Plays by Ray Bradbury. Ray Bradbury - Books and Biography. The beginning of creative activity

At the mention of the name of Ray Bradbury, everyone will think of fascinating science fiction novels. Ray Bradbury is one of the best science fiction writers, winner of a number of literary awards, including in the fantasy genre. However, Bradbury did not consider himself a science fiction writer.

Ray Douglas Bradbury was born on August 22, 1920 in Waukegan (Illinois, USA). The father of the future writer, Leonard Spaulding Bradbury (1891-1957) - comes from an English family, from among the first settlers in North America. Moved from England in 1630. There is a family legend in his autobiography: Ray's great-grandmother Mary Bradbury was a "Salem witch" who was hanged after the 1692 trial. Ray's mother is Marie Esther Moberg (1888-1966), Swedish.

In addition to Ray, another son, Leonard, grew up in the family. The other two (brother Sam and sister Elizabeth) died in infancy. The boy was early acquainted with the death of loved ones, which left a mark on some literary works in the future.

The Bradbury family loved art. Attention was paid to nascent cinematography.

During the "Great Depression" in a small town, my father was unable to find a job. In 1934, the Bradbury family moved to Los Angeles, settling in the house of the boy's uncle. They lived hard. After leaving school, the young man worked as a newspaper seller. The family had no money to continue their studies. Ray did not graduate. According to the writer, college was replaced by a library. Three times a week, the young man sat reading books in the reading room. Then, at the age of 12, the boy had a desire to compose himself. There was no money to buy the book by E. Burroughs "The Great Warrior of Mars", and the young writer invented the continuation of the story himself. This is the first step of Bradbury the fiction writer.

Creation

The boy decided to become a writer. The desire was finally formed after graduation. The first step in creativity is the publication in the local newspaper of the poem "In Memory of Will Rogers" in 1936. Ray wrote short stories in imitation of the style. The critic and advisor to the young writer was Henry Kuttner, an American science fiction writer.

At the age of 17, Bradbury became a member of the American community of young authors - the Los Angeles Science Fiction League. The stories began to appear in cheap collections of fiction. The literary style inherent in the works of Bradbury loomed. Since 1939 in two years he has published 4 issues of the magazine "Futuria Fantasy". By 1942, the writer had completely switched to literature. At this time, he wrote fifty stories a year.

Despite the scanty income, Bradbury did not leave creativity. In 1947, the first collection of stories by the writer "Dark Carnival" was published. The collection includes works from the period 1943-1947. For the first time, there were characters: Uncle Enar (prototype - Los Angeles uncle Ray) and "Wanderer" Cecy. The collection was coolly received by the public.

In the summer of 1949, Ray Bradbury rode the bus to New York. He checked into a hostel of the American Association of Young Christians. He offered stories to 12 publishers, but no one was interested. Fortunately, Don Congdon, Bradbury's literary agent, went to Doubleday. The publishing house was preparing a collection of science fiction at this time. Bradbury interested the publisher Walter Bradbury (namesake). Walter agreed to publish Bradbury on condition that the stories be thematically combined into a novel.

During the night, Ray outlined a general overview of the future novel in the form of an essay and presented it to the publisher - it was a chain of plots from the early stories about Mars, collected into a single work. In the "Martian Chronicles" Bradbury invisibly drew a parallel between the development of the heroes of the novel of Mars and the arrival of the colonialists in the Wild West. The novel veiledly showed the mistakes and imperfections of humanity. The book revolutionized the concept of science fiction. Bradbury considered The Martian Chronicles to be his best work.

Ray Bradbury achieved worldwide recognition with the release in 1953 of the novel "Fahrenheit 451". The novel is based on two stories: "Fireman" (not published) and "Pedestrian". The debut publication was published in parts in the Playboy magazine, which has just begun to gain popularity.

In the epigraph of the book, it says that 451 degrees Fahrenheit is the ignition temperature of paper. The plot of the novel tells about a consumerist totalitarian society. The writer showed a society that prioritized the acquisition of material values. Books that make the reader think are to be burned along with the houses of the owners of prohibited literature. Main character of the novel, the fireman Guy Montag, who participates in the burning of books, believes that he is doing the right thing, the right thing. Guy meets a 17-year-old girl, Clarissa. Acquaintance turns the worldview young man.

