sofas. But longing for this comfortable past proves dangerous in every way to Bradbury's characters--the golden-eyed Martians as well as the humans. Starting in the far-flung future of 1999, expedition after expedition leaves Earth to investigate Mars. The Martians guard their mysteries well, but they are decimated by the diseases that arrive with the rockets. Colonists appear, most with ideas no more lofty than starting a hot-dog stand, and with no respect for the culture they've displaced.
Bradbury's quiet exploration of a future that looks so much like the past is sprinkled with lighter material. In "The Silent Towns," the last man on Mars hears the phone ring and ends up on a comical blind date. But in most of these stories, Bradbury holds up a mirror to humanity that reflects a shameful treatment of "the other," yielding, time after time, a harvest of loneliness and isolation. Yet the collection ends with hope for renewal, as a colonist family turns away from the demise of the Earth towards a new future on Mars. Bradbury is a master fantasist and The Martian Chronicles are an unforgettable work of art. --Blaise Selby
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"Bradbury is an authentic original."—Time magazine
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One minute it was Ohio winter, with doors closed, windows locked, the panes blind with frost, icicles fringing every roof, children skiing on slopes, housewives lumbering like great black bears in their furs along the icy streets. Read the first page
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One minute it was Ohio winter, with doors closed, windows locked, the panes blind with frost, icicles fringing every roof, children skiing on slopes, housewives lumbering like great black bears in their furs along the icy streets. Read the first page
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By Mark Nenadov
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This was Ray Bradbury’s first novel, from 1949 when he and his wife were expecting their first child. That said, it isn’t a true novel, but rather collection of short stories that are tied together. It well-written, compelling, and I really enjoyed it.
Other than Fahrenheit 451, I haven’t previously read anything by Bradbury. In terms of science fiction, I’m more used to the science fiction of Robert Heinlein, a man who Bradbury looked up to and considered a major influence.
Heinlein was clearly a pioneer in world of science fiction. He lead the pack in terms of the technique of indirection, describing far out worlds not through a lot of explicit description, but rather subtely through the eyes of his characters enabling the readers mind to fill in the details. According to Eric Raymond, he got that from Kipling.
That said, I believe there is an area in which Bradbury excels far beyond Heinlein, that is in the lyrical/poetic power of his writing. Bradbury’s writing is beautiful in a way that Heinlein’s is not. And that beauty shines forth even in this, his earliest published book.
Bradbury once said “Libraries raised me. I don’t believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries”. It’s very clear that as an author, Bradbury loved reading and that he drank very deeply from the works of the best poets.
Other than Fahrenheit 451, I haven’t previously read anything by Bradbury. In terms of science fiction, I’m more used to the science fiction of Robert Heinlein, a man who Bradbury looked up to and considered a major influence.
Heinlein was clearly a pioneer in world of science fiction. He lead the pack in terms of the technique of indirection, describing far out worlds not through a lot of explicit description, but rather subtely through the eyes of his characters enabling the readers mind to fill in the details. According to Eric Raymond, he got that from Kipling.
That said, I believe there is an area in which Bradbury excels far beyond Heinlein, that is in the lyrical/poetic power of his writing. Bradbury’s writing is beautiful in a way that Heinlein’s is not. And that beauty shines forth even in this, his earliest published book.
Bradbury once said “Libraries raised me. I don’t believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries”. It’s very clear that as an author, Bradbury loved reading and that he drank very deeply from the works of the best poets.
By bob
Format:Hardcover
There is supposed to be a story where all of the black people get fed up with the south, and the way they are treated, load up the rocket and leave all of the bigots behind. Incredibly some paper pushing editor must have thought this story would offend our sensitivities, and took it upon him or herself to remove it from the chronicles.
Strange that the work of Mr. Bradbury, a champion of free speech, is being edited.
Do not get this version! (I got hosed, but vowed to save my fellow readers from the same fate)!
