Amber
asked:
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.
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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 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
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
Lisa Glavin
I think this book is still totally relevant. Even though it takes place on Mars, I don't think it really is about going to another planet. On the surface it is, but to me the main message is pointing out the errors we make as humans in our relationships with one another especially with cultures outside of our own.
Louwrens Wiese
Maybe this book should not be read in the bright light of day. I started reading it last night at five past midnight after waking from a lovely dream. In this dream Einstein stayed in Germany to work for Hitler but turned all his awful war machines into clunking monsters that broke down all the time. Slightly sad for how things could have been in the world, I made my list of the alternative ways we could do things. Like recycling everything, except money which we put into a bin marked 'Hazardous Waste'.
Only THEN did I start Martian Chronicles. So it's all about preparation, geddit? It immediately made me laugh. Shooting invaders with a bee gun, haha. And the language is lovely and gentle, the images make you laugh, and the atmosphere non-technological. Anti-technological, I should say, a kind of SF some of us like. Especially if you consider that there are many ways of doing technology, and we are most awfully not doing it in the best possible way. So there.
Only THEN did I start Martian Chronicles. So it's all about preparation, geddit? It immediately made me laugh. Shooting invaders with a bee gun, haha. And the language is lovely and gentle, the images make you laugh, and the atmosphere non-technological. Anti-technological, I should say, a kind of SF some of us like. Especially if you consider that there are many ways of doing technology, and we are most awfully not doing it in the best possible way. So there.
Liza
Hmmmm!!!!! you don't think hate and racism is relevant!!!what version did you actually read???
chris fidler
I assumed the Martians and their environment were meant to be a little silly, in a sort of Vonnegut way. The seriousness of the fact that we as a culture need to conform everything and everyone to our way of life needs to be contrasted with the silliness of a group of whispy Martians chasing a man in an alien sailboat. Not outdated at all, just a more wholesome form of entertainment than our overstimulated brains have grown to expect.
Reader34234234
Scientifically and sociologically, the book is severely limited, as are its often-times seemingly strange moral arguments. I think the value of the book lies in the tension between the seemingly sclerotic Martians and the imperialist Americans, both of which seem equally objectionable for one reason for another. From the sci-fi angle, the entire time paradox of the thing might also excite some interest, since the ending leaves it open to interpretation regarding who is the past or future of what race.
Vronka
I can definitely see your point. I do agree that the ideas about what Mars might be like were a little unimaginative and of course have now been severely outdated (as we have actually seen Mars...or, photos taken by rovers at least). However, I have always thought that what makes a book good is not necessarily the setting so much as the concept. You say you weren't "bowled over by its underlying philosophical ideas"? I can agree with this on certain aspects but overall I think the concept of "manifest destiny" is still relevant today only because it has been something that hasn't yet been closely looked at and, in certain areas, is an active issue. Because of this I don't think the concept of the book is at all dated and I think the issues it addresses in regards to human rights and superior races are still ones that need to be recognized. Therefore, I do think The Martian Chronicles still holds an important place in literature. Do you agree? Or do you think there have been better works of literature that have addressed similar issues?
Erwin Lemuel
Remember, this book was written and published in the 50s. It is more about Earthlings than Martians, which as others have pointed out, is a social commentary on a society that fears "foreign beings." It is a reflection of Bradbury's own questions on life and human relationships at that time but with Mars as his canvas. This book deserves four stars at least also for its writing.
Debra Byrd
It was only on rereading this book as an adult that I realized how savagely Bradbury was skewering bad science fiction tropes in this book. You wouldn't want to miss that.
David Munch
As long as you consider when the books were written, then I still think it is entertaining. It is by no means a masterpiece, and quite a few of the stories are quaint, but it does have its entertaining sections and moments that makes you consider things.
Verdict: Read it.
Verdict: Read it.
Frankie
i definitely believe the ambiguity of the time paradox and the martians themselves still hold an entertaining perspective. We never get a definite answer of who is in the right and what exactly is going on. I think if we think of The Martian Chronicles and think of the implication of technology it's a bit more relevant. It reminds me of Jurassic Park and the whole "just because we can doesn't mean we should" phenomena. I can see where you're coming from though. I read this book with the lens of thinking of what it was like to imagine the future with the limitations of the 1950's so reading it with a modern day lens could deem the story boring.
Chas
Just my two penneth.
I re-read this recently, first time around was prob 30 years ago. I sort of remember enjoying it back then and the TV series (70's?). The re-read was tedious and my paperback edition is going to the charity shop.
I think I've finally learnt the lesson not to go back to that era, so no Asimov, Niven, Heinlein, E.E. Doc Smith, Tolkein, Le Guin ...
The science doesn't have to be right, you can usually set that aside but when you do you're left with just the story and too often the plot and writing are just poor (generally, not a comment on Bradbury).
I re-read this recently, first time around was prob 30 years ago. I sort of remember enjoying it back then and the TV series (70's?). The re-read was tedious and my paperback edition is going to the charity shop.
I think I've finally learnt the lesson not to go back to that era, so no Asimov, Niven, Heinlein, E.E. Doc Smith, Tolkein, Le Guin ...
The science doesn't have to be right, you can usually set that aside but when you do you're left with just the story and too often the plot and writing are just poor (generally, not a comment on Bradbury).
Pulse
So funny to be reading this in 2024, instantly recognizing it as germaine to daily life on planet Earth, and then come here and see this.
The Martians barely even feature, and to pick that aspect out from the cycle of destruction we're living through even now... huh.
The Martians barely even feature, and to pick that aspect out from the cycle of destruction we're living through even now... huh.
Doug Wykstra
I would answer your question with a question: Is it Bradbury who is quaint and unimaginative? Or is it the denizens of Earth, who immediately start setting up cheap 1950s-style Norman Rockwell towns without once developing any real curiosity about the enormous dead civilization they are replacing?
As you are formulating your answer, maybe think about your first gut-level impulse the last time someone suggested that you go visit a museum for the day.
As you are formulating your answer, maybe think about your first gut-level impulse the last time someone suggested that you go visit a museum for the day.
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