The novel was censored. Secondary School Ballantine Books revised and deleted 70 pieces from the novel. In 1980, the writer demanded to publish the novel without abbreviations.

In the USSR, the novel, despite negative comments in ideological publications, was published in 1956. The 1966 film adaptation of Fahrenheit 451 was directed by Francois Truffaut from France. In 1984, based on the book, the TV show "The Sign of the Salamander" was released.

In 1957, a partly biographical book "Dandelion Wine" was published. This story by Bradbury is not like the rest of the works. It touches upon the author's childhood experiences. The plot tells the story of the summer adventures of 1928, brothers Tom and Douglas Spaulding, who live in the small town of Green Town. Ray is the prototype for 12-year-old Douglas.

Bradbury wanted to create a more voluminous piece. Publisher Walter Bradbury insisted on dividing the story into two parts. The second part, called by the author "Goodbye Summer!", Was released only half a century later, in 2006.

Another novel that connects Ray Bradbury with childhood is "From the dust of the rebels." This is a story about the bizarre Elliot family, whose home is inhabited by amazing fabulous creatures. The novel includes the stories "Family Meeting", "April Witchcraft", "Uncle Einar" and others. The writing of the stories included in the novel contributed to Ray's vivid childhood memories. As a ten-year-old boy, he and his brother visited Aunt Neiva on Halloween. Collected corn stalks and pumpkin. The aunt dressed up the boy as a sorcerer and hid it under the stairs in the grandmother's house in order to frighten the guests sneaking in the dark. The holidays were full of joy. The writer calls the most precious memories of that atmosphere.

The collection "Cure for Melancholy" was published in 1960. It contains stories from the period 1948-1959. Included stories: "A Fine Day" (1957), "Dragon" (1955), "Wonderful Suit the Color of Ice Cream (1958)," The First Night of Lent "(1956)," Time to Leave "(1956)," It's Time for the Rains "(1959), etc. The collection is devoted to psychology, the nature of human nature.

The writer criticized modern society all his life, considering it a consumer society. Bradbury believed that not enough attention is paid to science and the development of the space industry in the world. People have stopped dreaming of stars, they are only interested in material things. Bradbury's works appealed to humanity to end a soulless attitude towards the future. A striking example is the story "Smile", which takes place in the near future. People degraded, burned all the books. The main entertainment is the public destruction of the surviving art objects. On the square there is a line of people who want to spit into the painting "Mona Lisa".

The most reprinted story by Bradbury is "And Thunder Rocked." The science fiction story is based on "chaos theory", more commonly referred to as the "butterfly effect." This work is about the fragility of the balance of nature on Earth. The plot of the story is at the heart of the films and TV series "And Thunder Came", "Butterfly Effect", "100 Years Ago".

The writer's work is inextricably linked with cinema and theater. Bradbury wrote scripts, the most famous of which is "Moby Dick". Author and presenter of a number of television programs from the "Ray Bradbury Theater" series, which was released from 1985 to 1992.

Personal life

The support of the wife of an aspiring writer is invaluable. Bookstore saleswoman Margaret McClure became the wife of Ray Bradbury on September 27, 1947. At first, income from stories did not bring much money, therefore, at the beginning of family life, the wife is the main earner.

The marriage was happy and lasted until the death of Maggie, as the writer affectionately called his beloved woman, in 2003. It was to her that the author dedicated the novel "The Martian Chronicles", writing: "To my wife Margaret with sincere love."

Ray Bradbury and his wife had four children - daughters Bettina, Ramona, Susan and Alexander.

Death

Ray Bradbury lived to be 91. Life was full of incessant work. Every morning, already in old age, the writer began at his desk. He believed that creativity prolongs his life. The writer's bibliography was replenished to death. The last novel was released in 2006.

Bradbury had an extraordinary sense of humor. Once, when asked about Bradbury's age, he answered:

“Imagine the headlines in all the newspapers in the world -“ Bradbury is one hundred years old! I will immediately be given some kind of prize: just for the fact that I have not died yet. "

At the age of 79, the writer suffered a stroke. He spent the rest of his life in wheelchair... Bradbury died on June 5, 2012 in Los Angeles. The writer's family house was demolished in 2015.

