The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (1950)
Comedic: Confusing
Book cover blurb
Well, this is embarrassing, there is no cover blurb for this fine old book. Simply a characteristic of how The Folio Society produces its editions. Rigid slipcase and no sleeve over the hardback book itself.
I’d hate for you to feel cheated so here is the cover blurb from Simon & Schusre’s 2012 release.
In The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury, America's preeminent storyteller, imagines a place of hope, dreams, and metaphor; of crystal pillars and fossil seas, where a fine dust settles on the great empty cities of a vanished, devastated civilization. Earthmen conquer Mars and then are conquered by it, lulled by dangerous lies of comfort and familiarity, and enchanted by the lingering glamour of an ancient, mysterious native race. In this classic work of fiction, Bradbury exposes our ambitions, weaknesses, and ignorance in a strange and breathtaking world where man does not belong.
My Review
After a rather rocky start, in which I wasn't quite sure if the writing was just incredibly naive or some kind of joke, the whole thing began to take shape and I started to get quite interested.
Obviously, by today's standards, the narrative and overall feel of the writing is expected to be a little less complicated, published in 1950, but the politics and moral relevancies within the premise are something that can't be considered dated.
As I always say, read a book with its own generation in mind, but even with that this whole thing just seems very naive to me, even childish in its outlook and delivery. Maybe there's some underlying point being made by Bradbury that I wasn't able to grasp, but I'm honestly having a hard time understanding why this novel has the classic status it does.
My copy of this novel
Folio Society hardback edition.
Published in 2015
232 pages