Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales

Great Author. I like this book's size, but the print font is small, light, and its paper density is average, the latter elements only slightly reducing my eagerness to read it. The 2 pics display how it arrived with a fold in the front cover, slight crimp damage to the bottom right corner, and red paint rubbed off one of the spine edges. The price was less than our local bookseller so I'm going to learn to live with this "New" damaged item, instead of dealing with the return hassle and chancing the sending of another possibly worse copy. I'm just glad it wasn't purchased as a gift for someone else.

I've read some Bradbury stories and novels over the years, but the chance to read 100 of Bradbury's stories in a single collection - to say nothing of the fact that they were chosen by Bradbury himself - seemed too good to pass up. And as you might expect, the resulting collection is a wonderful read, giving you both a sense of Bradbury's wide range - with stories both optimistic and chilling, both realistic and futuristic, both whimsical and horrifying - and his fixations and tropes, whether that be stories about a small pub in Ireland, men named Douglas, great authors of the fantastic, or his stand-in for a prototypical American town, here named Green Town. More than that, reading this anthology of stories, which doesn't hew to a time period like one of his published collections normally would, allows you to see Bradbury's prose as it developed and changed over time. I've made the comment in the past that Bradbury was a fairly simple writer, and while that's true in some ways, there's little denying that he's capable of much more, something that especially shines in his tales of Dublin life and the playful prose that he brings to bear on these passages. Moreover, look at the impact he can bring out in a single sentence - look, for instance, at the final sentence of "The Whole Town's Sleeping", which ends the story on a perfectly chilling note without going very far at all. Or look at the wonder that Bradbury subtly weaves into "And the Moon Be Still as Bright", the tale of a man horrified by the boorish behavior of the men with whom he finds himself exploring the utterly alien world of Mars. Sometimes, he can be hilarious, like his satirical look at trendsetters, "The Watchful Poker Chip of H. Matisse"; other times, as with "Zero Hour", he slowly undermines his usual small-town optimism to unnerving effect. But most often, as with the surprisingly moving "Toynbee Convector", Bradbury inspires, battling against his own grim worries for humanity and the present to try to find hope - a quality that infuses so many of his stories, and one that sets him apart from many science-fiction authors. Bradbury may be capable of chilling darkness, but you'd never consider him a purveyor of darkness or horrific tales. He's a man who loves humanity, even as he worries for it, and finds the humor and warmth in more situations than most authors ever would. And his stories are always, forever, and inescapably human to their core, leaving me as a reader moved by his deeply thoughtful spirit and keen observation, and in awe of his immense talent, range, ability, and gift for spinning tales.

"Martin Prince: As your president, I would demand a science-fiction library, featuring an ABC of the genre. Asimov, Bester, Clarke.Student: What about Ray Bradbury?Martin Prince: I'm aware of his work..."A fun little scene from "The Simpsons" but it highlights that Bradbury is celebrated, yet gets shunted aside by some people who think Bradbury's literary style and content is more social commentary rather than science fiction. But what science fiction ISN'T social commentary? We love dystopian novels these days more than ever, and what are they if not projections of "what if this trend continues?Bradbury wrote in a more literary style: the first story in the collection, "The Whole Town's Sleeping" is a Stephen King horror story with the overlay of poetic language; the rhythm of the sentences and the motif of cold winter overlaid on a hot summer's night is stunning. This could have been a "Twilight Zone" episode but its merit is in the beauty of the language and the inexorable pace of the horror that happened, is happening, and will happen."The Pedestrian" was inspired by Bradbury being stopped for just walking around on a city street one evening. The idea that a man, minding his own business, was an oddity and should be investigated by the cop on the beat gave him the story. But it eventually led to his masterpiece "Fahrenheit 451."Bradbury has been filmed but really, to appreciate his work, it should be read, or listened to. It's unique in the beauty of the writing for its own sake, and here are 100 stories--and that's a lot of stories. I wasn't aware that Bradbury wrote this many short works and I'm glad to have this Kindle book to savor them.

For the dedicated Ray Bradbury fan, this is a masterful compilation of 100 of his short stories. Experienced readers will have their personal favorites (just like fans of The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits will have their favorite episodes), and it's impossible not to because Bradbury used his stories to explore so many different aspects of the human condition. Some of these aspects will have a deeper personal impact than others - just depends on the individual and his or her life.This is a great big tome to put on your bedside table, or your coffee table on your screen porch, anywhere you can pick up the book, savor a couple of stories, and then take the quiet time to reflect on the stories and little subtle lessons about humanity. And these are worth coming back to every so often. I first read them in elementary school, and every decade you get a little more insight into their messages.For the reader new to Bradbury, this is a wonderful place to start, as he is one of the most approachable science fiction writers in this particular format. Best advice would be to go online, find a list or two of his more classic stories, and start there so you get an overall sense of his writing style. Then you can use this compilation to continue to explore some of his lesser known stories and maybe discover a favorite of your own.Can't recommend this volume enough to fiction lovers!

Nice book, but it did not have the dust jacket.

With 100 stories that span Bradbury's writing career, it's interesting to pick out elements and locations that he uses again and again. I was introduced to his work through his science fiction and would have appreciated more of those stories in this collection. Maybe a Bradbury Sci-Fi book is worth some publisher considering.

Classic Bradbury. Some stories I hadn’t seen before.

Und zwar "The Veldt" (aus  The Illustrated Man ), "Dark they were and golden eyed" (aus  A Medicine for Melancholy and Other Stories ) und "The Murderer" (aus  The Golden Apples of the Sun ), die auch immer wieder Thema im Abitur oder in Uni-Kursen über Ray Bradbury sind. Vor allem "The Veldt", die ein sehr düsteres Szenario der totalen Abhängigkeit von virtueller Realität und der sich daraus ergebenden sozialen Verwahrlosung Jugendlicher zeigt (und das sah Bradbury 1951 voraus!), ist sicher eine der besten Geschichten Bradburys.Schade, denn ansonsten ist diese eine sehr umfangreiche Sammlung zu einem guten Preis (vielleicht fehlen deshalb u.a. diese beiden Geschichten, möglicherweise kosten die Rechte dieser oft nachgedruckten Werke einfach zu viel). The Illustrated ManA Medicine for Melancholy and Other StoriesThe Golden Apples of the Sun

If you like Bradbury's world and his art of fiction, you should possibly find here a compelling work. The introduction by the author himself is a short guided tour through the layers of his writing.The stories have that undefinable weird "it" and, if you are a good reader, you find the craft of writing, in dialogues and the right choice of the words. Nothing is there by accident. In the Kindle version provides even the so-called "Word Wise": a dictionary embedded in the text that helps you to learn the meanings of words. An excellent purchase, both for studying and enjoying tales For me, a must-have.

I am glad to have this collection of short stories in a nicely printed, nice to hold volume