Questions About The Martian Chronicles

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In 2015, is there still anything relevant to appreciate about The Martian Chronicles? I personally found it mired in quaint, unimaginative ideas about what another planet and other intelligent beings might be like, and I wasn't particularly bowled over by its underlying philosophical ideas either.

Γείτων This book is nowhere near "what another planet might be like". Mars is Bradbury's symbolism of alien or foreign civilisations. The whole concept is to…moreThis book is nowhere near "what another planet might be like". Mars is Bradbury's symbolism of alien or foreign civilisations. The whole concept is to demonstrate how western civ, deals with people that have a different culture. The main point is that instead of learning from others we try to impose what's right on them. It was a huge deal in the era of modernism and it still is, as the way we treat other countries/civilisation is still modernistic.

If you approach it as a sci-fi book, it has nothing to offer, but this is because it is not sci-fi, it is just a chronicle of how America thinks and acts in the present tense.

I generally believe that trying to judge the Martian Chronicles as a Sci-Fi and focusing on it's ideas about "Mars", is kind of like judging the Animal Farm as a documentary and discussing it's ideas about life in a "farm". Not the point at all(less)

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In all honesty, should I read this book?

Joanna Fantozzi Yes, absolutely. I'm currently reading it. Although the science is very outdated (umm, how do humans actually breathe on Mars? There's no atmosphere!)…moreYes, absolutely. I'm currently reading it. Although the science is very outdated (umm, how do humans actually breathe on Mars? There's no atmosphere!) and the book itself feels old (with murmurs then shouts of total nuclear war stemming from Cold War worries), it has many other merits. First of all, Bradbury's prose is incredible and haunting. The book is funny in a sort-of dark and nihilistic way, and the lessons it teaches about the dangers of nationalism and the glorification of Manifest Destiny are especially relevant and pertinent today. (less)

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This question contains spoilers... (view spoiler)

Gaby I can't say exactly if what was happening on Earth in Fahrenheit 451 was going on at the exact same time on Mars in Usher II, though you could definit…moreI can't say exactly if what was happening on Earth in Fahrenheit 451 was going on at the exact same time on Mars in Usher II, though you could definitely think that due to the similar themes. In The Martian Chronicles, the banning of books occurs 30 years before the story of Usher II., which is the year 2005, although The Martian Chronicles had an update on its dates in more recent editions, so now it's 2036. Fahrenheit 451 doesn't provide a date, but it is after 1990 and Bradbury lets people know that two atomic wars have happened.
Now if you want to be really analytical, there is a reference that Bradbury includes in Fahrenheit 451 to one of his short stories titled "The Pedestrian", and that short story takes place in 2053, and if that were true, Earth would have been at the tail end of a nuclear war.
So with all that said, I would say no, these two books are in different universes, though similar. In fact, after writing and publishing The Martian Chronicles, he got inspiration from Usher II and it's themes of banning books and went on to write Fahrenheit 451.(less)

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Andy The mother was pregnant.

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do it have memes?

Kat Absolutely, every other page has a nice fully-colored meme on it!

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