Creativity score and awards

Ray Bradbury has received both Nebula and Fiction Awards. Awarded with the American Academy Award, nominated for the Prometheus Hall of Fame (1984). The science fiction writer has won a national medal in the field of arts (2004) and the title of "Grand Master". Ray Bradbury is a Pulitzer Prize winner (2007) and Lifetime Achievement Award.

Ray Bradbury is named after an asteroid. NASA Space Laboratory decided to name the first writer who suggested the existence of life on Mars to the landing site of the MSL Curiosity rover on the Red Planet. "International Astronomical Union" October 15, 2015 approved the name "Bradbury" crater on Mars.

On the Hollywood Walk of Fame, there's star Ray Bradbury.

Books

• "The Martian Chronicles"
• "451 degrees Fahrenheit"
• Dandelion Wine
• "Trouble is Coming"
• "Death is a lonely business"
• "Cemetery for Mad Men"
• "Green Shadows, White Whale"
• "An orchestra is playing somewhere"
• Leviathan-99

Unusual, unique, extraordinary - such epithets can be applied to the work of the outstanding science fiction writer Ray Douglas Bradbury. When you pick up his novel or story, you are surprised at the non-standard nature of what was written. With his heroes, you can take a time machine into the distant past, step into another world, defeat the forces of evil and fight with enemies. Over the course of his life, more than eight hundred different works have been published from the pen of the writer Ray Bradbury.

The talented child was born on August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois. His mother, Marie Esther Moberg, was from the large Swedish Moberg clan. The woman lost two children (son and daughter), and therefore overprotected Ray, not allowing him even with a cold to get out of bed for a long time. An impressionable boy with an amazing memory, he took the news of the death of his brother and sister Elizabeth with bitterness. This influenced in the future his stories, one of the main themes of which is the escape from death to fantastic, fictional worlds.

It was incredible that Ray, unlike other children, remembered the first hours after his birth. Maybe this is due to the fact that he was born transformed. The boy clearly remembered both the first snowfall and how he was taken to the cinema for the first time at the age of three. The image of a freak in the film entitled "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" struck an impressionable child.

Ray's relationship with his father Leonard Spaulding Bradbury and his older brother did not work out. Affected by the dissimilarity of characters: Ray Bradbury was very different in dreaminess and love of reading. Science fiction is one of the genres of the writer. In the images of heroes, you can often recognize members of his family. For example, Uncle Einar (his image is presented in the science fiction story of the same name by the writer Bradbury) actually existed. He was a favorite of Ray's relatives, his uncle, who moved to Los Angeles with his family. Also from real life in the stories the names of Bion and Aunt Nevada are taken.

More than four hundred stories have come from the pen of Ray Bradbury. These include "The Last Night of the World", "The Shoreline at Sunset", "The Smile", and "A Sound of Thunder ) and many others. The author calls many stories and stories quotes from the works of other famous writers and poets: "Something Wicked This Way Comes" - from Shakespeare; “Wonderful Wonder” - from Coleridge's unfinished poem “Kubla (y) Khan” ... It is surprising that the author of these unique creations received only a school education, although at school he attended a poetry circle, which, besides him, were attended by thirteen talented girls.

With the choice of who he wants to become, young Ray decided at the age of 12. Stubbornly, step by step, he masters the difficult profession of a writer, despite the Great Depression that reigned in America.

The beginning of a writing career

His first publication was a poem "In Memory of Will Rogers", published in 1936 in the Waukegan newspaper.

In the 30s, the Bradbury family moved to Los Angeles. And at the age of 20, Ray began to read the works of Dostoevsky, which were a kind of textbooks for a talented young man. The future writer saw an example of how to write novels correctly.

In 1937, Bradbury joined the Science Fiction League, an association of young writers. Over time, his first stories could be seen in cheap paperback editions. But among other works, they stood out for their lyricism and depth of thought.

The first serious works of Ray Douglas Bradbury are his collection of short stories entitled "Gloomy Carnival", published in 1947, as well as "The Martian Chronicles" and "451 degrees according to Farnite", which were published in 1950. The first edition of The Martian Chronicles won fans of the writer's talent: when he returned from a trip (to sell books, Ray had to travel from Los Angeles to New York), he was greeted by a crowd of people wanting to get an autograph.

