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I Sing the Body Electric!
by
Ray Bradbury
The mind of Ray Bradbury is a wonder-filled carnival of delight and terror that stretches from the verdant Irish countryside to the coldest reaches of outer space. Yet all his work is united by one common thread: a vivid and profound understanding of the vast seet of emotionsthat bring strength and mythic resonance to our frail species. Ray Bradbury characters may find the
...morePaperback, 306 pages
Published
January 1st 1971
by Bantam Books
(first published 1969)
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Rating a collection of short stories can be very difficult. There are 18 stories by Ray Bradbury in this book and there were a few I loved, several I liked, some I didn't care for, and a handful that didn't really make much of an impression.
Overall, this group of short stories seemed to have less of the sci-fi and fantasy elements than most Bradbury I've read. That's not a bad thing; I often like Bradbury's realistic fiction just as much as his sci-fi. It just gave a different feel to this book....more
Overall, this group of short stories seemed to have less of the sci-fi and fantasy elements than most Bradbury I've read. That's not a bad thing; I often like Bradbury's realistic fiction just as much as his sci-fi. It just gave a different feel to this book....more
How would you like to meet Abraham Lincoln, Ernest Hemingway, and Charles Dickens? Or maybe you would prefer to travel to the future and then to the planet Mars. If any of these things sound intriguing – or even if you’d just like a nice down-to-earth story with some humor or a touch of melancholy wisdom – Ray Bradbury’s collection called I Sing the Body Electric is for you.
Although the version of the book I just finished was printed in 1983, I Sing the Body Electric was originally published in...more
Although the version of the book I just finished was printed in 1983, I Sing the Body Electric was originally published in...more
Nov 06, 2008
Mangy Cat
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Bradbury fans, Lovers of Futuristic Sci-fi
Shelves:
sci-fi-fantasy
If you like Ray Bradbury in general, this is an awesome collection of weird little short stories. If you don't know him, this is an excellent book to use to get acquainted with him.
The stories in I Sing the Body Electric were so varied. I enjoyed all the little vignettes of futuristic sci-fi and alternate universes. The sampling is so wide that no two stories can be tied together. They range from fantastic (The Lost City of Mars) to scary (Night Call, Collect) to just plain weird (Tomorrow's Chi...more
The stories in I Sing the Body Electric were so varied. I enjoyed all the little vignettes of futuristic sci-fi and alternate universes. The sampling is so wide that no two stories can be tied together. They range from fantastic (The Lost City of Mars) to scary (Night Call, Collect) to just plain weird (Tomorrow's Chi...more
In some random article, I once read the phrase "as lonely as a Bradbury protagonist," and after reading this, I couldn't echo that sentiment more. "I Sing the Body..." is a collection of twenty-eight stories that conceptually fall all over the fictional map. There's bi-dimensional babies, Martian messiahs, present-day apparitions of literary and historical figures, and robots in every shape and form. These stories explore what it is to be human, lonely, afraid, excited, and hopeful. In their sha...more
I read this as a teen. And now that I've re-read, I'm thinking about the things I missed when I was young, the nuance and the subtext...must reread everything! Anyway, this is probably his most literary collection of stores. It was published in 1969 but some of the stories are older than that, but this is really a timeless set of fictional parables, poems and ruminations. I would still tell any teenager to read it and fall into its worlds.
I was lucky enough to see Ray Bradbury and Ray Harryhause...more
I was lucky enough to see Ray Bradbury and Ray Harryhause...more
The mind of Ray Bradbury is a wonder-filled carnival of delight and terror that stretches from the verdant Irish countryside to the coldest reaches of outer space. Yet all his work is united by one common thread: a vivid and profound understanding of the vast seet of emotionsthat bring strength and mythic resonance to our frail species. Ray Bradbury characters may find themselves anywhere and anywhen. A horrified mother may give birth to a strange blue pyramid. A man may take Abraham Linkoln ou
I picked this up from the library on a whim and started reading it just a few hours before I heard that Ray Bradbury had died. RIP, one of my favourite authors. I want to imagine that you have taken your place as one of the Exiles on Mars.
