 |
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| 3/21/1556 |
|
Burning Books
On this day in 1556 Thomas Cranmer, one of the "Oxford Martyrs," was burned at the stake. Cranmer's promotion of the English Bible and his authorship of The Book of Common Prayer are his most significant connections to Christian literature, but for fiction readers he is known through his connection to Ray Bradbury's book-burning novel, Fahrenheit 451. |
|
|
| »
top of page |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Interviews with Don Swaim
"Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451, The Illustrated Man, and The Martian Chronicles, talks with Don Swaim on two occasions about the difference between writing novels and writing screenplays, conquering his fear of flying, and his life of writing." (33 + 47 minutes) |  | Notes on The Martian Chronicles
This useful resource for students offers an introductory guide to the text which provides context and deeper understanding into the book's references, metaphors, and extended meanings.
"The Martian Chronicles is best read as a collection of linked short stories rather than as a novel. Although such collections are unusual in 'mainstream' fiction they are common in science fiction. Bradbury has always been more of a short story writer than a novelist, and most of the stories can be read separately from their present context. When that fact is realized, some of the inconsistencies and contradictions in The Martian Chronicles diminish in importance. ... One striking feature of many of these stories is the progressive political values which they embrace. Written during the height of the Cold War anti-Communist hysteria, they criticize imperialism, racism, environmental pollution, censorship, and the nuclear arms race. Bradbury was not alone. Several SF writers critiqued smug assumptions about the superiority of American values during that period. But that such a volume could become the single most widely-read SF book during the fifties is a tribute to the charm of Bradbury's style, a compound of sentimental nostalgia, idealism, and above all delight in the pleasures of the senses." | | Ray Bradbury Online
Features a biography, synopses and excerpts from all of Bradbury's works, including Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles and Something Wicked This Way Comes, and selected quotes about censorship, cloning, education, philosophy, space travel, writing and other topics. | |
|
| »
top of page |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The TinL masthead features photography by
Natasha D'Schommer
, and the book art featured is by Jim Rosenau.
|
|
|
|
|
