Recommended Link: ON THE DARK, WONDROUS OPTIMISM OF RAY BRADBURY by GABRIELLE BELLOT

 

My wife, knowing my love of all things Ray Bradbury sent me a link to "ON THE DARK, WONDROUS OPTIMISM OF RAY BRADBURY: GABRIELLE BELLOT DISCOVERS WORLDS WITHIN AND WITHOUT" by Gabrielle Bellot

http://lithub.com/on-the-dark-wondrous-optimism-of-ray-bradbury/

Ray Bradbury through his short stories, "The Fog Horn", "The Pedestrian", and his novel Fahrenheit 451, even the Joseph Mugnaini covers of Bradbury's books, The Golden Apples of the Sun, The October Country and Fahrenheit 451 often defined science fiction for me as a youth, and often still does today, so I was interested in reading Bellot's essay. I was impressed, Bellot combines what seems like a fairly extensive knowledge of Bradbury's work with her own meditations on gender, identity, family and memory. Ballot highlights a number of Bradbury's works including, The Fire Balloons, "The Other Foot" and the very dark "All Summer is a Day" in discussing her own experiences in her relationship with her family, especially those concerning the death of her grandmother. This I think is a wonderful example of the power of story, of fiction, in our lives, in that it allows the reader to feel a kinship with others over shared experiences or allows one to see the world however briefly and tenuously through someone else's identity and experiences. For me, for example the very powerful Bradbury story "Long After Midnight" immediately came to mind as I read Bellot's essay.