In general I have favored fantasy to science fiction. Mainly because I like knights and prettier dresses and old things but also because in my limited exposure to the genre science fiction focuses on reason and detailed scientific jargon while fantasy focuses on myth and emotions. Science fiction is (often) all head. Fantasy is (often) all heart.
That is not the case with Bradbury.
After reading The Zen of Writing, I was so enamored of Bradbury's prose style --his excitement and enthusiasm for life --that I immediately went and picked up a copy of Dandelion Wine
Followed soon thereafter by Fahrenheit 451
The Illustrated Man
and Farewell Summer
but I think my favorite book of his that I have read so far is The Martian Chronicles.
He doesn't bog the story (for my tastes) down with scientific details and explanations of how maybe this could really happen. He knows it couldn't. The reader knows it couldn't. That's not the point. The point is that within the story it is happening and that illuminates things about us as a people. It is fitting that Bradbury has said that he once claimed not to write with his intellect. Bradbury wrote primarily with his heart and his sweet, sad longing mingled with an unbridled enthusiasm for even life's most mundane shines through in every page of his works.
I never could get into Bradbury's books since I'm not a fan of sci fi, but I always enjoy reading his quotes on the writing process.
ReplyDeleteDandelion Wine and Farewell Summer aren't sci fi if you ever want to check them out :D I love his writing quotes too!
DeleteVisiting on day 3 of the #atozchallenge with all my fellow writers. I appreciate all the hard work it takes to participate. I hope you make many new blogging friends.Dandelion Wine is one of my favorite childhood books, I'm holding a copy off my shelf.Always give it to grandchildren!
ReplyDeleteI hope so too.
DeleteYour grandchildren will love it.
I think you can tell when writers write from the heart. That's why we can connect with "fluff" books that read like comfort food. I think that form of writing is just as valid as prize-winning literary, so long as the stories are entertaining and genuine.
ReplyDeleteAll forms of writing are valid. Personally I prefer books that take the reader to a deeper, more uncomfortable place. Some books that are considered fluff do that but not all of them.
DeleteYour last sentence wraps up a review any writer would treasure. Yes, Bradbury was a genius. I read Fahrenheit 451 in school and just now have Dandelion Wine on my list. Never the others, and now you having me wondering why.
ReplyDeleteDandelion Wine is definitely one of the good ones!
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