Mass Market Paperback, 192 pages
English language
Published May 31, 1984 by Spectra.
This is a collection of science fiction short stories, cleverly cobbled together to form a coherent and very readable novel about a future colonization of Mars. As the stories progress chronologically the author tells how the first humans colonized Mars, initially sharing the planet with a handful of Martians. When Earth is devastated by nuclear war the colony is left to fend for itself and the colonists determine to build a new Earth on Mars.
Leímos "Crónicas marcianas" en la edición número 66 de nuestro Club de #LecturaMastodontica
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Content warning Aunque no son del todo trascendentes, se detallan aspectos de algunos relatos.
Si sintiéramos respeto con la propia concepción de Bradbury, quien nunca se sintió capaz de denominarse a sí mismo como autor de ciencia-ficción, “Crónicas marcianas” debería figurar con total lógica y derecho dentro de la literatura fantástica. La lógica y el derecho me surgen a raudales una vez terminada la obra, cuando lo primero que se me viene a la mente es la famosa frase atribuida a Groucho Marx: "surgiendo de la nada hemos alcanzado las más altas cimas de la miseria", y no cabe otra opción más que alabar cual acto de fe aquella autodefinición del escritor y confirmar que lo único que le preocupaba a Bradbury acerca del lugar en el que se desarrollara la acción de sus relatos era que fuera en el quinto pino, en el planeta más remoto posible... En una novela que podría considerarse mucho más cercana a la distopía que desarrollara varios años después a través de “Fahrenheit 451”, el sentido profundo se nos presenta mucho más metafísico que astronómico: ya puede el ser humano estar en su casa, en el pueblo de al lado, en China o en Marte, que su 'poder' de autodestrucción no tiene límites.
A finales de la década de los 40 y más aún en los años 50 casi a nadie se le ocurría pensar que hubiera vida en Marte y era ya de sobra conocido su sobrenombre de el Planeta Rojo. Tan poco le importa a Bradbury el tema científico y técnico (absoluto antagonista de Asimov tanto en este aspecto como en su escritura) que de repente Marte es azul y tan similar a la Tierra que a las claras queda reflejada la finalidad despiadada y cuasi terapéutica del escritor. A través de una prosa que renuncia a todo lo superfluo, pero de una belleza y un estilo precisos, y con una excelente cadencia narrativa que crea una composición prácticamente redonda en su finalización, Bradbury va desengranando todos los miedos, traumas y debilidades de ese ser vivo que a cotas más absurdas y críticas ha sido capaz de llegar con exiguo esfuerzo: el racismo (tanto a lo desconocido: Fuera de temporada, como a las propias etnias terrícolas: Un camino a través del aire), el desastre de la guerra (Los músicos), la soledad (la “divertida” Los pueblos silenciosos, la pasmosa El marciano o la terrible Los largos años), el sinsentido de la robótica y el progreso cuando ya no hay vida por encima de ellos (Vendrán lluvias suaves)... ¡Tantos en tan poco!
Curioso resulta cuánto menos que los relatos que componen este retrato coral fueran escritos en varios años y de forma nada consecutiva, pues a pesar de ello denotan esa idea primigenia de Bradbury en la captura de la realidad de un mundo en parte cruel y en parte esperanzado. En el que cierra la obra, El picnic de un millón de años, en boca de un padre triste y resolutivo hacia casi la nada, tal vez Bradbury nos abre a la duda sobre su deseo y confianza en el ser humano: 'Las guerras crecieron y crecieron y finalmente acabaron con la tierra (...). La Tierra ya no existe. Aquella manera de vivir fracasó y se estranguló con sus propias manos'. En la última escena tampoco sabe uno si reír o si llorar; como en un Edén absolutamente destruido y caótico, una nueva y solitaria familia, al estilo de unos futuribles Adán y Eva, se descubre a sí misma como el único camino a seguir en medio de la desolación: '—Siempre quise ver un marciano —dijo Michael—. ¿Dónde están, papá? Me lo prometiste. —Ahí están —dijo papá, sentando a Michael en el hombro y señalando las aguas del canal. Los marcianos estaban allí. Timothy se estremeció. Los marcianos estaban allí, en el canal, reflejados en el agua: Timothy y Michael y Robert y papá y mamá. Los marcianos les devolvieron una larga, larga mirada silenciosa desde el agua ondulada'.
Lo peor de "Crónicas marcianas" es que se desarrolla entre 1999 y 2026, y que por ahora todo (excepto lo más superfluo de la novela: el motivo y el lugar), todo, todito, se está cumpliendo de pe a pa.
