Some people probably think of this novel as a modern classic, and in some senses, it is intended to be taken that way. I can't help feeling that Ray Bradbury had future critics in mind when he was writing the book. I don't get a real good sense after skimming through the book, though, that Ray really gets it right.
His characters are flat, his style is stilted, and he is appallingly incorrect in terms of gender politics. The wife in the novel, after all, is never treated as an equal partner in any way. The girl, Clarisse, is disappeared, and women are apparently non-existent in the society that survives after the war, quoting great dead white men from memory.
I wonder what Bradbury has to say about modern identity politics? It doesn't seem like he has much to say about that at all, and that may be the problem.
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Welcome!
This blog will review a few books in my collection and that I am currently reading. I'm interested in many different kinds of books, and my wife is interested in many other kinds of books. I think we will both eventually be posting reviews. We shall see.
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