BOOK REVIEW -- THE ILLUSTRATED MAN -- RAY BRADBURY
Originally
published 1952
I’ve always
believed that Ray Bradbury’s lyrical prose is more suited to the short story
than the novel and that the many collections of his prolific work available
ably demonstrate this. Some collections, like The Golden Apples Of The Sun, are less brilliant, with more varied
stories, and more than the average amount of misfires. The Illustrated Man, on the other hand, is the opposite, with more
of a definite ‘hit’-rate than could be expected.
Most of the
eighteen stories here were originally published from around 1947 – 1951 in
popular magazines of the day, with several more original to this collection.
Bradbury uses the framing device of a man who has been tattooed with
illustrations all over his body by a witch from the future. The illustrations
move every night and stories are told in them; these are those stories. This is
interesting and creative, but also unnecessary – the stories are not linked,
except in theme, and can be read individually or in any combination you could
like, including one after the other, from front to back. But as with all short
story collections, these tales are not a novel, and are not meant to be read as
one, in several [or one] large chunks. Take the time to feel Bradbury’s deft
prose, his thoughtfulness of word-choice on every page, the lyrics in the
lines; Bradbury is a stylist, and although occasionally that style becomes too
much and drowns out the story, the prose is rich and worth reading slowly. Take
the tales one at a time, over many days; give them a chance to live.
Unlike some
other collections, The Illustrated Man
is a showcase of Bradbury’s science-fiction and fantasy pieces, and not horror.
There is a hint of horror here, but only in a handful of stories. The theme is
simple wonder, often a child’s wonder at the world and at the amazing and
wonderful things in it. Bradbury has dreamed these stories, they are him,
evocations of a childhood lost in fantasies of rockets, spacemen, the future.
Many of the stories have prescient predictions on the future, some of which are
of their time [like clockwork robots], but some, far-seeing insights have
echoed and grown in accuracy down the years. Some of the ideas here are very
familiar to science-fiction fans in the 21st century, but it must be
remembered that Bradbury had these ideas and thoughts many, many years before
Star Trek and The Terminator, Gravity and A.I.
Every reader
will have their own personal favourite. Mine is The Rocket Man, which I absolutely loved, a brilliant five-star
tale and certainly for me on the list of Bradbury’s best. It tells of a ‘rocket
man’, an astronaut who lives in two worlds – his home and family life and his
work, or rocket missions – but is completely content in neither. While on his
rockets, flying about the galaxy, he misses the Earth and his wife and family;
while on leave at home, he is dreaming of being back in space, itching to get
back to it. His wife regards him as ‘dead’ to her, for she knows he will soon
disappear again on dangerous missions, she cannot relax and enjoy his company.
His son, too, cannot connect with him, as, even when he is there, he is never
really there, but dreaming, pining
for his next journey to the stars. I realise I’ve largely told the plot of this
story, but it needs to be read to be fully appreciated, the emotions and
thoughts of the characters as expressed by Bradbury are much more than a thin
description here. It is simply a brilliant story, and lingers long in the mind,
and is as relevant now as when it was written, dealing with the pull of
ambition and danger, but the bittersweet mediocrity of what is left behind.
This is just an excellent story, unreservedly recommended; if you have just
half an hour before this book is wrenched forever from your hands, read The Rocket Man and be in awe. If the
title is vaguely familiar to you, you might be thinking of the hit song of the
same name by Elton John; the lyrics were inspired by this very story.
My next
choice would be another very short but excellent story; The City. Unlike the above, the plots of some stories need to be
discovered in the reading, for that was the point of their construction. Much
like the point behind the construction of the ancient city in this story, on a
distant star, and what happens when a ship from Earth sets down upon it, many
thousands of years after last contact. An awesome idea, and another excellent
story that will leave you with that genuine science-fiction sense of wonder.
Sticking with interstellar themes, The
Long Rain is an adventure story set on Venus; can a space crew defy the
constant hammering of the rain, and find the safety of a sheltered Sun Dome.
Read this memorable story to find out. Kaleidoscope
massively pre-dates the 2013 film Gravity, telling, in just a few short pages,
of an accident during a spacewalk mission; Bradbury’s emotive words focus more
on the fate of the crew, as they helplessly drift away from each other into the
depths of space.
Marionettes Inc. is as great a masterclass in writing
a short-story as I can think of. The theme is robots, robots that look, not
like tin cans on wheels, but indistinguishable from human beings. The story is
merely 6 pages long, yet Bradbury has foreseen most of the major plots of future
blockbuster films and novels, and crammed the basics, along with
constantly-changing twists, into this skilful and prescient story. You could
study this story, and learn much about how to construct a short tale; equally,
you could quickly read it and be amazed.
The Fox And The Forest is a peculiar title, utterly failing
to foreshadow it’s hugely enjoyable story of time-travel. While on a holiday to
the past, a man and his wife have done a runner from a war-torn future, and are
persued by collection agents. The story slowly reveals itself, and at the end
the reader is put in mind of a certain huge movie hit of the 1980’s. It is
almost as if Bradbury had a time machine himself. Perhaps he did, in his
imagination.
The above
tales were my particular favourites, but a large part of what remains is also
very enjoyable and entertaining. The Fire
Balloons is a story of Mars, and the group of clerics who go there to be
missionaries to the inhabitants of the planet, only to find that the Chinese-lantern-like
entities that live there are beyond sin. The
Visitor, also set on Mars, tells of a world filled with outcasts from
Earth, people who are dying or suffering from incurable disease. Into their
midst comes a visitor, who can comfort the stricken, with lifelike visions and
illusions. But his benevolence is desirable, and even outcasts might be driven
to violence...
Much-reprinted
story The Veldt pre-invents the
Holodeck from Star Trek; in a futuristic nursery, virtual African plains come
to life...
The Last Night Of The World and The Highway both concern the end of the world. Bradbury focuses on
looking at human reactions to the end, and finds them quiet and civilized. In Zero Hour, all the children of the world
appear to be playing a game which will help robotic aliens insidiously invade
the planet. A man takes his family for the trip of a lifetime in The Rocket using just his contagious
imagination.
The majority
of the stories here are okay, still enjoyable, and add to the general flavour
of the book. There were only two stories out of the eighteen that I didn’t much
care for. Perhaps you will like them better.
I’ve read a
number of Bradbury’s story collections over the years, and in the
science-fiction field, I think this one is among his finest. The tales
continually showcase Bradbury’s bright optimism in people, and their hopes and
fears and loves, and how people will prevail; emotions and relationships mean
more than the technological progress of the future. More important than
scientific progress, mankind’s thoughts and feelings and tenderness will temper
any possible dark capitalism of future generations. Bradbury, throughout his
long life, and never more so than in the stories here, was always a dreamer, a literary
dreamer, dreaming dreams of a hopeful and excited ten-year-old boy. To read
these stories is to partake, for a while, in these vivid and inventive dreams. 10/10
 |
| Some of the stories were adapted into a 1969 portmanteau film. |