By Brian
Format:Mass Market Paperback
After reading Fahrenheit 451 in my high school English class, I was quick to ask my teacher what other books by Bradbury that he would reccomend. He told me to check out the Martian Chronicles...and so I did. When I started reading the book, I thought nothing could touch the breath taking sci-fi epic that I had just read by Bradbury...but I was wrong. The Martian Chronicles starts out with a bang and ends with an unusually happy ending. In between, you are taken on a roller coaster ride of climactic events; and although the book is broken up into several separate mini-stories, all of them intertwine with each other brilliantly.
What puts Bradbury's work above other science fiction writers is that although his books are fictional, they have a great deal of real life meaning. Several parts of this book depict how the ignorant humans are so quick to ravage a vast world's ancient history and land. "The rockets set the bony meadows afire, turned rock to lava, turned wood to charcoal, transmitted 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. And from the rockets ran men with hammers in their hands to beat the strange world into a shape that was familiar to the eye, to bludgeon away all the strangeness." (Page 78-'The Locusts')
Bradbury uses his excellent way with words to artistically describe the futuristic destruction of a world, which all relate to one common principle, the same principle many of his books relate to: We are afraid of what we don't understand. Bradbury paints an eerily familiar picture in this book and reminds us how eager humans are to destroy anything that is strange to us. The way that he explains the human condition is way ahead of his time.
In summary, The Martian Chronicles is nothing short of incredible. There are no dull parts in it; you will want to keep reading it until you're done...then you will want to read it again and again. Bradbury uses language extremely well to convey to us the flaws in human thinking. This book is a must read for anyone in high school or older, whether you're a fan of science fiction or not. It's my all time favorite book, and if you spend a measly 6 bucks, you will see why.
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4.2 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
F¥çk me Ray Bradbury !
This came a bit late but in good shape. (although a sticker on the side of the book kinda damaged the cover a bit... Read more
Published 23 months ago by H_rry H_dler
5.0 out of 5 stars
Take the time to figure out this puzzle! It's worth it.
As the paranoia and fear of the early stages of the Cold War escalated and the prospect of global destruction in an atomic war crystallized into a terrifying possibility, a... Read more
Published on Nov 22 2008 by Paul Weiss
2.0 out of 5 stars
I expected better...
The first time I read this book I was in high school and in the latter half of a research program on chemical perception enhancement. At the time I thought this was a great book. Read more
Published on Aug 30 2005 by Jason Harris
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not science fiction... But does that make it bad?
Certainly not. Admittedly there are a few bland points but one must get over the fact that it really _isn't_ a science fiction book. By all means that does not make it bad. Read more
Published on Jun 24 2004 by Akan
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ray Bradbury is phenomenal...as always!
The Martian Chronicles is an important book, especially now. It is a whatif, a maybe and a possibility. Read more
Published on Jun 23 2004
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another great work by Bradbury!
Even under the guise of a sci-fi book, this book, as other reviewers have pointed out along with the editorials, it is a comment on humanity it the human condition. Read more
Published on Jun 16 2004 by Eric
3.0 out of 5 stars
BUDDY FLORA
Martian Chronicles is a book about the colinization of people on Mars. I found this book very appealing because I found the topic very interesting. Read more
Published on Jun 9 2004
3.0 out of 5 stars
A book gone boared
The martian chronicles is a book about the colonization of people on Mars. The begining of the book started out pretty good. Read more
Published on Jun 2 2004
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Origonal Concept by Ray Bradbury
Bradbury came up with a totally original idea of instead of having the aliens the ones who come to our planet and explore, it is instead the humans who are the curious ones and... Read more
Published on Jun 2 2004 by Orion
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't look at this as a science fiction book
In the half century after most of it was written, as Bob Dylan would say, things have changed. Racial relations are different, we know there are not water filled canals on Mars,... Read more
Published on May 31 2004 by The MacGuffin
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