CBR 14 BINGO: Star, because it takes place mostly in space
BINGO: Gaslight, Scandal, Star, Monster, Bodies
My experience with Ray Bradbury up to this point has been limited to Fahrenheit 451, which is a top-notch novel–at least, I remember it being so when I read it, oh, thirty years ago. Having picked up The Martian Chronicles, I’m ashamed that I’ve neglected Bradbury for so long. A science fiction writer with broad appeal, Bradbury infuses every story, even those about Martians, with humanity.
The Martian Chronicles is what’s known as a fix-up novel; that is, a novel comprising previously published works that weren’t necessarily intended to be printed as a whole. Several of the stories were published previously; years later, Bradbury wrote additional chapters and assembled them into a “novel.” It’s usually referred to as a collection of short stories, but I think “vignettes” is a more appropriate term.
The assembled novel traces the unsuccessful and successful attempts of humans to explore Mars, the disappearance of Martians in the face of human colonization, the mass exodus of earthlings when war breaks out on their home planet, and finally the tentative re-exploration. Some of the stories are funny, as in the previously published “Earth Men,” where human space explorers find that the natives think they are mental patients and refuse to take them seriously. Some are simply tragic. Many are a mixture of both. What makes these stories so wonderful is that all address human themes against the unique backdrop of a distant planet.
Colonization is a serious theme in this collection. In “And the Moon Be Still as Bright,” one of the American astronauts sent to explore the planet bemoans their arrival. He compares the trip to Mars to a childhood trip to Mexico City: “I’ll always remember the way my father acted–loud and big. And my mother didn’t like the people because they were dark and didn’t wash enough. And my sister wouldn’t talk to most of them. I was the only one who really liked it. And I can see my mother and father coming to Mars and acting the same way.” He goes on to express remorse for what the future holds. “If things work out they hope to establish three atomic research and atom bomb depots on Mars. That means Mars is finished; all this wonderful stuff gone.”
“Way in the Middle of the Air” takes place completely on Earth. In 2003, the population of black residents collectively decide to leave the planet for the promise of a better life on Mars. Teece, one of the local racists, can’t understand why they would want to leave: “I can’t figure why they left now. With things looking up, I mean. Every day, they got more rights. What they want, anyway? Here’s the poll tax gone, and more and more states passing anti-lynchin’ bills, and all kinds of equal rights. What more they want? They make almost as much money as a white man, but there they go.” Logic would suggest that if Teece hates the black people so much, he would be happy that they were leaving. But no, because without them to suffer his abuse and hatred, what does he have left to make himself feel bigger? I wish I could read a story like this and think, “Man, glad we don’t live in those times any more.” That I can’t say that makes Bradbury’s observations all the more poignant.
Bradbury is a writer’s writer, paying homage to other authors, most notably to Edgar Allan Poe in “Usher II,” but more subtly in poetry and song lyrics throughout the novel, and he references his own Fahrenheit 451 in his allusions to book burnings. Overall, The Martian Chronicles is one of the most beautiful books I’ve read this year. You don’t have to go to Mars for the human experience but, in this case, it helps.
