Elliot Kessler

(I apologize for not posting yesterday. I meant to finish this, but it took much longer than I expected, and I was very busy with other work. Because of this, I will do my best to publish two posts today, and hopefully it is good, quality content that you guys enjoy. I apologize again, and I thank you for your understanding.)

Ray Bradbury is a very successful American science fiction and fantasy author, born on August 22, 1920. Unfortunately, Bradbury passed away on July 9, 2012, at 91 years old. Today, Bradbury is still a highly acclaimed and celebrated author who wrote such incredible works as “Something Wicked This Way Comes,” “The Illustrated Man,” and “The Martian Chronicles.” He wrote primarily short fiction and has had much of his work adapted for the screen in titles such as “It Came From Outer Space” (1953), “Fahrenheit 451” (1966 & 2018), the “Twilight Zone” episode “I Sing the Body Electric” (1962), and the “Ray Bradbury Theater,” which was a show that adapted one of Bradbury’s shorts for every episode. But today, I am here to talk about my favorite Bradbury book: “The Martian Chronicles.”

“The Martian Chronicles” is a strange hybrid between a novel and a short story collection, making it a very interesting experiment that worked quite well. It features short stories chronicling the journey to and exploration of Mars, the colonization of Mars, and the collapse of Earth and the Martians. It is a very interesting and thought-provoking book with many unique and interesting stories that vary in length. In this post, I will talk about my three favorite stories from the book and what I like most about them. Comment down below what your favorite stories are and why. If you haven’t read the book, be warned that there will be spoilers here for the stories I’m talking about.

While researching this article, I realized that many of the stories in “The Martian Chronicles” deal with themes of restoring the past, attempting to return to the past, and preserving the past. (Either that, or it was only the stories I selected.) This theme rings true to me as I move on from my childhood and enter adulthood. I’ve begun college, and most of my friends have moved away to go to their universities. (Granted, I’ve never had very many friends. Close friends, anyways. But most of the ones I do have moved to another city or another state, and it is unlikely that I will ever see them again.) One of my biggest fears is change, and these stories deal with it significantly.

“–and the Moon Be Still as Bright” is a wonderful story near the novel’s beginning. It follows the fourth expedition to Mars after the first three never came back and shows the tragedy that unfolded for the Martian civilization. The crew of the fourth expedition arrives on the Red Planet, only to find it dead and deserted, with no Martians in sight. Jeff Spender falls in love with the ancient ruins of a once great civilization, and he begins killing his crew to keep humanity at bay and protect Mars. Spender believes that all humanity is evil and will, without hesitation, destroy the beautiful, tragic cities of the Martians. Captain Wilder believes the same thing but is forced to kill Spender to protect the rest of his men. The themes of fighting desperately and obsessively to preserve the past run rampant here, and it shows how we are to remember the past and keep it in our minds so that we may learn from it. The worldbuilding in this story is great too. In such a small narrative, a massive, beautiful, fallen, dead civilization is formed. This story is a work of art, and the imagery and themes are beautiful.

“Usher II” follows a man fascinated by the works of Edgar Allen Poe, who builds a haunted house and calls it the House of Usher. He uses the house to exact his vengeance on those who made fantasy and “unrealistic” fiction illegal. A strange tale that doesn’t quite fit most of the other stories in “The Martian Chronicles,” “Usher II” deals with some of the same themes as “–and the Moon Be Still as Bright,” such as preserving the past and learning from it, and it shows the necessity of art in civilization. It does all this in an eerie, creepy way. The haunted house has many traps and contraptions that Stendahl, the man who built the house, pulled from Edgar Allen Poe’s story, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” The deaths are brutal, but Stendahl assures everyone that the people dying are simply robot duplicates of the real guests, who seem to be having a great time watching themself get killed in gruesome ways. But then, after only one guest remains, Stendahl reveals that the guests watching themselves die were the real robot duplicates, and the real guests did die. Stendahl then seels the last guest behind a brick wall and watches as the house gets demolished. As I said, it’s a weird one, but it is a very fun read.

“The Martian” follows an old couple who wake up one rainy night to find their son, who died years ago on Earth at the age of 14, standing in the rain and asking to be let in. The couple let him into the house and decide to go into town the next night, where chaos and tragedy occur. This sad story stuck with me for some reason. The emotions that Bradbury conveys in his stories always feel so real and alive, and that is shown in its full glory here. The Martian is simply a lonely person who longs to feel loved by someone, but becoming people who he is not becomes his downfall. I love that idea. It speaks volumes.

To all the lonely people out there, don’t where a mask. Don’t morph into the form you think the people around you want you to be in, or you’ll be “trapped,” as the Martian says. Be true to who you are and you will find a family. That, I believe, is what this story is trying to say. As I mentioned before, I am a lonely person, especially now that all my friends have moved away, and this message really spoke to me. I’ve found myself feeling a lot more loved and respected by people. I’m not sure whether that’s because people see me differently, I’m noticing that they love and respect me, or if it’s because I’m a swim coach now and I have some kids that I work with that think I’m fun. It doesn’t really matter, though. What does matter is that I relate to this story a lot now, and I really enjoyed it. It was an emotional warning against becoming someone you’re not in order to be loved by others. That’s how I see it, anyways.

“The Martian Chronicles” is a must-read. It has something for everyone, and I enjoyed almost every story there. Each page is filled with wonderous imagery and beautiful emotion. It is so well done. In the end, not only is Ray Bradbury a masterful storyteller, but an excellent writer as well. This novel almost equates to poetry, and it feels like watching “The Twilight Zone.” Every story has meaning and theme, all contributing to the larger narrative, and it all works well. A 10/10.

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you guys have a great day today and a wonderful happy birthday to the late great Ray Bradbury.