♥the martian chronicles 3/21♥

it is i, the frenchiest fry

Setting is one of the foundations of a good story, it can be a regular school or the deepest pit of hell, anything will go if you can develop it enough and intrigue a reader. In The Martian Chronicles, the story takes place in a future where Earth is desolated and mankind is forced to flee to other planets. In this case, the red planet named after the Roman god of war, Mars.

The example that I will be using (not because i'm behind hahaha) is from one of the very first stories that is featured, "Ylla." I'm not keen on the pronunciation of this word; Illa? Yeela? Ailla? This story/chapter follows an alien woman named Ylla and her husband. Ylla is having visions of shining lights of a spaceship that melts away snow and ice. Her husband thinks that the idea of travelers from "The Third Planet" is absurd and disregards her. On another night, Ylla dreams a similar dream where Nathaniel York comes down from the ship and is infatuated with her, offering to whisk her away. Yll, her husband, seems to be jealous of his wife's interest in this strange traveler and plans to thwart them, even though Ylla repeated time after time that it was merely a dream. Later that day, a ray of light comes down from the sky and Yll decides to go hunting, telling Ylla to stay in the house because a doctor is coming to see her about her visions. 2 shots ring out, it is suggested that they were from Yll and were used to eliminate Nathaniel York and his companion.

"The flame birds waited, like a bed of coals, glowing on the cool smooth sands. The whit canopy ballooned on the night wind, flapping softly, tied by a thousand green ribbons to the birds. Ylla laid herself back in the canopy and, at a word from her husband, the bired leaped, burning, toward the dark sky. The ribbons tautened, the canopy lifted. The sand slid whining under; the blue hills drifted by, leaving their home behind, the raining pillars, the caged flowers, the singing books, the whispering floor creeks. She did not look at her husband. She heard him crying out to the birds as they rose higher, like ten thousand hot sparkles, so many red-yellow fireworks in the heavens, tugging the canopy like a flower petal, burning through the wind."

The scene follows a vivid description of a canopy across a sky led by Yll's command and glowing birds. It is developed by showing that life on Mars is from from our own. The setting is important in this book because Mars is so specific and unique. When you think The Red Planet you think heat and sun, the bird things that Yll commands are fiery and fly into the air to raise the canopy.

♥♥the martian chronicles featuring ray bradbury♥♥

○ fkn aliens bro○

(a response to https://tylermillerwrites.com/2016/09/14/how-ray-bradburys-the-martian-chronicles-changed-science-fiction-and-literature/)

The Martian Chronicles is great. It's science fiction, a Ray Bradbury novel, a saga of exploring the cosmos, and most importantly, a story all about death. Lots of it in fact. The article above praises Bradbury for his unique take on the genre with a focus that isn't centered on quantum physics and wormholes, but more on the fall of a species and their struggles. It gave the reader insight on Brabury's process while writing the novel and breaking away from the status quo of science fiction. The book is interesting in it's concept. Humans "invade" Mars and eventually kill off the aliens inhabiting the planet. It seems ironic to me in a way. Most media involving martians involves the extraterrestrials coming to Earth and taking the planet by storm, a role reversal. The article also makes the reader think about what The Martian Chronicles is really about, whether it's simply a fantasy or a metaphor about human history or future. The Earthlings coming to Mars and colonizing it is reminiscent (also stated by the article) of European exploration for the New World. It isn't very much of a stretch anyways. I mean, colonizing? Infecting a group with all sorts of illnesses? Wanting to take land from someone else? Hmm.

♥♥Dandelion Wine♥♥

dandelion wine is gr8

Dandelion Wine is a novel written by Ray Bradbury, an author known for many works in fiction. This particular novel is set in Green Town, Illinois, 1928. It follows a sort of "alter ego" based on Ray Bradbury himself, Douglas Spaulding. Douglas sees the world with an optimistic and naive outlook on the world. Summers for children is usually just sweating, air conditioned rooms, video games, and sticky hands from melting ice cream. Ray Bradbury truly captures being a simple kid again in the summer of 1928 through evocative language and vivid story telling.

Dandelion Wine's stronger traits include its language, imagery. Ray Bradbury is a very unique writer in terms of being able to do these things and format it into a story. Dandelion Wine also amazingly includes an interesting cast of characters to enjoy, from a lurking and menacing murderer, to a seemingly enchanted woman. Another thing that can be enjoyed is the book's philosophy on life and death and being a human. Someone in the beginning of the book, Douglas comes to an epiphany that he is really here, living on Earth. Heart beating, lungs expanding and contracting, lying in the flowing grass.

Like anything in this world, Dandelion Wine has its flaws. They include; lack of strong plot line, some one dimensional characters, and a story that becomes a little confusing at times. The book jumps from character to character, scene to scene in a matter of pages. It becomes difficult to truly commit yourself to be invested in it.

Remember that this is simply opinion and can be trivialized by others. Maybe this is kind of biased because this book was written in like, 1950, and I'm a teen who just needs action all the time. It also isn't really something I would pick up at the library, not like the 50 Young Adult books in one aisle that are pretty much follow the same archetypes and story.