Short Stories / Nouvelles Book

The Stories of Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury is one of the most famous and prolific authors of the 20th century. I read that he didn't attend college because he was too poor during the Depression. But he did spend his formative years living at the library and reading as many books by the famous authors of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He had such a profoundly curious and imaginative mind. His ability to write so captivatingly about such a wide range of situations, some in sci-fi settings, some in the horror genre, and some solely about nostalgia is quite remarkable.

As anyone who's read Fahrenheit 451 can tell you ' it's not Bradbury's science writing that is particularly special but rather his ability to imagine our situations in the universe, often dysfunctional ones. Perhaps this is why his writing has held up so well. He reveals the potential of human nature, often the dark side, which is a pretty timeless concept.

One of the attributes that I like about his writing is how he often telegraphs ominous endings far in advance. The drama then builds in tandem with the transparency of his storytelling. There are no unfair plot twists. The stories are so engaging and well wrought that you savor the endings ' especially the ones where you already have an inkling of how they'll turn out.

The 100 stories in this collection only average ten pages in length. I read them all. Below are my short listed favorites. Most are quite famous ' so no surprises there. I also have read most of these short listed stories out loud to my daughters ' and we can't stop talking about them. Some are admittedly quite dark and they seemed to enjoy those more than maybe I was anticipating. Their favorite story was the Veldt.

Favorite Ones

1. The Lake. A boy needs to finish the sand castle years after his friend drowns. Nostalgic and tragic tale.

2. The Coffin. A deliciously macabre tale about two brothers who hate each other. As the title suggests it does not end well.

3. Mars is Heaven. A wonderfully creepy tale about a third wave of explorers who visit Mars. Quite a famous story. Also included in The Martian Chronicles.

4. Marionettes, Inc. A husband, who is frequently gone away on business trips, orders an animated marionette that looks identical to him to keep his wife company. What could possibly go wrong when he finds out the marionette is sentient?

5. The City. A city waits twenty thousand years to get its revenge on the Earthlings who killed its original inhabitants.

6. The Veldt. A famous story about two spoiled children in whose technology room they have recreated a violent African savannah. The children will go to any lengths to stop their parents from shutting down their technology room!

7. The Fire Balloons. A thought provoking story about two clergymen who travel to Mars to spread Christianity amongst the Martians ' analogous to our missionaries here on Earth. One problem for the space traveling clergymen ' the Martian bodies are amorphous globes of light. One priest has a plan, "Content is everything. We cannot expect these Martians to accept an alien form. We shall give them Christ in their own image..... Christ will fill any vessel that is offered. Bodies or globes. He is there, and each will worship the same thing in a different guise. What is more, we must believe in this globe we give the Martians. We must believe in a shape which is meaningless to us as a form. The spheroid will be Christ."

8. April Witch - young woman (or witch) Cecy invades another woman's body and tries to persuade her to marry her suitor against her wishes.

9. A Sound of Thunder - Time travel story about Killing a T-Rex and how the butterfly effect can change the future in unplanned ways.

10. The Playground - man fears for his young son's safety at the playground. He is offered a deal by a stranger so the father can swap places with his son and spare him the cruelty of childhood.

11. The Small Assassin - can't do better than this chilling short story.

12. The Next in Line - woman and husband are in Mexico tourist town. They visit the catacombs and woman is disturbed and fears for her life in Mexico. Husband seems fascinated about the mummies and doesn't want to leave. Woman is afraid she'll die in the town and end up on display in the catacombs. The husband does little to reassure her.

13. Jack-in-the-box - A wealthy boy living in a massive mansion has an attachment to his manipulative mother. He eventually escapes the mansion and enters the world of death ' the outside world. He is now happy but does not understand the significance of his mother's manipulation. Very thought provoking story. The stuck jack-in-the-box he tries to open is symbolic of his struggle to escape the house

14. So Died Riabouchinska - ventriloquist is arrested for murder. His puppet has an interesting story to tell the detective. Very clever tale.

15. Some Live Like Lazarus - one of the very best stories. Man is under his mother's thumb, he wants to kill her so he can marry but he waits nearly fifty more years? Or does he?

16. The Body Electric - android grandmother takes care of family for thirty years after the real mother dies. Surprisingly profound story about hope and love.

17. Punishment without Crime - fascinating story about murdering a look alike android.

18. The Utterly Perfect Murder - man travels across the country to commit a murder 36 years after a begrudging incident. But can he pull the trigger?

5 stars. Easy. One of the best, if not the very best, short story collections that I've read by any author.