This is a collection of Ray Bradbury short stories, most with Bradbury's unique Twilight Zone twists and all written with his wonderfully lyrical language. A time machine traveler tracks down Ernest Hemingway to give him a more fitting departure from the world....more
This is a collection of Ray Bradbury short stories, most with Bradbury's unique Twilight Zone twists and all written with his wonderfully lyrical language. A time machine traveler tracks down Ernest Hemingway to give him a more fitting departure from the world....more
"She waited with the inherent sense of drama most people learn when small quick events must be slowed and made to seem large.
And strangely, we were moved by the hush of the woman herself, by the lostness of her face. For it was a face in which a whole lifetime of lostness showed. It was a face in which children, never born, gave cry. Or it was a face in which children, born, had passed to be buried not in the earth but in her flesh. Or it was a face in which children, born, raised, had gone off...more
And strangely, we were moved by the hush of the woman herself, by the lostness of her face. For it was a face in which a whole lifetime of lostness showed. It was a face in which children, never born, gave cry. Or it was a face in which children, born, had passed to be buried not in the earth but in her flesh. Or it was a face in which children, born, raised, had gone off...more
Aug 02, 2011
Mark Oppenlander
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction
I was amazed as I read through this book of 28 or so Bradbury short stories to find that I had read only one or two of them before. On the other hand, the quality of the stories here is inconsistent so maybe it's no surprise that this is the first appearance of some of these pieces. The book seems to be made up of cast-offs and misfits - stories that were not good enough to make the cut before or didn't fit well in other anthologies. It is a truly rambling, random and even remarkable collection....more
This was a very interesting book that analyzed the relationship between parents and their children. It also held the theme about if children can be raised by robotic figures. I thought that the topic was very interesting. It made me think about the theme, and question if this indeed can happen. My view on the subject was a "no". I do not think that children can be raised by a robot, and the way a parent chooses to raise their child does impact their relationship a great deal. In the story the ch...more
It's very hard to give this book an overall rating because it's such a mixed bag. The title story, about a young girl struggling to trust a robot 'grandmother' who replaced her deceased mother, is a sensitive and thought-provoking piece of work: on it's own I'd rate it 4 for sure. Tomorrow's Child, about a mother and father struggling to adjust to a child who was 'disabled' by being born into another dimension, also rates a 4, though it's not quite as good.
Some of the other stories were mildly...more
Some of the other stories were mildly...more
All time favorite stories, hard to find this collection anymore though. sometimes thriftstores or used book store. He really has such a lyrical flow with his words. He puts you into whatever story he is telling. It's like stepping into a painting. His descriptive abilities are incredible, I can read his stories over and over and not get tired of it. S is for Sun, R is for Rocket are also collections of his stories. He wrote most of his stories in the 50's and although he is still writing his lat...more
Bradbury writes jewels of stories, some of which burnish beautifully with time and mean more to me than when I first read them (the title story is a good example, as is the psychological horror in "Heavy-Set" and the understated hope and tragedy of "The Kilimanjaro Device"). Others I understand better than when I was a teen, but that doesn't necessarily mean they age well ("The Cold Wind and the Warm" and "The Haunting of the New" annoy me more as I get older, even as I understand the implicatio...more
I Sing the Body Electric, a collection of short stories by Ray Bradbury gets less ink than the more popular collections The Illustrated Man and Martian Chronicles but perhaps better demonstrates his great range of literary ability and imagination. Focusing on a central Bradbury theme of nostalgia, while straying from the science fiction and fantasy genre, I Sing the Body Electric is best illustrated by the title story, which is by far the best and is on a short list of the best of Ray’s stories....more
