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Summary: These "Chronicles" constitute an essential sci-fi classic
Review: Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles" is, in my opinion, one of the indispensable classics of 20th century science fiction. The book tells the story of human colonization of Mars--a Mars marked by the remains of a dying indigenous civilization. One can read the book as a metaphoric meditation on human history, or as a straightforward tale of an alternate reality. But however you approach it, the book is brilliant."Chronicles" consists of a series of interrelated short stories. The overall feel of the book is that of an epic saga, but it is an epic told in brief, intimate fragments. Particularly fascinating are the tales which capture the complex relationships between the human colonists and the native Martians. "Chronicles" is at times whimsical, at times painful, at times ironic. But Bradbury's vision is always rich in compassion and insight. This is truly one of those science fiction masterworks which both transcends and ennobles the genre. Don't miss it.
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Summary: The Martian
Review: This was more than just a science fiction novel, it was a philosophical analysis of life- here on Earth and beyond. It makes you think more than anything. What is the meaning of life? Life itself. I enjoyed this work and couldn't stop reading until I was finished. I highly recommend it.
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Summary: Chronicle
Review: I gave this novel a five out of five because i think this book is a great science fiction novel. This novel leads the reader through journal like chapters and explains all misterious things that could happen if the human race tries to colonize Mars. This novel gives the senerio that we are not alone in the universe. Earth sends a shuttle to Mars, hoping to colonize it. After a few weeks on Mars they lose radio contact. To find out what happend to the first crew, and of coarse see if we can start colonizing on Mars, they send up a second team. The second team lands and finds out there is life on Mars. When they land they expect a huge welcome, but did not even get a smile from the martins if they looked at them. They start talking o the martians ask who they could talk to about the significance of their journey. They end up finding that person to talk to and he does nothing. Like he heard it all before. So he gave them a place to stay, which the astronauts soon found out that it was an insane asylum and later were killed. The novel continues on with stories just like this one and leaves the reader in suspense. I hope this will help your decision in whether or not to read this novel.
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Summary: alex banks review
Review: I rated my book, The Martian Chronicles, a three because the concept of the book was hard for me to grasp in some parts. There were some parts that I understood very well like the gruesome parts were the martian kills the astronauts that were making up hallucinations and then commits suicide himself. One thing about the book that was weird was that the humans are invisible to the martians and the martians are invisible to the humans, but somehow they still saw each other. For example, the city of humans was not seen by the martians because of their transparency and the martians thought that the humans were not even there. The humans thought that they were settling the planet by themselves but really the martians were all over the place. This book was also different because of racial hatred present in these years. How blacks were treated like they were in the fifties. Also the martians treated the white astronauts like the whites treated the blacks. This book overall was not that bad of a book, it just was confusing to me.
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Summary: NOT WHAT YOU EXPECT!
Review: I admit, I like Sci-Fi. I am in the 10th grade and I chose this book a list to do a project on. So The Martian Chronicles looked good. My assignment was to read it and make up a project about it. Anyway, I start reading, and after being terribly confused after the first couple chapters, I realize this book is a bunch of short stories loosely (I mean, VERY LOOSELY) linked together. And all of these stories have one point, to comment on societies' flaws. Well, now I have a paper to write for my assignment, and this book made me think more than any other I have ever read (except Catcher In the Rye). The problems with this book is that it rambles sometimes and stories aren't well linked together. A lot of times, they are just trying to find an excuse to put in some of Bradbury's short stories. Overall, the message is good, it makes you think, but the execution is not so great. And if you want a classic Sci-Fi tale, you should get a novel by Robert A. Heinlein.
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Summary: A Haunting Chronicle
Review: Watch out, this book is not for the faint of heart. It's quite a mouthful for such a short little book. Bradbury gives an interesting point of view of humanity and its quest to colonize the Red Planet...as well as its failures. This is a dark and sad story at times, with lightening and hopeful as well. He brings humor to a story reaped with destruction and disappointment. Within each chapter is its own story. So, it doesn't flow like a regular fiction book, remember, that's the way it's supposed to be. Each chapter stands on its own, you're supposed to think about what he's trying to say in each chapter. DO think about it, it's concept we little Earthlings may have to conceive someday. But with the individual stories, they do come together and connect to each other some how. If you don't want a humanistic philosophical what if story line, this isn't the book for you, but I recommend it. Everyone should read this kind of material once in a while. Personally, I like reading books that have a point and not just tells a story to tell a story, but with purpose and deliberation of each word and paragraph.
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Summary: The best sci-fi book I've read!
