Customer Reviews

Toynbee Convector

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have loved Bradbury since I was a kid. I was anxiously waiting for this book when it came into print, and sadly disappointed when it arrived. A few of the stories (The Toynbee Convector, The Last Circus, The Thing at the Top of the Stairs) have touches of the old brilliance, but in general I found them strangely lacking. Many seem oddly pointless or unfinished, like a thought that faded before it had run its course. Worthwhile to those who really LOVE Bradbury, but at the same time left me bittersweet and unsatisfied. I went back and reread "The Illutrated Man"

By reading the information on the copyright page, the reader will note that the stories in this book have been culled from over a half dozen publications, possibly many more. As such, it seems reasonable to assume that they were written over a span of a great number of years. I would have found it helpful had the original copyright dates of each entry been included so one could, in some ways, track Bradbury's development as a writer.

Having said that, I did enjoy this book for the very variety that seems to have put off some of the reviewers here. There are stories that are pure Sci-Fi, others that are perfect examples of the horror genre, some that make us want to laugh and/or cry, and many that combine several of these aspects.

One of the latter that I found particularly moving is "Lafayette, Farewell." In it, an elderly man who knows that he is to die soon begins to relive the air battles he fought as a fighter pilot over France during World War I. Every night, he sees and hears the planes of those brave young men who died as he successfully shot their planes out of the sky. He now feels guilty over taking the lives of those innocent young pilots who, like himself, were sent into a war not of their own making.

He fears that he will be consigned to hell for what he has done, and he asks his neighbor how he can, at this late date, be forgiven. His neighbor suggests that, since they, in their planes, are appearing over his house nightly before parachuting to their deaths in his back yard, he plainly and simply, ask them for their forgiveness. In a very moving scene, he does just that and they indicate that he is forgiven.

This is really a touching story, one of my favorites in the book. There are others equally rewarding to read along with some that are among Bradbury's lesser works. I for one, am glad to see as many of Bradbury's stories as possible anthologized in books such as _THE TOYNBEE CONVECTOR_. I'm afraid that those that aren't, and which appeared in more obscure, older Sci-Fi magazines, may be lost to us forever. In my opinion, all of his writing is worth preserving for readers of the future.

I was disappointed when I read One More For the Road. That was not on of Mr. Bradbury's better collections. But The Toynbee Convector is full of all the tales and ideas we know Mr. Bradbury is capable of.

We begin with the title story involving time travel. Next we get a dark tale of mysterious trapdoor. From there we meet ghosts, banshees and things that are not there. We return to Green Town, see romances, experience jealousies. and meet writers.

The stories cover a very broad spectrum of Mr. Bradbury's work. Because of that, some who read the collection straight through (as I did) might feel bounced around a little by the changing themes. Others, like myself, will savor each story for what it is, from literary popcorn to written gem.

If you like the author's older collections, then this is one for you. If you thought One More For The Road was his best, there will still be something in her for you.

THE TOYNBEE CONVECTOR is a collection of twenty-three short stories from the pen of Ray Bradbury. There isn't much to tie this anthology together; the only real thing these stories have in common is their Bradbury-ian wistful flavor and that each one is well worth reading.

These stories cover quite a distance in terms of their styles and genres. We go from stories of time travel to gothic horror tales. From stories about a child's imagination to straight romance.

Although I honestly enjoyed each one of these episodes, there were several standouts. "The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair" is a pure romance story with no strange, science-fiction, fantasy or horror elements to be seen. But it's one of the most emotional, bittersweet and heartbreaking works I've read by Bradbury. The title story is a nice little bit of time travel fiction about how the past and present influence the future. "Trapdoor" is one of the most fun horror tales I've read in a long while. And "Come, and Bring Constance!" is just a great comedy.

It's difficult to sum up a collection like this simply because of the variety of styles on display. So I'll quote from "Colonel Stonesteel's Genuine Home-made Truly Egyptian Mummy". In this story, in order to liven up a boring, creaky small town, a Colonel and a neighborhood boy fake the discovery of an Egyptian mummy. The mannequin is said to be constructed from:

"a bundle of old Sunday comic pages... a stand of papyrus left in an autumn field long before Moses... a chart-map of Siam, Blue River Nile source... all the confetti of lost trolley transfers... all the crushed flowers from brand new weddings, dreadful old funerals... punched tickets for sleepless Egyptian Pharaoh midnight trains. Written promises, worthless stocks, crumbled deeds. Circus posters -- see there?"

A nice description, not only of the items in this book, but in Bradbury's whole body of work. THE TOYNBEE CONVECTOR is a great place to look if you really want to see the sheer diversity of Bradbury's output.


For convenience's sake, I'm including the table of contents here:

"The Toynbee Convector"
"Trapdoor"
"On the Orient, North"
"One Night in Your Life"
"West of October"
"The Last Circus"
"The Laurel and Hardy Love Affair"
"I Suppose You Are Wondering Why We Are Here?"
"Lafayette, Farewell"
"Banshee"
"Promises, Promises"
"The Love Affair"
"One for His Lordship, and One for the Road!"
"At Midnight, in the Month of June"
"Bless Me, Father, for I Have Sinned"
"By the Numbers!"
"A Tough of Petulance"
"Long Division"
"Come, and Bring Constance!"
"Junior"
"The Tombstone"
"The Thing at the Top of the Stairs"
"Colonel Stonesteel's Genuine Home-made Truly Egyptian Mummy"

that Ray Bradbury has ever written, in my humble opinion, is 'Lafayette, Farewell'. Buy it if only for this one story. The rest of the book is decent, definitely worth reading, though not quite as good as much of his earlier works. I would hate to think that his writing is still as good, but my own sense of wonder has dried up a bit...

This book the 'Toynbee Convector' is a very clever collection of Bradbury's works. Each story is unique and it is well worth searching used book stores for this one. I enjoyed this one tremendously as it continues in the tradition of 'The Martian Chronicles' and 'The Illustrated Man' with it's creativity.

Ray Bradbury's tales in this book are both inspiring and entertaining. My favorite aspect of these stories is that in many of them, Bradbury seems to take a common event and throw a slight twist of science fiction into story. Each story paints a picture that part of me takes to heart everytime I read it.

The Book "The Toynbee Convector" by Ray Bradbury is a very good title. This might be his best collection of short stories ever. Every story is unique in its own way, each having a different ending. Like Bradbury's most famous piece, "Fahrenheit 451", most stories take place in the future. This is a great read for any type of reader.

Bradbury continues to shine with this book. It is a shame that it is out-of-print. If you find it somewhere, snag it. Or, snag three or four copies and share them with your friends!

The Book "The Toynbee Convector" by Ray Bradbury is a very good title. This might be his best collection of short stories ever. Every story is unique in its own way, each having a different ending. Like Bradbury's most famous piece, "Fahrenheit 451", most stories take place in the future. This is a great read for any type of reader.