The Martian Chronicles (The Grand Master Editions)
by Ray Bradbury
List Price:
Our Price: $2.98
You Save: $5.01 (63%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Ray BradburyEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1984-06-01
ISBN: 0553278223
Number of pages: 192
Publisher: Spectra
Book Reviews of The Martian Chronicles (The Grand Master Editions)
Book Review: Youthful Perspective
Summary: 5 Stars
I loved F451 by Bradbury and wanted to read more of his work. Being a huge sci-fi buff, I figured "The Martian Chronicles" would be a great place to start. The book is definitely well worth the read, and its effects are surprising.
I have to admit that I had trouble with the story at first. Because of the lack of knowledge on the "Red Planet" when the story was written, I had to forget quite a bit of facts (I'm 25). Luckily enough, the story grabs you and keeps you turning pages so that facts don't matter. The book also has an almost romantic quality in its depiction of the future. For example, in 2030+ there are malt shops, soda fountain shops and people still use wired telephones (no cell phones or wireless homephones).
The dialogue is also what you'd expect from a 40's and 50's movie. Again, its sort of romantic. I have to admit tho, this book brought with it an amazing array of emotions... Bradbury is one of the few who was actually able to make me laugh out loud (a spectacle to my co-workers). The authors talent also inspires other emotions in the reader.
Like F451, "The Martian Chronicles" has a message for and about humanity, albeit a different message. I'll never regret reading this book, and I bet you won't either.
Summary of The Martian Chronicles (The Grand Master Editions)
Leaving behind a world on the brink of destruction, man came to the Red planet and found the Martians waiting, dreamlike. Seeking the promise of a new beginning, man brought with him his oldest fears and his deepest desires. Man conquered Mars-and in that instant, Mars conquered him. The strange new world with its ancient, dying race and vast, red-gold deserts cast a spell on him, settled into his dreams, and changed him forever. Here are the captivating chronicles of man and Mars-the modern classic by the peerless Ray Bradbury.From "Rocket Summer" to "The Million-Year Picnic," Ray Bradbury's stories of the colonization of Mars form an eerie mesh of past and future. Written in the 1940s, the chronicles drip with nostalgic atmosphere--shady porches with tinkling pitchers of lemonade, grandfather clocks, chintz-covered sofas. But longing for this comfortable past proves dangerous in every way to Bradbury's characters--the golden-eyed Martians as well as the humans. Starting in the far-flung future of 1999, expedition after expedition leaves Earth to investigate Mars. The Martians guard their mysteries well, but they are decimated by the diseases that arrive with the rockets. Colonists appear, most with ideas no more lofty than starting a hot-dog stand, and with no respect for the culture they've displaced.
Bradbury's quiet exploration of a future that looks so much like the past is sprinkled with lighter material. In "The Silent Towns," the last man on Mars hears the phone ring and ends up on a comical blind date. But in most of these stories, Bradbury holds up a mirror to humanity that reflects a shameful treatment of "the other," yielding, time after time, a harvest of loneliness and isolation. Yet the collection ends with hope for renewal, as a colonist family turns away from the demise of the Earth towards a new future on Mars. Bradbury is a master fantasist and The Martian Chronicles are an unforgettable work of art. --Blaise Selby
Classics Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Classics Books
A Rumor of Warby Philip Caputo
Ballantine Books; Published: 1978-05-12; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.94
The Brothers Karamazovby Fyodor Dostoevsky
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Published: 2002-06-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.05
Price in other shops:
The Count of Monte Cristo (Penguin Classics)by Alexandre Dumas p?re
Penguin Classics; Published: 2003-05-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.24
Price in other shops:
Halls of Fame: Essaysby John D'Agata
Graywolf Press; Published: 2003-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.61
Price in other shops:
The Blue Castle (Voyageur Classics)by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Dundurn Press; Published: 2007-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.74
Price in other shops:
Mandyby Julie Edwards
New Millennium Audio; Published: 2002-02; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops:
Les Mis?rables (Signet Classics)by Victor Hugo
Signet Classics; Published: 1987-03-03; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
The Prophetby Kahlil Gibran
Little Brown & Co; Published: 1999-04; Paperback; Book
Lonesome Dove: A Novel (Lonesome Dove)by Larry McMurtry
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2000-11-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $20.01
Price in other shops:
The Count of Monte Cristo (Tor Classics)by Alexandre Dumas p?re
Tor Classics; Published: 1998-10-15; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.13
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Gods, Heroes and Men of Ancient Greece: Mythology's Great Tales of Valor and Romanceby W. H. D. Rouse
Published: 2001-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.57
The Time Machine (Signet Classics)by H.G. Wells
New American Library; Published: 2002-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.17
Price in other shops:
The Martian ChroniclesTWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2004-09-07; DVD
Best price: $7.39
Price in other shops:
I, Robot (The Robot)by Isaac Asimov
Spectra; Published: 2008-04-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.43
Price in other shops:
The October Countryby Ray Bradbury, Joe Mugnaini
William Morrow; Published: 1999-09-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.75
Price in other shops:
Bradbury Stories : 100 of His Most Celebrated Talesby Ray Bradbury
Published: 2005-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.94
Dandelion Wineby Ray Bradbury
William Morrow; Published: 1999-02-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.86
Price in other shops:
Something Wicked This Way Comesby Ray Bradbury
Eos; Published: 1999-06-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.90
Price in other shops:
The Illustrated Manby Ray Bradbury
William Morrow; Published: 1997-06-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.95
Price in other shops:
Fahrenheit 451by Ray Bradbury
Del Rey; Published: 1987-08-12; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.32
Price in other shops: