Fantastic Tales of Ray Bradbury

I particularly enjoyed the author's introductions to each story in which he discussed how he came to write that particular story and his thoughts behind it. The stories themselves were wonderful and made me think of friends and loves from my youth. Wish it were longer!

I've always enjoyed Bradbury's stories, and I do find it nice to hear his descriptions of how he came to write each story before it begins. Gives you a little more insight into the man himself, to learn how his mind works. The stories are a great collection, a great compilation of his works. Definately a good listen anytime.

This is a solid collection of stories. I remember some of these from my childhood, but some were completely new to me. Each story is darkly reminiscent of the old Twilight Zone, and I think Bradbury had a lot of fun reading them. It is not a long audiobook, but it's a good one.

This is a great collection of Ray Bradbury stories. They are all just a little bit off the wall, which is why so many people are fascinated by them, myself included. Actually, some if not most of them are a long way off the wall. At the beginning of each story, Bradbury tells how he came to write that particular story. These insights make the stories all the more interesting. I was glad to learn that his writing goes through a process and doesn't just jump from his brain fully formed. I also learned that he wrote 1000 pages a day from the time he was about 12 years old until he finally had his first work published many years later. I recommend these stories to everybody who is not squeamish, as some of them are a little gross.

I am not always thrilled to listen to authors read their own works, as so often someone else can do a better job. But Bradbury is great at narrating the stories himself, which makes them that much more charming.

1 Introduction / The Lake (14:54)
2 The Smile (12:02)
3 The Foghorn (19:26)
4 The Feldt (28:40)
5 The Crowd (21:11)
6 John Huff's Leavetaking (from Dandelion Wine) (19:37)
7 Illuminations (16:35)
8 The Illustrated Man (29:15)
9 Marionettes, Inc. (16:03)
10 The Pedestrian (10:42)
11 The Dwarf (27:11)
12 There Will Come Soft Rains (16:15)
13 The Sound of Thunder (29:41)
14 Fever Dream (15:12)


How it breaks out when burned to CD using iTunes:
==CD 1 =============================================
1 Introduction / The Lake (14:54)
3 The Smile (12:02)
5 The Foghorn (19:26)
8 The Feldt (28:40)
12 The Crowd (21:11) -continues on CD 2
==CD 2 =============================================
4 John Huff's Leavetaking (from Dandelion Wine) (19:37)
7 Illuminations (16:35)
10 The Illustrated Man (29:15) -continues on CD 3
==CD 3 =============================================
2 Marionettes, Inc. (16:03)
5 The Pedestrian (10:42)
7 The Dwarf (27:11)
11 There Will Come Soft Rains (16:15)
14 The Sound of Thunder (29:41) -continues on CD 4
==CD 4 =============================================
4 Fever Dream (15:12)

Yes! Bradbury's coments and the wormth of the reading gives this a compleat picture of author and story.

Bradbury is the heart of each story.

"The Pedestrian" Bradbury words lets you feel what the character is fealing.

no it is better to take each story one at a time. then think about it for a while leting the words flow threw your mind.

Bradbury says so much and so well in such a few words.

These are masterful stories of all types, from frightening and futuristic cautionary tales to nostalgic portraits of days gone by. It's amazing that a science fiction story like The Veldt, first published in 1950, still has relevance in today's computerized world, perhaps even more so.

From a dramatic standpoint, I don't think the author is the best narrator for his own work. His modest, everyman voice doesn't rise to the luminous poetry of the writing, and he rushes through passages so beautiful you wish you could savor them. But the great benefit to having the author's own narration is not only his inside knowledge of character and motivation, but his commentary at the beginning of each tale, providing insight into how it came to be. These strengths help compensate for the reading and make this a collection worth listening to.

The author is an excellent reader. He reveals his motivations for writing each story and how they relate to his larger body of work, bringing context and authority to these classic short stories.

As an anthology of short stories, these can be listened to together in a single day individually, or in batches without the usual continuity issues when listening to a single longer book in multiple short listening sessions.

The fact that Bradbury selected the stories to be featured and reads them himself is a fantastic treat!

Any fan of Bradbury will enjoy this.

Some of them are good, some are too descriptive, some, I just did not like, I wish I could elaborate more, but I am just not amazed by it, it has some great stories, but others are not so good.