If you are not familiar with the famous science fiction story, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with its summary before reading it.

By the way, the first copy of the book "The Martian Chronicles" was typed by the hands of a devoted colleague and wife Margaret (and is also dedicated to her). With this woman, the author of unique fantastic works linked his fate on September 27, 1947. She attached great importance to Ray's creative work and therefore, from the day of her marriage, she gave her husband the opportunity to stay at home and create.

An erudite and educated woman, Margaret spoke four languages, knew the peculiarities of literature well and preferred some writers (including Agatha Christie, Marcel Proust and, of course, her beloved Ray Bradbury). In the marriage of this wonderful couple, four daughters were born: Alexandra, Susan, Bettina and Ramona. Another serious work of Bradbury can be considered the book "Dandelion Wine" published in 1957, a novel that was composed of individual stories. Unfortunately, its sequel, Farewell Summer, was not immediately published due to, as the editors claimed, the "immaturity of the text." This novel was released only in 2006.

What is the main achievement of Ray Bradbury? The fact that he managed to interest his reader in new genres of science fiction and fantasy, which were rarely used in literature before. After 1963, Ray Bradbury, as before, continued to publish short stories, but, in addition, became interested in a new genre - drama. A corollary to this is the first Irish playbook, The Anthem Sprinters and Other Antics, released in 1963.

Bradbury's passion for poetry manifested itself in the writing of three collections, which in 1982 were published in one volume. During this period of his life, the author created many novels and short stories, far from the fantastic genre, and published in various magazines.

An important component creative life became for Ray Bradbury and cinema. Raised on classic Hollywood films, the science fiction writer calls his short stories, novels, and novellas "cinematic." In addition, many screenplays came out from under his pen, in particular for the film "Moby Dick", which became the most successful.

From 1985 to 1992, the series of television programs “Ray Bradbury Theater” was released, which consists of sixty-five mini-films based on the stories of Bradbury. The honor of Ray Bradbury is made by the fact that his work as a screenwriter was highly appreciated by the outstanding director Sergei Bondarchuk.

last years of life

When Ray Bradbury was already in old age, he wrote either a story or a story every day in the hope that this would prolong his life. The most recent major novel was published in 2006. At the age of 79, the writer suffered a stroke, as a result of which he was forced to sit in a wheelchair. But even in this state, the author was able to joke and keep good spirits. “Imagine the headlines in all the newspapers in the world,” the writer told reporters when he was ninety. - Bradbury is one hundred years old! I will be given some kind of prize right away. " Alas, the famous writer did not live up to his centenary for eight years. He died in 2012.

Such is the fantastic fate of the prose writer and screenwriter, poet and science fiction writer Ray Bradbury.

Biography and creative activity of Ray Douglas Bradbury

5 (100%) 2 votes

One cannot but admire the work of Ray Bradbury. A master of short prose, he swiftly, emotionally, unusually bright and original introduces the reader into the world of his characters. A world of personal feelings and impulses. A world of fantasies and thoughts. A world endowed with sensations. Bradbury is a recognized master of words, and after reading his books, there is a certain aftertaste.

Ray Bradbury, in one of his stories, shares with readers that he writes all his works on a wave of delight and enthusiasm. It really is. Already at a rather old age, he continued to write. Every morning he began with a story or a story. New books were published annually. The last novel of the writer was released in 2006.

Bradbury wrote more than 800 works: novels and stories, stories and plays, articles, notes and poems. Many of them have been filmed. The best ray's books Bradbury deservedly take a place in various ratings and polls.

"The Martian Chronicles"

According to the newspaper Le Monde, the novel "The Martian Chronicles" took a well-deserved place in the list of "100 books of the 20th century." One of the most beloved by readers, according to the survey "Ray Bradbury - the best books." The book was first published in 1950.

In fact, the novel presents separate stories that were not initially conceived as a whole. Sometimes they are not connected with each other by plots, they contradict each other and even differ in mood. They are united by a common theme of the future and the development of a new planet.

