I make no secret of my love for Ray Bradbury’s writing, and I’ve been in love with his books for a very long time. I Sing The Body Electric, The Illustrated Man, The Machineries of Joy, and The Martian Chronicles were all available on my parents’ bookshelves, and I fell hook, line and sinker for Bradbury’s mix of horror, science fiction, and poetic prose. I remain a fan to this day.
In high school, we were given an assignment to write about an author we liked, and I ended up writing about Ray Bradbury. Here’s that assignment – in Swedish (of course) – done in that old-school style that seems so dated it’s almost quaint by today’s word-processing standards!
Front page with my carefully traced and filled in title…
This was all typed on the old black typewriter I got from my grandfather.
Quoting Bradbury himself here: “I was a beardless boy-magician who pulled irritable rabbits out of papier-mache hats. I became a bearded man-magician who pulled rockets out of his typewriter and out of Star Wilderness that stretched as far as the eye and mind could see and imagine. “
Talking about “The Martian Chronicles”… still one of my favourite sci-fi books.
Writing about the short story “The Third Expedition” from The Martian Chronicles. This one still gives me chills when I read it.
Here I call Bradbury “a master of horror”, and “a master of the short story”. I stand by that to this day!
Long-ish quote here from the short story “The One Who Waits” – it’s still one of the best short stories I’ve ever read.
Quoting Bradbury again at the end: “The boy-magician speaks from another year. I stand aside and let him say what he most needs to say. I listen and enjoy.”
Maria Haskins 