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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Stories that are a joy to read,
By Dave Deubler (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Machineries of Joy: Short Stories (Paperback)
Ray Bradbury is one of the finest short story writers of his era, and this book is a marvelous showcase of the depth and breadth of his work. Bradbury is often pigeon-holed as a science fiction writer, because of the enormous popular success of his futuristic novel Fahrenheit 451 and the excellent short story collection The Martian Chronicles, but much of his work transcends science fiction and fantasy altogether. In this collection (as with several others), Bradbury shows us his more human side, with offerings that range from the fantastic to the everyday, but always with the emphasis on people, and how they react to the sometimes difficult situations they find themselves in. There are a couple good science fiction yarns, including "The One Who Waits" with its menacing feel, and the casually apocalyptic "Boys! Raise Giant Mushrooms in Your Cellar!" but even these feature protagonists who are nothing like the standard types. Unlike the driven loners who populate many works of science fiction, Bradbury's characters are members of families, visit with friends, and even play active parts in their communities. Bradbury chooses to make his characters human not with cruelty and vulgarity, but with compassion and simplicity, as in "The Beggar on O'Connell Bridge." Bradbury narrates in a muted tone, making the reader listen closely to hear him; his stories are quieter than perhaps any modern writer's. Into this reverent hush, he places small nuggets of story, sometimes with very little action, or with the action delineated, but not actually taking place within the story, such as the quiet evening before the battle in "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh." Some of the stories are almost like prose poems, extolling the wonders of nature, as in "A Miracle of Rare Device" or offering subtle social commentary, as in "Almost the End of the World." As such, Bradbury is not for everyone; action-lovers may find his work boring or even frustrating, and fans of science fiction and fantasy will discover that much of his work is both reality-based and non-scientific. Instead, he searches out some obscure corner of personal morality, and asks us to accept it for what it is. Bradbury believes in the essential goodness of human beings, despite their occasional lapses, and makes us feel good to be part of the human race. He is willing to forgive humanity its foibles, and hopes with us for a better tomorrow. For today, that seems cause enough for joy.
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