The Martian Chronicles by Ray BradburyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
"Mars was a distant shore, and the men spread upon it in waves... They came and made things a little less empty, so that others would find courage to follow... and among the men were men who looked, by their eyes, as if they were on their way to God..."
This is the first time I've read a short story collection by Ray Bradbury, and now I'm scrambling all over our house, trying to unearth my sister's old copies of his other volumes! I thought his novel, "Fahrenheit 451," was an amazing five-star read as well, but there's something to be said for condensing such powerful philosophy in the space of a few pages.
The stories don't "sound" sci-fi. If it were not for the fact that they all take place in Mars, they could have been transplanted elsewhere... such is their universal human appeal.
Bradbury's stories show our humanity, our frailty, our sins, and asks: If humans were to populate Mars, would we be its saviors or destroyers?
Each of the stand-alone 20 something stories makes the reader pause and reflect, and are "easy" enough for any layman to understand (which I appreciate!! Because there are quite a few authors out there who seem to write for an exclusive English Literature major crowd LOL).
That's more than twenty stories in less than 250 pages. UH. MAZING.
This short volume is a masterclass in writing. The stories will remain with me for a long time. Judge not the book by its brevity, for this is Art: a mirror held to our souls, for us to see how far our civilization has yet to go, in order to be "civilized."
A re-read is in order! It's THAT good!
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