Today R is for Ray Not for Rocket

Details: Category: Entertainment; Published on Wednesday, 06 June 2012 16:29; Written by Lara Landis; Hits: 369

It was a pleasure to read. A pleasure to learn, to see people changed. Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451, the Martian Chronicles and Something Wicked This Way Comes passed away at the age of 91. Even though he was a technophobe who disliked the impersonal nature of the Internet, he did have an important impact on how people think. Guy Montag’s journey through his mad futuristic world seems to remain relevant, even if the colonization of the Mars had not yet taken place.

When people list the greats of science fiction who came from the same era, Bradbury’s name is often not among them. Fans can readily identify Asmiov, Clarke and Heinlein as the masters of the genre. A few people may even throw Frank Herbert onto this list, even though Herbert came later. What this author innately understood was how people interact.

When an individual reads the Martian Chronicles, they know they are not reading hard science fiction. Much of the science in it has been disproven. What they receive is a picture of how people act. The works he left behind give us a way of looking at ourselves. It is not always a comfortable mirror, but it is an important one nonetheless. Even the things we think we have ultimately avoided, such as the nuclear wars he predicted in several of his books, may still happen.

Somewhere in, in some universe, a Mister Dark is waiting to give us a free ride. Fans of the author know that Bradbury most likely will not encounter him if there is an afterlife. Perhaps it is best put by paraphrasing the words of a different author. So long, Ray, and thanks for all the stories.