Each of the stories raises the current problems of mankind - capitalism, racism, the arms race, the "cold war". The author transfers the impermanence and disorder of the modern world to the future. Shows the reader how tragically the life of earthlings can end if they fail to stop in time.

In fact, the author's fantastic worlds are our mysterious and amazing planet, which is being destroyed by man himself, and not by strange creatures. Ray Bradbury's best books have been filmed, including The Martian Chronicles. Based on the novel, a mini-series of the same name was filmed, which was released in 1980.

"451 degrees Fahrenheit"

The novel occupies the first lines of the list of "100 best books of fiction", which, according to the editorial board of the magazine "World of Fiction", every fan of this genre must read. The novel "Fahrenheit 451" is rightfully considered the best book of the writer, which brought him worldwide fame. One of the famous works in the genre of dystopia opens before the reader a society in which books are prohibited.

Firefighters burn books, not extinguish fires. The world is filled with mindless entertainment and televisions. People have ceased not only to communicate with each other, but also to think. In his work Zen in the Art of Book Writing, the author writes that it is literally a "penny novel". At the time, he could not afford a typewriter and rented it in the library hall for 10 cents per half hour.

He pounded the keys at an insane speed and wrote the first version of the novel Firefighters in 9 days. Subsequently, it became "Fahrenheit 451". The work, which the author calls a "penny novel", in the first line of the list of "The best books by Ray Bradbury", translated into many languages \u200b\u200band became a world bestseller. In 1966, a feature film of the same name was released, based on the writer's book.

"Dandelion Wine"

This book, according to the readers of LADY.TUT.BY, ranks first in the list of books that inspire. The Top Fiction Books 2016 includes four of Ray Bradbury's best books, including Dandelion Wine. In the novel there is no supernatural theme familiar to the author. This is a partly autobiographical novel.

Bradbury in one of his works writes that he did not interfere with feelings and the past from telling about himself. And he turned into a twelve-year-old boy, for whom every day of summer becomes a small discovery. The novel gives readers the opportunity to plunge into this magic. Feelings and experiences that cannot be repeated in adulthood.

Dandelion Wine is an opportunity to return to the world of childhood, smell the summer and feel that life is full of the sun. Take a break from the daily hustle and bustle and notice its light. Such an opportunity for readers can only be provided by the unsurpassed master of the word, which is Ray Bradbury.

Books (there is not a large list of them), which are able to kindle a thirst for life, awaken bright and warm feelings in a person, you want to read again and again. Dandelion Wine is one of them. This is a portion of the solar elixir. The novel should not be read in one breath. It must be tasted in small sips. Savoring page after page of "Caught and Bottled Summer."

Goodbye summer

As he writes in one of his ray's stories Bradbury, are created by trial and error. And he was right. This is exactly what happened with the manuscript of the book "Dandelion Wine", which the publishers called "raw" and part of it was postponed "until better times." But for the rejected part, the author immediately found a name - "Summer, goodbye." She was waiting in the wings, acquiring "new thoughts and images."

The protagonist in the novel gradually matures. And during this period, the line separating children and adults is clearly traced. The hero finds himself in the center of the eternal conflict between fathers and children. But he is not afraid to ask questions that worry him and receive frank answers. The author has been working on the novel for about half a century. "Summer, Goodbye" is the author's last novel. Even before its release, the book received consumer demand.

Ray Bradbury. Books

• Melancholy Cure - realistic stories;
• "Man in Pictures" - a collection of popular science stories;
• “And Thunder Rocked” - science fiction stories;
• "Golden apples of the sun" - stories;
• Trouble Coming, a fantasy novel;
• "Dark Carnival" - a collection of "horror films" and fantasy stories;
• "Death is a lonely business" is a detective novel.

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So I have read another book by my beloved Bradbury ... For me, it is stronger than Dandelion Wine, but weaker than Martian Chronicles. She also read at Bradbury's books "The Cure for Melancholy", "October Country" and "Dark Carnival". The latter is very similar in subject matter and atmosphere to the work that will be discussed now. So, trouble is approaching, a dark carnival comes to a small American town ...

