This is an “early” collection of Ray Bradbury stories, from 1953. These came out a few years after The Martian Chronicles and are collected from about 1948-1953 when the book came out.
These feel a lot like many of the pieces from The Martian Chronicles and provides a sense of narrative consistency in his writing. They are not quite pulpy like many of his early stories, mostly involve men and male narrators, and hold up pretty well, especially compared to early collections by other sci fi writers (I’m thinking Philip K Dick when I say this, whose early stories often feel quite pulpy and unfinished or raw a lot of the times).
My favorite story in this collection, which is often an issue, was the first one “The Fog Horn” in which a fog horn goes off in a far off ocean post and the old attendant warns the young assistant about a strange occurence that has been happening in that last few years. As the horn blows, an ancient, giant creature from the deep, thousands of years old surfaces and look eye to eye with the outpost, and rubbing up against it, destroys it.
They talk about how lonely a creature like this must be, mistaking and not mistaking the fog horn for a companion, likely knowing it’s fruitless, but checking either way, getting frustrated and going off.
It’s a story involving scope and distance.
It’s a good, but not great collection with many solid stories, and few stars.
(Photo: https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Apples-Sun-Ray-Bradbury/dp/B00VD8LIPE/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2KSVFTPE3XY67&keywords=golden+apples+of+the+sun+ray+bradbury&qid=1557692312&s=gateway&sprefix=golden+apples+%2Caps%2C145&sr=8-3)