R.I.P. Ray Bradbury

[Kim]

Ray Bradbury, best known for his dystopian classic Fahrenheit 451, passed away today at the age of 91. Sad to hear.

http://io9.com/5916175/rip-ray-bradbu...

[Barbara]

I recently reread Fahrenheit 451. The book meant more to me now than when I read it in college.

[Michael, Mod Prometheus]

It's a sad day, he has given up so many books to read

http://literary-exploration.com/2012/...

[Franky]

Yeah, I just saw the news. One of my favorite authors and Fahrenheit 451 is one of my favorite books. I wasn't much of a science fiction fan until I started reading Bradbury. We were lucky enough to have him speak at one of our local high schools about 10 years ago.

[M.L.]

He was very active. I love his The Martian Chronicles and was fortunate enough to hear him speak and he autographed it.

[J.C.]

I have this to read now, it's the only work of his that i own that i still haven't read. I'm looking forward to reading his short stories, I've heard besides 451 it's some of his best work.

[Andrea]

One of the true greats has passed. His Fahrenheit 451 will forever be one of my all-time favorite books.

[Sam]

I read Fahrenheit 451 only some weeks ago, and I loved it from the beginning. It inherits such a strong atmosphere, far stronger than the film. So sad I didn't get to read more of this author when he was still alive. It is queer somehow that I feel obliged to read more of his work by this sad news.

[Alicia]

I really liked that article. His grandson's words were very touching and you can tell they had a good relationship. Ray Bradbury was a very talented writer. I love Fahrenheit 451, it's definitely in my top five. I've been meaning to read his other novels for years, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Iselin - I understand the feeling you're talking about. I felt the same way when Kurt Vonnegut passed too. Even though I had already read several of his novels I felt like I should have made an effort to read more of them while he was still alive.

I think it's because we take for granted that an author's work lives on forever while the author him/herself does not. We connect to them when we read their work. It's just like Ray's grandson says in the article, "to read him was to know him." So it feels like I had the opportunity to get to know him better but waited until it was too late.

[Franky]

I'm really glad I read The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury a couple years ago before his passing. I had read many of his books before this and felt compelled to read something about his life outside his writing. He was the influence of films and television shows outside writing. He seemed like a guy who related well and identified with the reader. I can really identify with what he tries to get across in his books, that feeling of youth or wonder or exploring, etc.

[╟ ♫ Tima ♪ ╣ ♥]

Flash Beagle wrote: "He was very active. I love his The Martian Chronicles and was fortunate enough to hear him speak and he autographed it."

What a great experience to have gotten a chance to participate in!