It was a little surprised that the events of the book "Trouble Is Coming" unfolds in the same city where the story described in "Dandelion Wine" and its sequels takes place - in the fictional Greentown. The city is hardly recognizable, there are no intersections with the "dandelion" series in characters or places, and everything seems alien and gloomy. But the author quickly acquaints the reader with everyone and disposes to new heroes.

The line of Willie and his father turned out to be close to me: with my father I had a difficult relationship for years: they never frank, did not talk to each other heart to heart. The ratio of our ages was the same as in Bradbury's novel, when the father, at the age of 13, is almost an old man, both for himself and for those around him. I was critical of my father, his statements, actions, but in the process of reading the book, towards the end, I wanted to hug him, to say how much I love him - such imperfect, but my own father. Thank you Bradbury for that.

When did I want to read this book? I took her with me on a trip to Yaroslavl. The second time I visited the city and when choosing a book for a trip I remembered how I first walked along the Volga embankment, looked at the bizarre and ominous clouds in the sky and the first phrase that came to my mind then was: "Something terrible is coming, trouble is coming ... ". It so happened that then in Yaroslavl I read "The Martian Chronicles". And then the trouble really happened. It was the death of a loved one who lived there, in Yaroslavl. Returning to the city 2 years later, I found the novel "Trouble Coming" to be the most suitable book for the trip. Also a town, also death, also a feeling of imminent disaster, which once visited me here ...

What is the novel about? Who is it for? A novel about two boys, a strange and sinister carnival and its dark deeds ... But this is clearly not reading for teenagers. They will not understand many things, they will not be able to appreciate them. Bradbury put a lot of the philosophical component into the novel. Certain thoughts, arguments and ideas (expressed by the heroes - mainly by Willie's father, Charles) are interesting and new not only for that time, but also for today. Much has been said about death, life, its meaning. You need to be ready to read, to have a certain baggage of everyday experience, life wisdom, experienced losses. Only with this is it worth taking up the book. Otherwise, there will be no sense of reading and no sense from it.

According to Bradbury, based on the philosophy of his novel, EVIL comes into the world each time in a different incarnation and feeds on our tears, pain, sadness, sadness. By the way, I recall David Lynch, his "Twin Peaks", the embodiment of evil - the insidious spirit of BOB and the food that HE eats - harmony (a mixture of human pain and suffering, outwardly reminiscent of corn porridge). Seems to agree? And Bradbury makes it clear what is a weapon against this unknown EVIL. Perhaps simple and banal, but this is our joy and smile. Could it have saved Laura Palmer from BOB (oh, sorry, I'm all about mine, about painful)? You won't know about Laura, but the heroes of the novel really saved the smile and joy. Evil (very likely that for a time, and very unlikely that forever) was destroyed by this very thing.

A little chaotic, but it was said about emotions, sensations, observations. Now, briefly about the translation. I didn't really like him. From the very beginning of reading, I stumbled over the structure of sentences, individual words that were not entirely appropriate and correctly used in the context (for example, the unexpectedly rude "devoured", and also suddenly too Russian "burly matron" - thanks for not being a "fat woman", but everything same). There are many such examples. The name William / Willie hit my heart. Old and wrong: I am exclusively in favor of a more correct and correct version of the translation - William / Willie (remember Shakespeare). And "William" - the translation option is still irrelevant. But it's not even a matter of name. I didn’t get the feeling of a neat, foldable, solid and easy-to-read text. Although I give Grushetsky and Grigorieva their due: the author's style, the lively and familiar voice of Uncle Ray's own uncle, has been preserved in their translation - it sounds, despite the obvious roughness of the Russian text. But I will try not to return to their translations. Even the title of the book is not translated entirely correctly. A more accurate option is "Something terrible is coming." This is the title of the novel translated by Zhdanov, who also translated "The Martian Chronicles". More than worthy work: perhaps in the future I will also get acquainted with his version of the translation of the novel "Trouble Coming".

I didn't seem to forget about anything. The end of the review is near, which means it's a sin not to touch the end of the work itself. Don't expect a pure happy ending. The novel generally seems to end. Lightness is mixed with bitterness: the main characters are safe and sound, evil is defeated, but the victims of the carnival remained its unfortunate victims, doomed to suffering. Among them is the sweet, innocent Mrs. Foley, the teacher of Jim and Willie's children ...

