Showing posts tagged science fiction

"The government in Montag’s world...was not so different from the government in Bradbury’s"

Reporter Clark Merrefield looks into the FBI’s late 1950s file on Ray Bradbury.

Mars rover landing named for Ray Bradbury

(Ray) Bradbury, whose works include “The Martian Chronicles,” “Fahrenheit 451” and “The Illustrated Man,” inspired readers to think about Mars in new ways, said NASA program scientist Michael Meyer.

In 2010 and in early 2011, I wrote two essays for PopMatters about my experiences with Ray Bradbury’s work.

Reading Ray

When Ray Bradbury saw lions on the big screen during a 1924 Lon Chaney film, he envisioned them at the terrifying center of “The Veldt,” an early tale he authored about an automated home, complete with a room that virtually recreated an African veldt. I was assigned to read “The Veldt” in a grade school books discussion group, and it would stay very close to my heart in the years that followed. 

In 2010, PopMatters published “Ray Bradbury Wrote Me Back,” my essay about experiences I’ve had with Bradbury’s work, and the effect that his stories have had on me through adulthood. Not long after I filed that piece, I visited Italy and was compelled to write about him again, specifically about his love of open public space.

Bradbury’s short stories are rich with affecting characters, ideas, and what many have called his “lyrical” imagery. I hope that over the weekend, some readers here will take a Bradbury book to bed or on a long road trip. And who knows? You might find that Ray’s words stir in your heart for many years to come.

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Incidentally, a story called “Bright Phoenix” follows Nolan’s interview in that issue of Fantasy and Science Fiction. It had been rejected by Harper’s Bazaar and The Atlantic Monthly, and would serve as the blueprint for Fahrenheit 451, the critically lauded novel that Bradbury wrote in a UCLA basement typing room.

We rejected the story that became Fahrenheit 451. Damn.

(via @dominicumile)

*Grateful and humbled to see that the folks at The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) were kind enough to share my essay about Ray Bradbury’s work yesterday, and that people are sharing it here and elsewhere.

(Reblogged from theatlantic)

Ray Bradbury and the Italian Piazza

I wrote about Italy’s wealth of open space for PopMatters, as well as what Ray Bradbury thinks of how sandwiches taste outside. READ NOW.

In more than a few instances during the soundtrack for the modestly budgeted science fiction film Monsters, Jon Hopkins’ score doesn’t differ much from Insides, the 2009 full-length album from this UK producer/composer. While Insides isn’t without aggressive bass grooves or glitch techno-fired blasts, the fluttering ambient pieces on that one are the standouts of the lot, and Monsters’ dearth of bluster partners with those compositions very well. MORE at BLURT Magazine. View high resolution

In more than a few instances during the soundtrack for the modestly budgeted science fiction film Monsters, Jon Hopkins’ score doesn’t differ much from Insides, the 2009 full-length album from this UK producer/composer. While Insides isn’t without aggressive bass grooves or glitch techno-fired blasts, the fluttering ambient pieces on that one are the standouts of the lot, and Monsters’ dearth of bluster partners with those compositions very well. MORE at BLURT Magazine.

Whether he is cataloging oddities born at seedy, late-night carnivals or merely reflecting upon his boyhood summers in typically luminous prose, Ray Bradbury’s fiction offers a wealth of ideas both weird and heartbreaking. The award-winning author, screenwriter, playwright, and poet likely played a role in my decision to finish school as a literature major, during which I began seeking work as a writer and editor. For better or for worse, Bradbury’s stories helped steer me toward finishing my education and nudged me to write. View high resolution

Whether he is cataloging oddities born at seedy, late-night carnivals or merely reflecting upon his boyhood summers in typically luminous prose, Ray Bradbury’s fiction offers a wealth of ideas both weird and heartbreaking. The award-winning author, screenwriter, playwright, and poet likely played a role in my decision to finish school as a literature major, during which I began seeking work as a writer and editor. For better or for worse, Bradbury’s stories helped steer me toward finishing my education and nudged me to write.