Book Review ~~ Fahrenheit 451 ~~

Recently, I read the book “Fahrenheit 451”, a science fiction story by Ray Bradbury. Though I found the world in it extremely different from the world of today–one where firemen start fires to burn books instead of ending fires–it was also highly intriguing, and I enjoyed reading about the main character, Guy Montag, and his exploits very much. I also liked Clarisse, who, though she seemed rather odd in the beginning, proved to be enlightened and thoughtful. Many of the characters in the book proved to be well-developed and multidimensional, a stark contrast to the deliberately boring dullness of the people who conformed to society, like Montag’s wife, Mildred. Bradbury wrote “Fahrenheit 451” skillfully, making me wonder whether the sluggish people in the book could ever become the future, as people learn to rely on technology ever-increasingly every day. I hope not, since the multitudes of unthinking characters in the book, though most were not explicitly named, seemed like an extremely unfortunate future for human beings. It reminded me somewhat of the Eloi in “The Time Machine”– like them, the human beings in the story flourished so much that they didn’t have to study or learn anything, and as a result their culture declined. I recommend this book to anyone who likes science fiction or is simply looking for a thought-provoking book and would rate it 9.8/10.

Book Review ~~ The Golden Kite, The Silver Wind ~~

Today I read the story, “The Golden Kite, The Silver Wind,” by Ray Bradbury, which is about two towns and the symbolism in the shapes their city walls are built in. One town’s walls are built in the shape of an orange, while another town builds its walls in the shape of a pig that can eat the Town of the Orange. As a result, the town with walls shaped like an orange rebuilds its walls in the shape of a club to drive away the pig. The Town of the Pig then changes the shape of its city walls to resemble a fire that can burn the stick, and in response the other town changes its city walls’ shape to that of a lake. This continues for a great period of time, depriving both towns’ inhabitants of a chance to have fun and enjoy their lives and causing sickness and death. Both towns are cursed until, finally, the daughter of the first town’s emperor suggests that one town build its walls in the shape of a kite, while the other town’s walls are built in the shape of wind. The kite needs wind to fly, but the wind needs a kite to beautify its otherwise dull existence. Once this is done, both towns thrive, and the sickness stops. I would rate this story 9.7/10 and recommend it to anyone interested in reading a good short story about how cooperation is much better than argumentation.

Book Review ~~ Here There Be Tygers ~~

Today I read the short story “Here There Be Tygers,” by Ray Bradbury. Set many years in the future, the story describes a group of astronauts who arrive at a planet that behaves like a sentient human, a woman who wants to be admired for her beauty and what she can give the astronauts who go to the planet — but not for her wealth. She provides the astronauts who believe that she is beautiful and love her for who she is with rare white wine, the ability to fly, and anything else they want — when one of them is thirsty, she splashes rain on his lips. However, Chatterton, who only wants to drill for metals and other riches in her core, is killed by tigers. When the astronauts leave the planet, however, she is angry, and her surface is filled with tigers, cyclones, and other dangers, but the captain remarks that Driscoll, who stayed, was probably being treated well and given all he wanted, the tigers and cyclones only seen by those who left. I really enjoyed reading this story, which depicted a thinking planet behaving much like a woman, and showed how thinking, sentient life could be found in many forms. I would recommend this story to anyone who wants to read a short story about a thinking planet and rate it 9.8/10.

Book Review ~~ Frost and Fire ~~

Today I read the short story “Frost and Fire,” by Ray Bradbury. The story is set on a different planet, where the sun’s radiation has sped up life so much that a person dies only eight days after his or her birth. The sun’s rays are too dangerous during the day for people to go out, while at night it is too cold, so there is only one hour a day in which they can leave their dwellings, which protects them (slightly) from the sun’s rays. People on the cliffs live eleven days — three days more than those who are not — because they are better-shielded from the sun’s radiation, but there is limited space, and only three hundred people can live there at a time. There are also rumors of a metal ship that can take them to a different place, where people can live for many years, but no one has ever reached it. Sim, however, is determined to reach it, and he fights passionately to do so. I really enjoyed reading this story and learning of Sim’s determination to reach the ship and go to a different planet. If humans today were thrown into a situation like this, I wonder what we would do — try to escape and find something better, like Sim, or choose not to do anything and accept our fate, like the thousands of other people who never tried to reach the ship? I would rate this book 9.8/10 and recommend it to anyone interested in a good short story that will catch your attention and leave you thinking about what you would do.

