There were differences between memories and dreams. The lesson is similar to that of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. And while I may disagree with Bradbury on the well-spent life (Bradbury admires Lespere, who had several wives, made a lot of money, enjoyed life – but this is only one short story), I wouldn’t disagree that living only for yourself and caring not a whit about those around you is not a well-spent life. Its a story about a life either spent well or selfishly. In death he becomes a “falling star” sparking the imagination of a child on Earth.Īgain, (in line with The Veldt) we have a science fiction backdrop for a very human-centered story. The central character, Hollis, struggles with his wasted life and dies wishing he could do just one good thing for someone. All we have is their radio conversation and Bradbury’s description of some of their thoughts and backgrounds. The men survive in their space-suits but are left to float to their deaths – crashing into the earth, moon, space debris or else floating off to die of starvation or thirst. The story opens with the tragic destruction of a rocket carrying several men in the not-too-distant future. Still, I wanted to go a little deeper in the the short fiction of Bradbury, so I picked up a copy of The Illustrated Man (published in 1951), a collection of 18 short stories.

I’ve posted on a few of the short stories from it. It was published later than a lot of his other more well-known fiction. I’ve discussed some of Bradbury’s longer works but last year my brother gave me a more recent collection of his short stories called Quicker Than The Eye.

The illustrated man kaleidoscope