Last year I was sad to learn that the author of my all-time favourite book Fahrenheit 451 and godfather of what we now know as the science fiction genre, Ray Bradbury, passed away. At the time I quickly purchased The Illustrated Man off of Amazon, as a sort of 'pouring one out for the literary homies' - and just this year, I got around to finally reading it.
It's crazy good, you guys. In terms of genius it's not another Fahrenheit 451, but for fans of Bradbury's flagrantly beautiful prose and cynically futuristic fables, it makes for a wonderful read, full of dark vignettes of sci-fi from the man who helped to form the genre as a means of exploring the biggest fears of society at any given time.
The best thing, for me, is the fact that Bradbury knew very little of science - this much is obvious to anyone who has read him before - and the way in which this only enhances the way in which he writes. Free from the boundaries of possibility, Bradbury's lucid imagination brings to life things in your mind that you could never have dreamed of before, in a manner so vivid and wonderful that no one person dreams the same dreams after reading. For example - everything that happens in the book, all the rockets and nuclear bombs and surreal androids, they all take place on the skin of a man with magical tattoos.
I'm not a huge fan of science fiction - more than most people, admittedly, but I'm not a die-hard fanatic - and I can see why a lot of people are turned off by it; but it stands as testament to Bradbury's magnificent skills as a writer that it doesn't matter how cynical you are about sci-fi, or how much of a realist you might think you are - his words will take a crowbar to your imagination and open it as wide as it will go.
Pages: 294
Bottom Line: A series of wonderfully painted vignettes from the godfather of science fiction.
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