As a conclusion, a few numbers and estimates:
Reading time is about 3 weeks.
Book score - 4.
Translation score - 3.
Rating to the author - 5
(WELL THIS IS BRADBURY !!!).

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Time Machine

If you take three rays of the summer sun, the scent of fresh grass, after a gentle breeze, add a pinch of childhood memories and a drop of magic to it, you get the tastiest, most intoxicating drink on earth - "Dandelion Wine". And if you want to try it someday, be prepared for the fact that it knocks down after the first "sip" and does not let go for a long time. The scent of carelessness, freedom and a smile that only childish spontaneity can cause will accompany you from the beginning to the end of the book. The writer masterfully opens his eyes to the magnificence of the most ordinary things, refreshing long-forgotten thoughts in the memories of adults. The book will not leave anyone indifferent, because "Dandelion Wine" has the most wonderful taste on earth, familiar to each of us ... the taste of childhood!

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"Time is a heavy burden. We know too much. Truly, we have lived too long. And you, in your newfound wisdom, must make every effort to make your life complete, enjoy every moment and someday, many years later, fall asleep calmly, knowing that your life is a success and that we, the Family, love you. "

This little story is about an ordinary boy Timothy and his completely unusual Family. The kid is not happy to be different from them, especially listening to the stories of invisible cousins, winds that live in housekeepers, the ghost on the Orient Express and Thousand-Great-Great-Grandmother of the mummy Nif. Despite the usual boy, his relatives love him and accept him for who he is. But this family also has its own problems.

Such a mesmerizing book about the supernatural that surrounds us, but we do not always see, about care and support, and about eternal life - does it make sense?

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Ray Bradbury was born on August 22, 1920 in the hospital at 11 St. James Street, in Waukegan, Illinois. Full name - Raymond Douglas (middle name in honor of the famous actor Douglas Fairbanks). Ray's grandfather and great-grandfather, the descendants of the first settlers - the British who sailed to America in 1630 - published two Illinois newspapers at the end of the 19th century (in the provinces this is a certain position in society and fame). Father - Leonard Spaulding Bradbury. Mother - Marie Esther Moberg, Swedish by birth. By the time Ray was born, his father was not even 30, he worked as an electrician and was the father of a four-year-old son, Leonard Jr. (his twin brother, Sam, was born with Leonard Jr., but he died two years old). In 1926, Bradbury has a little sister, Elizabeth, she also died as a child.

Ray rarely remembered his father, more often his mother, and only in his third book (The Cure for Melancholy, 1959) can the following dedication be found: "To a father with a love that woke up so late and even surprised his son"... However, Leonard Sr. could no longer read this, he died two years earlier, at the age of 66. This unexpressed love was vividly reflected in the story "Desire". In Dandelion Wine, which is essentially a book of childhood memories, the main adult character is named Leonard Spaulding. The collection of poems "When the elephants bloomed in the courtyard for the last time" the author provided the following dedication: “This book is in memory of my grandmother Minnie Davis Bradbury, and my grandfather Samuel Hinkston Bradbury, and my brother Samuel, and sister Elizabeth. They all died long ago, but I remember them to this day. " He often inserts their names into his stories.

"Uncle Einar" existed in reality. It was a favorite of Ray's relatives. When the family moved to Los Angeles in 1934, he also moved there - to the delight of his nephew. Also in the stories there are the names of another uncle, Bion, and aunt of Nevada (she was simply called Neva in the family).

“I started reading the works of Dostoevsky when I was 20 years old. From his books, I learned how to write novels and tell stories. I read other authors as well, but when I was younger Dostoevsky was the main one for me. "

Ray Bradbury has a unique memory. Here is how he talks about it himself: “I have always had what I would call an“ almost complete mental return ”to the hour of birth. I remember the cutting of the umbilical cord, I remember the first time I sucked the mother's breast. The nightmares that usually lie in wait for a newborn are included in my mental cheat sheet from the very first weeks of life. I know, I know it’s impossible, most people don’t remember anything like that. And psychologists say that children are born not fully developed, only after a few days or even weeks gaining the ability to see, hear, know. But I saw, heard, knew ... ". (remember the story "The Little Killer"). He clearly remembers the first snowfall in his life. A later recollection is about how his, still three years old, his parents took with them to the cinema for the first time. There was a sensational silent film "The Hunchback of Notre Dame Cathedral" starring Lon Cheney, and the image of a freak struck little Ray to the core.

