The Martian Chronicles
A beautifully crafted pastiche of Earth's colonization of Mars.
Brilliant. Coming into "The Martian Chronicles" I did not know what to expect. I haven't read any Bradburys before but he has a strong reputation; so I was excited. In Bradbury's own introduction to this book he mentions Sheldon Anderson's "Winesburg, Ohio" as an inspiration. I haven't read that book either but Bradbury describes it as a book about the regular lives within an American town. So I expected "The Martian Chronicles" to be about the regular lives in a Martian town; perhaps several Martian towns. Even with this sort of initial guidance I was still happily surprised at my reading of "The Martian Chronicles".
In this book, written in a picaresque style -with some chapters only a page in length- Bradbury details a history of Earth's colonization of Mars. He manages to both immerse the reader in interesting details while, at the same time, giving the reader a look at the broad sweep of the unfolding story, from the first visits of man to Mars to what is perhaps the last visit; with suggestions of further visits if ever mankind gets its act together again.
I call it "picaresque" since the book isn't about one story. There are many stories - one per chapter, each of which are connected to each other by virtue of chronology. With each chapter-story comprising a window to an event in an unfolding history.
It's amusing to note that the book was published in 1950, so Bradbury picked a very far off date for the setting of "The Martian Chronicles": 2030 and beyond. Well, that date is around the corner for us. We get to have the additional treat of seeing how our current time was viewed by the lens of science fiction during the middle of the last century and compare it to the real thing. The fact that Bradbury did not anticipate a lot of things - the internet, for example, and how could he? - does not detract from the depth and beauty of the book.
And it is beautiful. Wonderfully written in an easy, flowing prose style. It also has the distinctive aura of mid-twentieth century science fiction - a sort of innocence and a great faith in science. This book really talks about something timeless which is humanity and I was amazed about how varied each chapter was. And, viewing the structure of the book after I've finished it; it's just beautiful. I can see the value of a re-read. I now know why "The Martial Chronicles" is highly regarded.