Bradbury is more fantasy than science, but I enjoy how he verbalizes an inner reality. Although the technology is often obsolete in these stories (written mostly in the 1950s) still there is an enduring spirituality. He explores mysteries, like time, death, and love. The title story is about a robot grandmother who comes to take care of 3 orphaned children. Programmed to act lovingly and to learn what each child needs and provide it, can she learn to actually love? If she acts lovingly does it c...more
I found a young hunter, but he was wrong; I knew that after talking to him for a few minutes. I found a very old man, but he was no better. Then I found me a hunter about fifty, and he was just right. He knew, or sensed, everything I was looking for. (2)
"But how many of us have that much sense? Most of us don't have brains enough to leave a party when the gin is out. We hang around." (5)
"You'd make a lousy writer," he said. "I never knew a writer yet was a good talker." (9)
Along the way, our fa...more
"But how many of us have that much sense? Most of us don't have brains enough to leave a party when the gin is out. We hang around." (5)
"You'd make a lousy writer," he said. "I never knew a writer yet was a good talker." (9)
Along the way, our fa...more
Once upon a time I seemed to be involved in a regular Golden Age science fiction orgy. Bradbury, Asimov, Arthur C Clarke, Theodore Sturgeon, Robert Silverberg....the lot. That took me from pre-teens all the way through college. I still read SF, but not in the quantities that I did. It's a shame, really, I had forgotten how much I really loved Ray Bradbury. Digging into this short story collection for my Birth Year Challenge was absolutely delightful. I got to enjoy the title story all over again...more
The mind of Ray Bradbury is a wonder-filled carnival of delight and terror that stretches from the verdant Irish countryside to the coldest reaches of outer space. Yet all his work is united by one common thread: a vivid and profound understanding of the vast set of emotions that bring strength and mythic resonance to our frail species. Ray Bradbury characters may find themselves anywhere and anywhen. A horrified mother may give birth to a strange blue pyramid. A man may take Abraham Lincoln out...more
I finished reading I Sing the Body Electric! And Other Stories late last week. This is another of the repackaged Ray Bradbury collections. I see two ways to take the title of this collection: The most obvious meaning is that this collection contains the short story “I Sing the Body Electric!” and other stories; the other interpretation (which I prefer) is that this collection contains the stories from the original I Sing the Body Electric! (1969) collection and some additional stories.
The 1969 <...more
The 1969 <...more
What a terrific writer Bradbury is. The first story "The Kilimanjaro Device" is a time travel episode where a fan of Ernest Hemingway (called the old man here) knows when he will die, and arranges to pick him up ahead of time and transport him back to Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, to live out his life. Very satisfying, although quite short.
The second story is "The Terrible Conflagration Up at the Place". Hysterical story of a bunch of Irish patriots with more booze than brains, who decide to burn...more
The second story is "The Terrible Conflagration Up at the Place". Hysterical story of a bunch of Irish patriots with more booze than brains, who decide to burn...more
"I Sing the Body Electric"
I remember liking this story more last time I read it, years ago. But really, this is classic Bradbury. Not sci-fi Bradbury--although the premise relies on a technologically souped up cyber-granny-- but the same wistful, recreate-the-strange-wonder-and-mystery-of-childhood Bradbury that makes his Dandelion Wine such a treasure.
One thing I love about this author is his exuberant language. His motto seems to be. Hey, why settle for a single striking image when you can sta...more
I remember liking this story more last time I read it, years ago. But really, this is classic Bradbury. Not sci-fi Bradbury--although the premise relies on a technologically souped up cyber-granny-- but the same wistful, recreate-the-strange-wonder-and-mystery-of-childhood Bradbury that makes his Dandelion Wine such a treasure.
One thing I love about this author is his exuberant language. His motto seems to be. Hey, why settle for a single striking image when you can sta...more
Bradbury is an underrated and underappreciated author - he was never mentioned among the other Americans whose names were usually trotted out at Nobel time as possible prize recipients, though he was arguably more deserving than most. He was a better writer than Toni Morrison or Cormac McCarthy.
