We'll Always Have Bradbury

We'll Always Have Paris: Stories by Ray Bradbury

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


In his introduction to this collection, Bradbury says, "I haven't thought about any of these stories ... I get an idea, fall in love with it, and try not to think too much about it. I then write: I let the story pour forth onto the paper as soon as possible."

I wonder how much editing and rewriting he did, if any. Did these stories spring forth from his head fully formed like Athena from Zeus? They are so fresh, clean, and uncomplicated that I think they may have.

I know the feeling of a story just coming. It can feel as if another universe has cracked open a door connected to my hands, which mindlessly type out places and events which up until the moment of their placement on the page did not exist but are nonetheless tangible, as solid as memories of things I have never experienced but believe.

I am not nearly as good as Bradbury, and may never be, having begun so late in life. I do a lot of editing and reworking as I write. I go back and fix the wording or embellish descriptions and clarify characters, but the story almost never changes. It comes to me bit by bit, inexorably, out of my conscious control.

This was a great book. I liked some stories better than others, but they were all satisfying. Any author would be proud to be able to produce a collection of this consistency and beauty.



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