I read Zen in the Art of Writing when I first started writing fiction. I re-read it every so often. It's one of the most influencial writing books I've ever owned.
I've always loved his lyrical style and his ability to transcend genres. He was one of the last great classical authors. He outlived a lot of them.
It is a sad, sad day for me.
I only read Farenheit 451 and very much disliked it, but I always had a weird fondness for the character he seemed to be. He had a long and, it seems, significant career. Nice to see so many people NOT bickering about a writer immediately after he dies... I get the impression nobody hated him. It's pretty neat.
I never much cared for his writing. But I loved how much he cared about his writing. I'm with Jack on Zen... My high school English teacher made that book required reading for our creative writing course. For me, starting out, it was incredibly formative. He goes with my thanks.
I haven't read Zen, but I should check it out. 451 just didn't really do it for me.
I loved Farenheit 451. I very much enjoyed it. He was a great person and a wonderful writer. I'm grateful for all he contributed to the literary world.
One of my favorite authors. Zen is definitely a re-read at least once a year (and thankful I got him to sign it years ago). Goodbye, Ray. Thank you.
WHAT! He's gone?! Man, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have ever started writing. Damn.
I loved Farenheit 451 more for the message than for the story. It doesn't seem that far off some days. But for my money there is no better writing pep rally than Zen. I can't read it without wanting to immediately head for a keyboard.
They guy was still getting published in his 80's. That's a pretty good career.
I like his story about Farenheit 451 (found in Zen). That it cost him $9.80 in the basement of the library at the University of California at Los Angeles. It cost him a dime every half hour to use the typewriters there in 1950. He finished the first draft in about nine days (about 25,000 words, so a very rough draft of what the novel would eventually become).
You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.
-- Ray Bradbury
Non-sequitur Warning. There's part of me that despises ebooks because of what they'll do (and are already doing) to independent bookshops. But the benefit is unimaginable. I suspect that ebooks will lead to a ginormous resurgence in reading once people realize they can do it anywhere, anytime without carrying around a book when it's not convenient to do so.
This might be borderline inappropriate, but it is my favorite ode to Mr. Bradbury ever:
There is also a "censored" version for people who don't take kindly to her labeling him a "Sci Fi writer"...
To add: My favorite story about Ray Bradbury is him walking out of a guest lecture at UCLA (I think?) when the English Majors argued with him about the themes in Fahrenheit 451.
I loved the Martian Chronicles. I read it so long ago in Junior High, and it made me want to read more great books. I can still see those humans in cages being looked at like animals. Thank you Ray Bradbury.
Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury might be one of the catchiest songs ever dedicated to an author.
I just got caught singing it in Kroger. I don't know if the look of disapproval was from the "fuck" of that he has died.
Or my singing.
Trifecta.
I don't know if the look of disapproval was from the "fuck" or that he has died.
Am I jaded because I would just assume nobody would recognize his name? Or do I just run with the wrong crowd?
I think Bradbury had a great talent for creating single images that stayed with you. I read The Illustrated Man well over a decade ago, and don't remember much of the stories, but I do have single images from certain stories embedded in my memory like snapshots.
On a sidenote, with the NYT obituary there is a short slideshow that shows a Western Union Telegram from Mademoiselle magazine in 1946 offering to buy his story "The Homecoming" for $400! The good old days...
I had the chance to hear him speak when I was in high school. My class was leaving as he was waiting for his driver to pull around and he shot the shit with us for a few minutes. He was a very nice man, and if our short time talking to him was any indication of how he usually acted towards the general public then you couldn't have asked for a better ambassador to speak to people about writing.
"do I just run with the wrong crowd?"
Yeah. I call that shopping in the wrong zip code. As in, I shop for friends/whatever in the wrong zip code.
But I at least assume they would know the name, maybe not that he had died. Maybe not what he did exactly, but the name. In general.
But the one sentence, "It was a pleasure to burn." That sentence sparks so much for me. It's an illustration of what I truly love about literature. It's such a small and simple sentence, but from that, for me anyway, all sorts of feelings and images spring up.
I'm not sure the flags of October Country should ever be raised to full mast again. Bradbury was autumn for me.
Here's a neat essay from writer James Van Pelt. It not only pays tribute to Bradbury, but provides a nice writing lesson, as well. http://jimvanpelt.livejournal.com/406169.html
Nice one GaryP
Here's a great old school documentary of Bradbury as well:
http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2012/06/08/watch-ray-bradbury-1963/
That was a neat show, especially for its time.
