Tomorrow is Ray Bradbury’s birthday, but I thought I'd start the celebration early.
I’ve written about Bradbury many times here at Creation Point and, rather than try to rephrase the same thoughts, I offer up a tapestry of selected passages from previous posts. Happy Ray Day!
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As I've made clear many times, there are few people on the face of the planet who have influenced and, more important, inspired me as much as the great Ray Bradbury. Reading a classic Bradbury short story or essay on creativity, immersing myself in his novels (especially Dandelion Wine, one of the most glorious and magical books ever written), is an experience that strips away the layers of what I call the CNN Reality—the voices of Doom and Naysaying Cynicism that seek to tell us that we're small and helpless, ordinary and afraid—and opens our hearts and minds to a deeper, truer, more joyful reality: one where life is sacred, creativity is an expression of pure delight and the universe is viewed with eyes of innocence and wonder. Bradbury's words set fire to my soul decades ago and they still do the same today.
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People call Bradbury a science-fiction writer, a fantasist, but I don’t think either label applies. He’s a preacher, a rhapsodist, an interfaith—no, interdimensional—minister. I’ve rarely encountered anyone who more eloquently encapsulates the sheer sacred joy of life. When I read a Bradbury story, I not only want to race to the computer and create literary wonders of my own—the greatest gift a fellow writer can give you—I want to race out the door and up the street with my arms wide, embracing the entire universe.
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Reading Bradbury—opening your mind and heart to that unique voice, that amazing spirit—it’s as if the author himself arrives at your house. The door bursts opens, nearly flying off its hinges, and Ray races into the room, enveloping you in a bear hug—nearly cracking your ribs—spinning you around in circles as he bellows with laughter and perhaps sheds a tear or two, touched, as he is, by this reunion. He’s a one-man Imagination pantheon, an explosion of gods and goddesses, each one with a unique story to tell. You get him to sit down for a minute or two, have a sip of wine, but he’s soon up on his feet, dragging you to the window, pointing to the clouds, the moon, the stars...the whole wide universe. You watch in wonder and delight as Bradbury reaches out, wraps his arms around God, yanks him down to earth and kisses Him full on the mouth.
When Ray’s done, when he’s given his last oratory, spun his last tale, he crushes you in another bear-hug then races out the door, leaving you utterly exhausted, inspired—and grateful to be alive.
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Here’s a passage from Bradbury’s essay “Predicting the Past, Remembering the Future” that, for me, boils the man down to his cosmic essence:
My own belief is that the universe exists as a miracle and that we have been born here to witness and celebrate. We wonder at our purpose for living. Our purpose is to perceive the fantastic. Why have a universe if there is no audience?
We are that audience.
We are here to see and touch, describe and move. Our job, then, is to occupy ourselves with paying back the gift.
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Read Bradbury. Listen to Bradbury. Unfold your soul and let his words wash over you. If you're a budding writer, he'll fill you with burning passion for your chosen field. If you're an old hand like me, he'll make you feel like a newborn, just beginning on the most miraculous path God ever created. And if you're not a writer, I suspect he'll touch and move you in surprising ways that will echo on through your heart—and through your life.
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The writers that matter most to us become our dearest friends and companions. I’ve traveled the universes with my friend Ray for the majority of my life and, with luck, I'll keep traveling with him for years to come.
©copyright 2026 J.M. DeMatteis
I consider Bradbury to be, in terms of prose, a modern equivalent of Shakespeare. His writing was prose-poetry, elegant and musical to both the ear, and the emotions. His phrasing could effortlessly turn a sneaker into a microcosm of the ideal of summer itself, or a set of buildings into a graveyard for an entire civilization. Bradbury, I argue, painted with words, made music with words, even sculpted with his words.
ReplyDeleteI can think of no modern writer who had equivalent skill at crafting a sentence to move the heart or empower the imagination.
Many authors had specialties, I think - Robert Heinlein was, for me, the king of dialogue exchanges, Douglas Adams the prince of clever turns of phrase - but Bradbury was an artist of words. Where A.E. van Vogt might be proud of a single sentence "The creature crept, it whimpered from fear and pain", Bradbury would consistently produce paragraphs of illuminated and extraordinary prose both grand and subtle in structure and content in every work he created.
I cannot always admire Ray's imagination for plots or stories, but I can never get enough of his actual phrasing, the flavor of his writing itself. No modern author, in my experience, has ever equaled his prose poetry upon the page. Whatever he wrote, he wrote it with a strange passion for words that I will forever admire.
Happy birthday, Ray Bradbury; your writing made the world better.
Beautifully said! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
DeleteYou inspired me to read The Brothers Karamazov several years ago, which I enjoyed. I think it's finally time to read some Bradbury. I know I read Fahrenheit 451 decades ago in school, but I don't think I've read anything else of his. Sounds like Dandelion Wine is a good place to start.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great place to start! Then, if you're so inclined, check out THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES and SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES. Enjoy!
DeleteI would actually argue the best place to strt with Bradbury... or most Sci0Fi writers for that matter... is not with any novel, but with their short stories.
DeletePersonally, I would say, "Zero Hour," "Here there be Tygers," "R is for Rocket," The Fog Horn," "THe Garbage Man," The Exiles," and "The Long Years,"
Jack
I would add my absolute favorite Bradbury short story, "The April Witch."
Deleteone more?
Delete"The Town where no body got off." Though, I am admittedly thinking of the episode of Ray Bradbury Theater.
Bradbury did write those adaptions himself.
One of the best thrrillers of any medium ever.
Jack
My favorite of the Bradbury Theater episodes I've seen is "The Playground," with a great performance from William Shatner.
DeleteThere is lso a great short story that I cannot remeber the bname of, where a young an goes walkingthrough a town at night and runs into a younger versioj of his mother
ReplyDeleteI rember some one once said Dick Clark was "the world's olest teenage," I think in a way that can be said about Bradbury.
There was soething about his writing, right up util the end, that held onto the best partd of being 12, but married it with an adult talent for writing
Jack
He never lost that innocent sense of wonder.
DeleteI kind of wonder if the story about the kid who can't grow past 12 and starts a business as being people;s son was a metaphor for his writing.
DeleteJAck
Well, he was always 12 at heart, wasn't he?
DeleteAnd he made a living sharing it with people.
DeleteJack
Indeed he did.
DeleteDear J.M. DeMatteis,
ReplyDeleteI hope this message finds you well. I run one of the leading comic book content channels in Turkey. The other day, I made a video discussing the behind-the-scenes details of the Clone Saga based on what you have written. The video specifically focused on the challenges and the "collapse" process of that era.
I had a lot of fun putting it together, and Turkish readers who were unaware of this history found the video incredibly insightful. If you have more behind-the-scenes memories like these, I would absolutely love to read them on your blog in the future. I am eagerly looking forward to it.
I am leaving the link to my video below. It is in Turkish, so you might not understand the dialogue, but I still wanted to share it with you.
Wishing you a great day.
Best regards,
It would be fun to write a little about the Clone Saga. Thanks for planting that seed. And hello to all the comics fans in Turkey!
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