Review: This is a great book the different stories somehow always link together,and I think that we were like the martians in that we invaded indians land drove them out and killed most of them,like the indians did to most of humanity!My favorite story was when the house was all alone with no master and how it was destroyed with no humans to run it.I guess even machines need company!Anyway the whole book is great and I love it.
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Summary: Hauntingly Entrancing
Review: The stories compiled in this collection chronicle the imaginary history of a series of rocket flights to Mars. Encounters with the Martians range in nature from the mystical to the fearful, and sometimes include a tincture of both elements. As a few other reviewers have pointed out, there are constant echoes of the story of white, European settlers of America and their encounters with the Native Americans. You should try to remember that, and watch for examples of it, while reading these stories. Be aware that college students in many other countries are given these stories to read by professors, in classes on American literature, as examples of the way American writers turn the Native American experience into fiction. Most of these stories, as I said, are drawn from the Native American experience. Here, I will mention a couple of exceptions, which are also great reading. "The Million Year Picnic" is one of my favorite stories, not only because it has such a neat title, but because it has a number of incredibly beautiful images, and prompts the reader to really think hard about man's chances for survival. Another one of my favorites is... I cannot recall the title, but it concerns a lost, telepathic Martian who stumbles into a town of humans. He instantly, physically transforms into a look-alike facsimile of whomever the people he is near are thinking of -- a lost child, a dead son, etc. You really feel for him as he morphs through various identities. He is like a puppet on a million strings, with ten thousand warring puppeteers pulling him hither and yon, until his very mind undergoes a horrifyingly apocalyptic meltdown. Cool to read about, but it doesn't sound like a very fun thing to actually experience, to put it mildly. This slim book is one of the most beloved additions to... not only to the genre of science fiction, but to American literature as a whole. Ray Bradbury personally, in interviews, constantly questions whether he should be considered a "science fiction writer." If you stop and think about it, this book will make you see what he means. He includes rockets, Mars, etc. in these stories, but they often feel more like Edgar Allen Poe or Wallace Stegner than Isaac Asimov or Arthur C. Clarke. The latter two writers I just mentioned, along with many others, have often called Bradbury a "prose poet" -- without rhyming his words, he makes you feel like you are reading poetry. This, I hasten to mention, is a pretty darned cool trick, if you can do it. I can't say enough good things about this book. Very worth it. Please scope it out.
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Summary: A Portrait of Humanity by a Sci-fi Writer
Review: "The Martian Chronicles" is full of stories about what humanity does when it is let alone and thinks that no one is watching. As they are science fiction stories, the characters all have science on their side, helping them shape the world--nay, the solar system--to their ideal. It's not always a nice process. Over and over again, in each short story, the human qualities of the first ones on Mars, and even the qualities of those who remained on Earth, are exposed. Humanity certainly does not look pretty in this book. The men who landed on Mars were more ready to kill strange creatures than try to befriend them--more ready to destroy remnants of Martian civilization than preserve it. Even those with ideals were bent on wiping out those who thought differently from them. Those who remained on Earth were just as inclined to destruction. For them, the issue was nuclear war. Yes, the Martians did their horrible share of killing out of fear of the unfamiliar, but who are Earthlings to cry foul over that? However, there are some stories about nice people (such as "The Green Morning" and "The Million-Year Picnic"). Other stories are more optimistic ("Way in the Middle of the Air") and even whimsical ("Night Meeting"). One is even poignant without being too dark ("The Long Years"). Though I found a lot of the parts about robots and telepathy really hard to believe (even for my gullible, credulous, Madeleine L'Engle reading self), I have to admit that the situations that involved these fictional conceptions made a lot of sense. What I disliked most about this book was the lack of good female characters. The women who were in the stories just slumped and sighed around a lot, except the woman in "The Silent Towns", who was purely disgusting. What I liked most about "The Martian Chronicles" were the last two stories, "There Will Come Soft Rains" and "The Million-Year Picnic". They gave the message that, despite all the destruction humans can bring about in five years--and on two planets--there is no reason to give up on humanity or for humans to give up on themselves.
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Summary: An amazing analysis of human nature
Review: This boook is amazing. It is completely packed full of insights into the darkness of the human nature. Different stories tell of different expeditions sent to mars, on which beautiful ancient civilizations of martians live. Unfortunatly, when the humans reach mars, the perfect images of a green, earthlike mars are shattered. Ray Bradbury effectivly expresses under a series of stories the grim reality of the human race. A reality that has been supressed, yet always reappears periodically. If you enjoy reading about science fiction, and about the greediness and evilness of the human race, this book will be your best treat! Just remember. Don't read this late at night, or your head will be bursting with so many thoughts that you won't be able to go to sleep.
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