Cronache marziane

Full of Bradbury's style of rich writing. Some definite allegory between martians and native peoples of North America, and not trying to be subtle about it.

Also in Bradbury fashion, one especially fat-phobic story in here. Actually his cruellest one, I think--at least by my reading. While I'm problematizing, his characterization of many women as delicate pale flowers and such is a bit disheartening, but that's also kind of Bradbury.

Despite these gripes, it's a varied and nourishing collecting of short stories, stitched together in a much much more coherent fashion than I would have thought (my understanding is that these were written separately over the course of many years).

Someone expecting sci-fi might be disappointed by the lack of sci, but if you know what Ray's about already, then you'll likely enjoy this a lot.

I never got around to reading this genre classic when I was a teenager and perhaps I left it too late. The book comes off as very old-fashioned, even outdated as it reproduces the classical gender roles of the 50s in the US, even among the Martians. According to the foreword, Bradbury wanted to write a story with that exact old-school feel but set on Mars. He succeeded but I kind of struggled with relating to the stories and characters as a result. Nevertheless, some aspects were intriguing (the somewhat crude critique of the explorer mindset and the strangeness of the alien planet) and I really liked the melancholy vibe towards the end of the book.