Book Review ~~ The Rocket ~~

Today I read the short story “The Rocket,” by Ray Bradbury. The story was set in a time when technology was very advanced and people could do almost anything, even travel to outer space in a rocket if they wanted to — but only if they could afford it. Fiorello Bodoni had dreamed, all his life, to go to outer space, but he was a poor man. It took him six years of hard work to save $3000, enough to send one person — only one — from his family to outer space. However, he realized that if one person from his family went, the rest of them would all be incredibly jealous because of the missed opportunity. Furthermore, when they picked sticks to determine who to go, everyone thought that if someone else could go, that would be better, and everyone had an excuse as to why they couldn’t go. Eventually, Bodoni chose to simulate a trip to space, buying a prototype rocket that couldn’t fly, but simulated the sensation well, and put a theater in the background so his children would see the planets as they ‘flew’ past. I enjoyed reading this book and learning about how Bodoni had tried so hard to give his children the gift of going to outer space. I would rate it 9.8/10 and recommend it to anyone interested in an attention-catching short story.

Book Review ~~ The Murderer ~~

Today I read the short story “The Murderer,” by Ray Bradbury. It was set in the near future, when technology had become a near-addiction for the majority of the world. In the story, people are constantly communicating with each other in various ways; people speak through intercoms, phones ring, and wrist radios buzz. One man, however, who terms himself ‘The Murderer’, hates this state of consistent machine-produced noise and tries to destroy all machines that produce noise, such as his novel-reading, weather-reporting, jingle-jangling house, wrist radio, television, and more. He tried to change all of this by protesting, but to no avail — instead, he was arrested. Bradbury’s description of the world in his story mirrors the current world quite well, although the world described in Bradbury’s story is slightly more technology-focused than our own. More than fifty years in the past, Bradbury was able to envision the technology of today, and even that of the future. I really enjoyed reading “The Murderer” and would rate it 9.6/10. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in a thought-provoking short story.

Book Review ~~ The Flying Machine ~~

Today I read the short story “The Flying Machine,” by Ray Bradbury. Set in the past, it featured a man who had just created a ‘machine’, wings made of paper and bamboo, that allowed him to fly. He was extremely excited about his new invention, but when the emperor saw it, his thoughts were quite different. He saw the beauty in the invention, but he also realized that there were terrible things it could be used for. He thought that it could be used to destroy or bypass the Great Wall of China, which had protected China for thousands of years, and realized the destruction it could cause. As a result, he had the inventor executed. I thought that he shouldn’t have done so, because invariably another inventor would have invented a similar machine, but I could understand his reasoning for burning the flying machine and killing its inventor. I really enjoyed reading this story, which, like many of the author’s other stories, illustrated the damage that technology could cause, though not in as severe a way as in many of his other stories. I would rate it 9.4/10 and recommend it to anyone interested in reading an interesting short story.

Book Review ~~ All Summer In a Day ~~

Recently I read the short story “All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury. I really enjoyed reading it, since the author’s descriptive writing illustrated the scenes for me to depict the story clearer. This, of course, meant that the sad story made me feel very sorry for Margot, who was bullied by the other kids. At first, I didn’t understand why she didn’t fight back, but eventually I understood what the author was trying to say. Margot, who was very lonely, was tormented because she was different. They had lived on Venus forever, and the last time the sun had come out had been when they were two. Margot went to Venus when she was four, and she could still remember the sun. They were jealous of her memories, and so it became anger at her difference. Then, of course, after they locked her in a closet the only day in seven years that the sun was supposed to come out, they felt guilty because they, too, had seen the sun. They were so excited that they forgot about Margot and then felt guilty. Because they had seen it then, they were no longer jealous, but because she hadn’t been able to see it, they felt guilty as well. While it was a very sad story, I still appreciated the author’s writing skills and his abilities to blend a message with a story. There’s also a video on YouTube. The show is played out well enough that it seems almost sadder than the story. I would rate it a 9.5/10 and recommend it to any readers in middle school or above.

Book Review ~~ There Will Come Soft Rains ~~

“There Will Come Soft Rains” is a book I recently read about a house that operates by itself despite the fact that its owners have abandoned it. Eventually, a fire starts and the house is destroyed. I found it a sad story that could mean a lot of things. For one thing, it suggests that, as the house was empty, humans too are empty and require a meaning to their lives. Otherwise, they too will be destroyed. The book also hints at humans’ reliance on technology, but the way that the technology failed to destroy the fire in the book suggests that humans are wrong to rely so strongly on technology, a theory supported in “The Veldt,” another short story written by Ray Bradbury in which the security guards malfunction. In real life, this theory is supported by the fact that the computer I was blogging from just crashed and half of my blog was lost, causing me to expend extra energy writing. It seems as if the computer agrees with me. I liked the story, but was unsure about what it meant, causing me to rate it 8.5/10. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in reading short stories.