You haven't read a book by Ray Bradbury? Well, what are you waiting for?!

Ray Bradbury has to be one of my favourite authors. I discovered him purely by accident before I realised that he is a really popular author, particularly in America. A lot of American High School reading lists include Bradbury's books, but, having grown up in the UK, I had never heard of him! I first heard about it when I was watching an episode of Criminal Minds (I can't remember which episode exactly.) In the episode, a dead man was found, covered in tattoos. One of the main characters (Dr Spencer Reid to be precise- if you watch CM then you'll know who I'm talking about, and if you don't it doesn't really matter for the purpose of this blog post) then talked about how the victim reminded him of Ray Bradbury's The Illustrated Man. The book was about a man with tattoos which become animated and tell stories.This sparked my interest and before I knew it I was on Amazon and had purchased the book! It didn't disappoint! The book itself consists of short stories which are tied together by the frame device of the illustrated man. The stories all have a science fiction theme (which I absolutely loved because I'm quite the sci-fi fan) and are rather frightening in places, but that's what appealed to me the most. I'm usually not a big fan of 'scary' things, but I really enjoyed this book. I think that Bradbury has a real talent of making things 'not as they seem' as each story really interrogates the issues of technology and the psychology of individuals. Several of the stories focus on the relationship people have with technology and how this relationship has changed and shaped them. I found this so very interesting because even though the book was written in 1951, so much of it is applicable today as we live in such a technology dependent world! I think that this book was the perfect start to my Bradbury obsession...

Since I enjoyed The Illustrated Man so much, I was eager to read more from Bradbury. Then I found Fahrenheit 451. This book has often been regarded as Bradbury's best novel and it's part of the dystopian genre so I knew that I would love it! However, I initially found it a bit difficult to get into. I felt that the beginning was a little confusing and disjointed and I wasn't so sure of where the story was going. That quickly changed though and I fell in love with the book! The novel is about a time in the future when books are banned. Instead of putting out fires, firemen have become book burners and it is their job to ensure all books are destroyed. The novel centers around one of the firemen who becomes curious about all the books that he has to burn. He decides to read a few (illegally of course) and his life is never the same again. Once I had finished the book, it was very easy to see why this is seen as Bradbury's best work. It's such an amazing read! The novel acts as a warning against censorship and highlights the importance of being an individual. It explores the evil that is mass media and how mass media can influence and suppress societies. These kind of messages, I feel, are very important, particularly now as we live in an era that is dominated by the media. Therefore, I would recommend this book to everyone as both the prose, and their morals, are too good to pass up.

Fun fact: the title of the novel refers to the temperature in which paper will spontaneously ignite (for all you non Americans out there, that's about 233 Celsius.)

The last book I want to talk about is called Something Wicked This Way Comes. This book was equally as exciting, equally as beautiful and equally as frightening as the other two. It's about two boys, Jim and Will, who experience a travelling carnival. But the carnival is not what it seems. It is hellish and holds many secrets! The boys discover these secrets, at a price of course, and their friendship is put to the test. There is an air of mystery that surrounds this novel, and that's what makes it so exciting! Again, there were some scenes which I did find a little scary but I still really enjoyed the book. I found the relationship between Jim and Will to be very touching because it is their friendship which saves them in the end (saves them from what? I'm not going to tell you, you'll have to read the book.) Here's one of the quotes that stuck with me: "That’s friendship, each playing the potter to see what shapes we can make of the other." I really like this quote because it's so true! It's such a lovely image to think that friends shape each other into the people that they are. Which brings me on to my next point: the book is so beautifully written with such poetic imagery. This is something that I really enjoyed. And so, with its lovely literary style and its Gothic plot line, this novel is a must read!

I hope this blog post has inspired you to go out and read some Bradbury novels. Trust me, you won't regret it! They will/might (depending on the type of person you are) make you scared, they will keep you entertained and, above all, they will make you think!