This collection has a few clunkers, but it also has a few gems, like the title story and "Tomorrow's Child." It's a good jumping off point for those who want to explore an unpretentious and elegant write...more
This collection has a few clunkers, but it also has a few gems, like the title story and "Tomorrow's Child." It's a good jumping off point for those who want to explore an unpretentious and elegant write...more
Jul 07, 2012
Cathrine Bonham
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
short-fiction-collections
I loved this collection of Short stories by Ray Bradbury but I will never understand how and why some stories were collected with each other. This collection really lacked a theme tying all of the stories together and in fact four of the stories could have been included in The Martian Chronicles but weren't. Though one story, "The Messiah," was included in The Martian Chronicles Mini Series starring Rock Hudson.
Anyway it was still a good read and well worth the amount of time that it takes to re...more
Anyway it was still a good read and well worth the amount of time that it takes to re...more
All of the stories were good, or had something (several somethings) good about them, which sort of surprised me. Collections of short stories are great for bedtime books, because you can read a whole story (generally) on the way to bed, and not worry about remembering "what happened last time". I found it humorously confusing to try to read more than one story in a sitting... the second would start, and I'd be all wrapped up in the first.
This volume has more stories that deal with the supernatural themes rather than the other two types of Bradbury stories that I like - those being the Mars stories and the stories set in a quiet, Midwestern town where some tortured adult is searching for the meaning in life amidst childhood nostalgia. Overall, some really great Bradbury stories, but only a few glimmers of his best and most thought-provoking ideas shone through.
Bradbury's command of the language, his brilliantly poetic and wholly singular flow, is an absolute pleasure to digest. Linguistic rainbows; dazzling and marvelous to behold. I docked it a star simply because, as is the case in so many short story compilations, some of the tales are stronger than others. None is particularly weak and several are as high a quality as any short story i've ever read, but i never do end up quite as satisfied at the end of these sorts of books as i do when i finish a...more
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I distinctly remember the time I got to meet Ray Bradbury. I was at some kind of journalism convention and he was a speaker there, but also signing books. I remember it so well because I was standing next to the elevator when he stepped off, being led by a handler ... and carrying a large, stuffed black raven. Hm.
So this work was just kind of meh. I very much appreciate Bradbury's classics -- "Something Wicked this Way Comes," "Fahrenheit 451" -- but perhaps short stories just aren't my thing wi...more
So this work was just kind of meh. I very much appreciate Bradbury's classics -- "Something Wicked this Way Comes," "Fahrenheit 451" -- but perhaps short stories just aren't my thing wi...more
This book is pure genius from the title story that I can't even think about without welling up to the incredible Night Call collect which has given me nightmares. I love this book and return to on many occassions. I have even used it in classrooms to great effect. I can't tell you how many elementary kids Night Call Collect has terrified.
Oct 25, 2012
Julia
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
short-stories,
could-not-get-thru
I really wanted to like this more because Bradbury is a hero to readers but the performer on the book on CD was so boring I could barely distinguish between the stories. That being said, I enjoyed "... Nicholas Nickelby" and the title story. Some of the other stories were strangely reminiscent of Joyce.
Did not finish; finished with it.
Did not finish; finished with it.
I didn't read much of this, but enough to remember why I don't like short stories. You just can't sink your teeth into them ! Too short, too quickly read, not enough development, etc. so I'm finished. Too many other good books out there and not enough time to read them all !! But, I do like Bradbury and these stories, at least the ones I read, are pretty good.
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American novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, screenwriter and poet, was born August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois. He graduated from a Los Angeles high school in 1938. Although his formal education ended there, he became a "student of life," selling newspapers on L.A. street corners from 1938 to 1942, spending his nights in the public library and his days at the typewriter. He bec...more
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“Men throw huge shadows on the lawn, don't they? Then, all their lives, they try to run to fit the shadows. But the shadows are always longer.”
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