Vronka’s answer to “In 2015, is there still anything relevant to appreciate about The Martian Chronicles? I personally …” > Likes and Comments
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While reading it, I constantly found myself thinking of Kim Robinson's Red Mars trilogy, which tells a similar story, which to me, has an underlying moral that seems very similar-- wherever we go, there we are. Still the same old humanity, burdened with our same old baggage, and that no matter how much we change the scenery, we can't truly change until we change ourselves. I thought Robinson did it with complex, compelling characters and plot, and obviously a far more scientifically informed setting. The more I think about it, the more I think Red Mars is The Martian Chronicles, 100x better.
I think he primary value of The Martian Chronicles at this point might be more as a portrait of a time period-- shortly after WWII, when an entire generation was mired in the existential angst brought on by the dawning of the nuclear age and the explosion of technology after the war. It was an incredible time but also a very scary time, and it led to the great blossoming of speculative fiction in which creative young authors too the idea that humanity now had the power to literally destroy life as we know it, and began to imagine a future beyond Earth, and to examine all the moral questions that kind of power implies.
I hadn't really thought so much about it being about mankind being the same wherever he is. That's a really good point. Now that you've brought that up I can really see that and also see how that plays into the concept I saw of manifest destiny as one in the same. After all, people always came to new colonies as a way of escaping themselves, not realizing it was themselves. I will definitely check out the Red Mars trilogy, I haven't read it. It sounds good.
I do think you're right about The Martian Chronicles being a portrait of a time period. This is very true and for this reason I think it's one that would still hold a place in literature in the future.
What did you think of the chapter titled "Usher 2"? Do you think this also serves as an illustration of a time as we can see from it that censorship was an issue at that time? Or do you think it makes a statement about individuality that is more or less timeless- or at least still relative today?
Unfortunately, I don't remember which chapter that is.
Oh. It was the one about the guy who makes the house that looks just like the House of Usher and then he kills everyone Poe style.
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Jul 28, 2015 03:59PM
While reading it, I constantly found myself thinking of Kim Robinson's Red Mars trilogy, which tells a similar story, which to me, has an underlying moral that seems very similar-- wherever we go, there we are. Still the same old humanity, burdened with our same old baggage, and that no matter how much we change the scenery, we can't truly change until we change ourselves. I thought Robinson did it with complex, compelling characters and plot, and obviously a far more scientifically informed setting. The more I think about it, the more I think Red Mars is The Martian Chronicles, 100x better.
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I think he primary value of The Martian Chronicles at this point might be more as a portrait of a time period-- shortly after WWII, when an entire generation was mired in the existential angst brought on by the dawning of the nuclear age and the explosion of technology after the war. It was an incredible time but also a very scary time, and it led to the great blossoming of speculative fiction in which creative young authors too the idea that humanity now had the power to literally destroy life as we know it, and began to imagine a future beyond Earth, and to examine all the moral questions that kind of power implies.
I hadn't really thought so much about it being about mankind being the same wherever he is. That's a really good point. Now that you've brought that up I can really see that and also see how that plays into the concept I saw of manifest destiny as one in the same. After all, people always came to new colonies as a way of escaping themselves, not realizing it was themselves. I will definitely check out the Red Mars trilogy, I haven't read it. It sounds good. I do think you're right about The Martian Chronicles being a portrait of a time period. This is very true and for this reason I think it's one that would still hold a place in literature in the future.
What did you think of the chapter titled "Usher 2"? Do you think this also serves as an illustration of a time as we can see from it that censorship was an issue at that time? Or do you think it makes a statement about individuality that is more or less timeless- or at least still relative today?
Unfortunately, I don't remember which chapter that is.
Oh. It was the one about the guy who makes the house that looks just like the House of Usher and then he kills everyone Poe style.
