(i) Ray Bradbury: soft sf; fantasy.
CS Lewis: soft sf; fantasy; much non-fiction.
Poul Anderson: hard sf; fantasy; other genres; some non-fiction.
(ii) Bradbury: stories designed to express and evoke strong emotions.
Lewis: theological sf.
Anderson: stories with competent problem-solving heroes, including military men and successful entrepreneurs.
(iii) Bradbury: a humanly habitable Mars.
Lewis: a humanly habitable Mars in a novel but a realistic Mars in a short story.
Anderson: realistic versions of Mars.
(iv) Bradbury: dark, golden-eyed Martians.
Lewis: three rational species on Mars.
Anderson: half a dozen versions of Martians.
(v) Bradbury: a children's game as a spearhead for alien invasion of Earth, in "Zero Hour."
Lewis: Terrestrial evil infests Venus.
Anderson: extra-solars control Martians invading Earth.
(vi) Bradbury: a dystopian novel.
Lewis: an unFallen human race on Venus.
Anderson: optimistic novels; some dystopian short stories.
(vii) Bradbury: a miniature future history, The Martian Chronicles.
Lewis: a reply to secularist future histories, That Hideous Strength.
Anderson: several future histories.
(viii) Bradbury: an undeservedly famous time travel short story.
Lewis: an inadequate discussion of time travel in "The Dark Tower."
Anderson: several major contributions to time travel fiction.
10 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Congratulations on your 45th anniversary! I hope you and Mrs. Shackley make it to your SIXTIETH anniversary.
Hmmm, Anderson's THE WAR OF TWO WORLDS was an ingenious variation on both the invaders from Mars and invaders from other stars theme. The very title of the book has to be understood as meaning Anderson also had H.G. Wells THE WAR OF THE WORLDS in mind.
Yes, C.S. Lewis wrote theological science fiction. At least partly as a response to Wells works. And we see Anderson, unlike Wells, taking religion and theology seriously in many of his works. Examples like "The Word To Space," "The Problem Of Pain," "Season Of Forgiveness," "Kyrie," THE GAME OF EMPIRE, comes to mind.
There was a time when I read many of Bradbury's stories, in collections like THE ILLUSTRATED MAN and THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES. But I like hard SF better.
Sean
Thank you, Sean.
Paul:
The picture you posted, with the words "Books are evil" on the back cover, reminded me that the movie of *Fahrenheit 451* includes a scene in which the Fire Chief, standing in a library they're about to burn, tells Montag that books cause trouble. Over his shoulder can be seen the title of one of the books: *Mein Kampf*. It was a nice touch; even though the Chief's conclusion is wrong, the filmmaker (Truffaut) silently concedes that there IS evidence supporting it.
Sean,
An example of how a screen adaptation or any visual medium can add to a novel without contradicting it.
Paul.
Add to and enhance.
Kaor, Paul and DAVID!
Well, it was actually DAVID who discussed the FAHRENHEIT 451 filmed version. Not me! But I wish I could have thought of making a similar point.
David: I'm not really a movie guy, but I agree with how the film maker found such a cool way of saying SOME books do make trouble! And I would have included the works of Karl Marx as further examples of how some books can have disastrous consequences.
Sean
David is the new Sean.
Kaor, Paul!
And I hope David will deposit comments more often!
Sean
"David is the new Sean."
I'm reminded of a cartoon somebody did, poking fun at Brezhnev back when he ran the Soviet Union. After "trying" to resolve a dispute with a fellow designated Comrade Petrov "in an amicable socialist manner" (Brezhnev would get rid of ONE of his MVD troops' police dogs if Petrov got rid of HIS little dog), he resorted to: "Comrade Petrov, you are replaced by the NEW Comrade Petrov." The original Petrov (and his dog) get dragged away by the MVD, and the new Petrov thanks Brezhnev for liberating his home.
Kaor, DAVID!
How all too typically Soviet that kind of behavior would be! I've seen similar examples of that kind of black or gallows humor in Solzhenitsyn's THE GULAG ARCHIPELAGO.
Sean
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