Why Listen? For a sense of childlike wonder; a Bradbury-esque take on space travel; cheerful innocence and optimism.
Even those only fleeting familiar with science fiction know the genre took a dark turn a few years ago and has kept the course since. Post-apocalyptic rules bookstore shelves, and while I like a grim read, sometimes I find a lighter tone equally enjoyable. Singer-songwriter Andrew Peterson shows just such an easy touch with "Rocket," a peppy pop-folk ballad about watching a Space Shuttle liftoff with his children. Listeners will have a hard time thinking Peterson hasn't steeped himself in Ray Bradbury's short stories once they hear the lyrics: "Oh, the sight of the mighty machine! / The iron shine of a golden dream / On the edge of the ocean, a potential explosion, / Stands so tall and so serene." A perfect accompaniment to tales such as "Rocket Summer."
Saturday, October 29, 2011
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8 comments:
As my husband looks at books for his utopian/dystopian course, it does seem like all recent books concern themselves with the apocalypse. Will we be disappointed if its much more mundane than that?
It definitely seems to be a trend. As to how we'll feel when it rolls around, well, that's a topic worthy of an entire tome!
This brings me back. Ironically, to childhood wonder tinged with darkness.
If I ever become a celebrity, my autobiography is going to begin with the (true) sentence: "My earliest vivid memory is of January 28, 1986, in the morning, when I watched the Challenger explode on live television."
Which also is very Bradberrian: equal parts hopeful eager anticipation, youthful nostalgia, and dark recognition. After all, he's the only author who made global thermonuclear war seem like something of a divine mercy, a baptism by fire giving the human race a chance to escape from some of its worst mistakes.
I also love his letters. Unfortunately, my favorite is no longer up on the internet--some kid wrote to him expressing fears about being mocked for his SF reading. Bradbury replied to say that his first love was Buck Rogers, that people made fun of him, that he wrote and read whatever he damn well pleased, and that such is the only way true discovery and invention happens.
He does seem to have lived a charmed life, and retained a Chestertonian sort of innocence of spirit.
In other news, this:
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Now that is a cool picture.
Yes, Bradbury is one of my favorites, although I prefer his horror shorts to much of his SF. Often he veers into overly sunny humanism, which just rings wrong to me. Ever read "The Fire Balloons"? That's a great example.
Oops. I didn't link correctly. I meant to link this video:
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap111101.html
The link I sent you was to Nasa's photo of the day contest, from which this video came. Well worth adding to your daily reading, though, for a moment's contemplation of our beautiful cosmos.
Oh, now that is cool. I wonder why I've never seen that video before?
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