A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories [Paperback]

Ray Bradbury (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 6, 2005

With his disarmingly simple style and complex imagination, Ray Bradbury has seized the minds of American readers for decades.This collection showcases thirty-two of Bradbury's most famous tales in which he lays bare the depths of the human soul. The thrilling title story, A Sound of Thunder, tells of a hunter sent on safari -- sixty million years in the past. But all it takes is one wrong step in the prehistoric jungle to stamp out the life of a delicate and harmless butterfly -- and possibly something else much closer to home ...

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ray Bradbury is the author of dozens of books and hundreds of stories. Among his best-known works are Fahrenheit 451, Dandelion Wine, and Something Wicked This Way Comes. An Emmy Award winner for his teleplay The Halloween Tree and an Academy Award nominee, Mr. Bradbury was also honored by the National Book Foundation with a medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Winner of a National Medal of Arts and a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation and named a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, France’s highest cultural award, he lives in Los Angeles.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (September 6, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060785691
• ISBN-13: 978-0060785697
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #135,513 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Quintessential Collection of Short Stories by Ray Bradbury, September 9, 2005

By 

Alexander Markham (Las Vegas, NV USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories (Paperback)

'A Sound of Thunder & Other Stories' is a collection of Ray Bradbury short stories published between 1943 and 1956. Originally published as 'The Golden Apples of the Sun,' the collection features 32 of Bradbury's best short stories. In 'The Fog Horn,' the inspiration for the 1953 black and white science fiction classic `The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms,' the nameless protagonist and his boss are putting in a night's work at a remote lighthouse when the resonating fog horn attracts one of many `mysteries of the sea.' In the futuristic tale `The Pedestrian,' Bradbury presents an eerie tale that might make you think twice before you step outside for an evening walk. And in `A Sound of Thunder' upon which the Peter Hyams film of 2005 is loosely based - very, very loosely - Time Safari, Inc. promises safaris anywhere in time to hunt prehistoric animals. Every precaution is implemented to avoid a time paradox and disturbing history, based on the principle that even the slightest change can cause major changes in the future. Travelers may only shoot animals already predestined for death by natural causes or circumstances at the exact moment and are required to stay on a path that hovers above the ground. Unfortunately for the protagonist, he unintentionally deviates from the path and takes one small errant step...

Ray Bradbury, perhaps best-known today for his work `Fahrenheit 451', had once seized the minds of American readers for decades and inspired many more to follow in his literary footsteps. His stories have been the basis of screenplays for the classic television series `The Twilight Zone' and `The Outer Limits,' and feature films such as François Truffaut's brilliantly visionary film `Fahrenheit 451.' His stories are at once imaginatively complex yet simplistic in literary style. If you love science fiction - the imaginative, visionary, thought-provoking, classic form of science fiction - Ray Bradbury is a must for your personal collection.

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book, but a dirty trick, December 7, 2005

By 

kaream - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories (Paperback)

This is indeed a wonderful collection of some of Bradbury's best short stories, but as pointed out by other reviewers, it is exactly the same collection as "The Golden Apples of the Sun", simply reissued under a different title as a movie tie-in (reputed to be one of the worst movies ever made).

If you already have "Golden Apples", don't be fooled by the publisher into thinking this is a new and different book. It's hard enough as it is to collect Bradbury stories without getting a lot of duplication.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bradbury: Common Man's Star Gazer, March 30, 2006

By 

Erik T. Carlson "tired dude" (enchanted island,MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories (Paperback)

Ray Bradbury is one of the greatest American Science Fiction writers of all time. Yet he does not portray huge battle scenes and alien invasions. He rather, achieves something unique by enthralling the reader without the traditional flash of Science Fiction. Bradbury wrote the story "R" is for rocket about a family that has little money and dreams of one day riding in a rocket ship. It is the future and rocket travel is a reality, yet a large expense. The father knows he will never be able to give his children this gift. So he instead buys a broken old rocket and puts on an elaborate hoax to give his sons the gift of space travel. This is a very realistic style of science fiction. Bradbury takes you and gives you the common mans perspective from another age. This perspective is then used to drive home the moral of his sorted little tales. He uses low diction and familiar settings to allow the reader to bond with the characters. Then the reader is shown how the characters' lives are drastically different then theirs. The result is of this difference is usually technology. Now the reader experiences the effects first hand due to the relation to the characters. Relatable characters are the strong point of Bradbury's writing and it is what gives him the ability to entertain with simpler shorter stories.