Rating: 
Summary: Bradbury is one of the best writers of 20th/21st century
Review: Let's see here: A man builds a reproduction of the House of Usher, an alien impersonates a lost child, an ironic tale of the last man and woman on Mars, the story of a house after the end of the world. The only thing that links them is the planet Mars and the themes that run through out Bradbury's entire body of work. These stories, like most anything by Bradbury, are amazingly poignant and lyrical. This and Gene Wolfe's Fifth Head of Cerberus are perhaps the two best novels made up out of short stories ever writen.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but not great book
Review: I really liked this book, I thought that it was very very well writen but it just seemed to lack some main things that every story needs. I would recomend that any one who likes SiFi stories and adventures shold read this I really do like it but I just couldn't give it the full 5. This book has opened me to Ray Bradbury's books, I am currently reading one of his other because I do like he style.
Rating:
Summary: A unique series on it's own
Review: Bradbury's 'The Martian Chronicles' subjects a reader to an entirely different series of stories. The collection of stories is more of an account of various observations and reflections about Mars and man. The stories all tie together in one sense as they are about Mars, but each paints an entirely different viewpoint about the planet from the perspective of the people who go there or reside there. All the stories are good, and unique unto themselves. I found this book to be quite remarkable.
Rating:
Summary: Look in the Mirror!
Review: Dear Reader... I think that the Martian Chronicles was a great book. It is one of those stories that shows the good guys as the bad guys. He shows this in a neat way, by having Humans invade Mars. This is neat because Alien Invaders mostly come, in science fiction stories, from Mars (For example Mars Attacks). Bradbury just switched it around and had Earth invade Mars. Not only did he just switch it around, but he also made a mirror and showed people how they don't care about others and just care about ourselves (reference: June 2001). To know what I am talking about, you have to read the book. lol This book is a MUST read and I suggest it to EVERYONE! Thanks alot for reading this review..
Rating: 
Summary: not so great
Review: i read this book with some classmates last year. i am now a sophmore in high school. this book was in the teens section, under fantasy. i found this book very very dull, and difficult to access. i have a somewhat higher reading ability than most of the students in my class. i think that for a younger adult (18-22) or so, this might be appreciated (MIGHT) but as a teen, i found this book very uninteresting.
Rating:
Summary: Aside from this being a scifi classic....
Review: ....it remains quite a commentary on what people do when finding themselves in the unknown. Will you revere the relics of a bygone people? Or shoot the tops off them, just for fun? Will you lose yourself in reddened landscapes? Or strive to have the first hotdog stand on Mars? All options are open in these gripping tales.
Rating: 
Summary: Thought provoking
Review: I recommend this book to people who enjoy either short stories or books that have very deep themes. Although it had no main characters or plot, it gives you a lot to think about. And if you read it don't stop half way...keep reading it because it gets better.
Rating:
Summary: Martian Chronicals Review
Review: The book Martian Chronicals by Ray Bradbury is ,if not the worst, one of the worst books I have ever read. Not only was the plot poorly developed, but the words used were used poorly. Certainly one of the worst examples of writing that I have seen. Ray Bradbury has never been my favorite author but this book was simply horid. It was not only graphic but also inappropriate for people under the age of 18. It was also offensive to people between the ages of 22 and 93. If I could I would give this book 0 stars. This book was definitely a turn off to reading.
Rating:
Summary: Beyond Confusing
Review: This book brought out a bunch of "stories" (if thats what you want to call them) that when you start reading you think are going to mix together but you get tangled in a web of nothingness. Ray Bradbury tried hard to put something together you can see but just didn't know what exactly those things were going to be. The Martian Chronicles is more of an anthology. So if your going to read it read it, know that it doesn't all tie in together.
Rating:
Summary: A simplistic, one dimensional view of humanity.
Review: I started this book with high expectations and perhaps that's part of the reason that I didn't find it as enjoyable or profound as I had hoped. Bradbury paints the future of Earth and humankind as bleak. For example, every human in it seems to have a Redneck persona. The few that don't are examples of genius gone mad. The Martians aren't presented as being any more sophisticated. The only real difference between them and Earth people is that they have telepathic powers. I realize that I'm reading this book 50+ years after the first publication, and perhaps Bradbury really had this pessimistic outlook on mankind, but it's hard to believe, as Bradbury wants us to do, that a people could achieve travel to Mars if everyone in that world acted like they're out of a poorly scripted Western. For example, one would assume that the first ships to Mars would have only the brightest and best trained astronauts on board, but those ships are manned by astronauts that act like a bunch of squabbling kids at camp with guns added. In short, lots of major points in this book just don't make sense.The book is extremely sexist. Nearly every single male (Earthling or Martian) is either stupid, gullible, easy to anger or ready to kill. With only one exception (the old man in The Martian) the only ones that show any compassion are crazed lunatics (also doing killing). All of the Women are presented as docile, subservient and nonviolent (lets get real). Even assuming that Bradbury was writing the book as a warning as to what the world may become and how we may ultimately destroy ourselves, a more realistic range of personalities would have made the book more believable and, therefore, more effective. With that said, there are several stories in the book that are very well done in their own right. They were released as short stories before inclusion into the book showing that they can stand on their own. Usher II is definitely the highlight of the book. Another is, There Will Come Soft Rains. I gave the book three stars because, in spite of my objections, I think the book is readable and does have an important message.
|