“My early impressions are usually associated with the painting, which is still in front of my eyes: a terrible night journey up the stairs ... It always seemed to me that as soon as I step on the last step, I would immediately find myself face to face with a vile monster waiting me upstairs. Head over heels I rolled down and ran crying to my mother, and then the two of us again climbed the steps. Usually the monster was running away somewhere by this time. For me, it remained unclear why my mother was completely devoid of imagination: after all, she never saw this monster. "

The Bradbury family had a legend about a witch in their own ancestry - great-great ... great-grandmother, allegedly burned at the famous Salem trial over witches in 1692. There, however, the convicts were hanged, and the name of Mary Bradbury in the list of those who passed "on the case" could have been a mere coincidence. Nevertheless, the fact remains: from childhood, the writer considered himself the great-grandson of a sorceress. It is worth noting that in his stories the evil spirits are just good, and otherworldly beings turn out to be much more human than their persecutors - the Puritans, bigots and “clean” lawyers.

The Bradbury family moved to Los Angeles in the 30s, at the height of the Great Depression. When Ray graduated from high school, they couldn't get him a new jacket. I had to go to the prom in the costume of Lester's late uncle, who was killed by a robber. The bullet holes in the belly and back of the jacket were carefully darned.

All his life Bradbury lived with one woman - Margaret (Marguerite McClure). Together they made four daughters (Tina, Ramona, Susan and Alexandra).

They were married on September 27, 1947. From that day on, for several years, she worked all day so that Ray could stay at home and work on books. The first copy of The Martian Chronicles was typed with her hands. This book was dedicated to her. During her life, Margaret studied four languages, and was also known as a connoisseur of literature (among her favorite writers Marcel Proust, Agatha Christie and ... Ray Bradbury). She was also well versed in wine and loved cats. Everyone who knew her personally spoke of her as a person of rare charm and an owner of an extraordinary sense of humor.

“On the trains ... in the late evening hours I enjoyed the company of Bernard Shaw, JK Chesterton, and Charles Dickens — old friends of mine following me everywhere, invisible but tangible; silent, but constantly agitated ... Sometimes Aldous Huxley sat down with us, blind, but inquisitive and wise. Richard III often traveled with me, he talked about murder, elevating it to a virtue. Somewhere in the middle of Kansas at midnight, I buried Caesar, and Mark Antony shone with his eloquence when we left Eldebury Springs ... "

Ray Bradbury never went to college, formally finishing his education at the school level. In 1971 he published his article entitled "How I Finished Libraries Instead of College, or Thoughts of a Teenager Who Visited the Moon in 1932".

Many of his stories and novellas are named as quotations from the works of other authors: "Something Wicked This Way Comes" - from Shakespeare; The Wonderful Wonder, from Coleridge's unfinished poem Kubla (y) Khan; "Golden apples of the sun" - a line from Yeats; Singing Body Electric - Whitman; “And the moon is still silvering with its rays ...” - Byron; the story "Asleep in Armageddon" has a second title: "And it may be possible to dream" - a line from Hamlet's monologue; the completion of Requiem by Robert Louis Stevenson - "The sailor returned home, he returned home from the sea" - also gave the title to the story; the story and collection of short stories "Machines of Happiness" are named a quote from William Blake - this list is far from complete.

“Jules Verne was my father. Wells is a wise uncle. Edgar Allan Poe was my cousin; he is like a bat - he always lived in our dark attic. Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers are my brothers and comrades. So much for all my relatives. I will add that my mother, in all likelihood, was Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, the creator of "Frankenstein." Well, what else could I become if not a science fiction writer with such a family. "

In Ray Bradbury's office, the license plate "F-451" is nailed to the wall, despite the fact that he himself never got behind the wheel.

“What about my gravestone? I would like to borrow an old lamppost in case you wander into my grave at night to say hello to me. And the lantern will burn, turn and weave some secrets with others - weave forever. And if you come to visit, leave the apple for the ghosts. "