Obligado me siento a reiterar lo dicho: si un disgusto nos suponen los relatos habrá que jorobarse, si odiamos a manos llenas la ciencia-ficción más de lo mismo... Mala suerte, pues mayor y más costoso habrá de ser el esfuerzo a realizar para leer esta novela creyendo mis palabras, que no es con exactitud ni una sucesión de cuentos ni una obra de ciencia-ficción. “Crónicas marcianas” -detrás de su más que aparente simpleza- es una reflexión profunda y conmovedora sobre la naturaleza humana: sus miedos, sus fobias, sus inseguridades... sus mierdas. Que son las nuestras.
Un clásico más cumplido. Uno podría decir que es una más de ficción en la posguerra, escrita en forma fantástica sin duda. El problema es que los vicios, problemas y de cierta forma denuncia que hace el autor siguen vigentes. Es realmente triste ver que es poco o nada lo que la humanidad ha cambiado, seguimos actuando en forma errada ante situaciones de crisis, persisten los deseos de poder sobre otras poblaciones debido al sentimiento de creerse más fuertes, más inteligentes, más civilizados.
Encontramos una serie de relatos cortos que se van encadenando poco a poco, pero que bien se podrían leer por separado, para hacernos ver “lo que fue” la llegado del hombre a Marte y su repercusión sobre la población marciana, así como el desarrollo de la colonia terrestre en ese planeta. Todos muy interesantes, fáciles de leer y que invitan a grandes reflexiones. Sin duda recomendado.
Provocative, if dated. The book's weak point is that Bradbury implicitly assumes small-town Americana and its values to be humanity's default expression, but its strong point is its bravery in challenging those values.
This was really fun science fiction, and Ray Bradbury is a master storyteller. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the book was how Alfred Crosby’s Columbian Exchange thesis was applied to the first contact between humans and martians here.
It has been decades since I last read this. In that time some of the verbiage has become quite dated and politically incorrect. Having said that, Bradbury's message of tolerance, fate, risk, and adventure remain true. A very good read.
(Read during 2020. Being a bit of a downer, it may have received a different score if I’d read it during a different year.)
I know it's been less than a month, but I just had to read this again. There's so much food for thought here.
Poetic science fiction. Mind it it’s more of a loose collection on short stories rather than a fully coherent novel. It’s less technical and science-y and more philosophical and poetic. But thoroughly enjoyable. The audio version as narrated by the author really brings the book to life - recommend that over reading it.
What happens when humans encounter Martians? How might the exchange go? Each chronicle seemed to offer a different possibility. This was a charming little collection.
This is less science fiction and more a parable about the self-destructive nature of the American Dream. The book is not one long novel but a collection of short stories set at various points in the history of America's colonization of Mars - because somehow it only ever seems to be Americans who make it out there. As such, it's like a series of snapshots through a much wider span of time than a novel would normally cover, and creates a broader view of a greater story arc that underscores the naivete and self-obsession of the humans.
Although the science was probably sketchy even at the time it was written and is now clearly wrong in every possible aspect, at a higher level it does a good job looking at how humans approach things like Mars colonization with such human-centered attitudes and expectations that when the Martians react in utterly …
This is less science fiction and more a parable about the self-destructive nature of the American Dream. The book is not one long novel but a collection of short stories set at various points in the history of America's colonization of Mars - because somehow it only ever seems to be Americans who make it out there. As such, it's like a series of snapshots through a much wider span of time than a novel would normally cover, and creates a broader view of a greater story arc that underscores the naivete and self-obsession of the humans.
Although the science was probably sketchy even at the time it was written and is now clearly wrong in every possible aspect, at a higher level it does a good job looking at how humans approach things like Mars colonization with such human-centered attitudes and expectations that when the Martians react in utterly alien (duh) ways it's completely unexpected and unpredicted. Throughout the book the selfishness and short-sightedness of the humans (embodied in the mid 20th century style Americans) is reflected again and again. Although it's a book about Mars and Martians, it's almost entirely about humans, because it really is about humanity and the Martians are really only a mirror through which Bradbury reflects back uncomfortable truths. Dated, misogynistic, and occasionally racist, but nonetheless thought-provoking, and particularly in light of the current United States political climate, still very relevant.
How wonderful, strange and poetic this book was.
Many of the chapters come off as campfire horror stories, everywhere tinged with the horrors of the atomic age. Incredibly insightful, especially considering when it was published. Still very relevant and very readable in 2019.
“The Martian Chronicles” by Ray Bradbury is a book I wanted to like so much. It is considered by many to be a classic of science fiction and it was the novel that launched Bradbury into prominence. His brilliance and poetic sensibilities shine through here. But the structure of loosely connected stories that may or may not take place on Mars (many of them were previous published and then put into this collection) make the whole work a bit less than the sum of its parts.
The basic premise of the novel is the settlement of Mars by humans from Earth and the gradual destruction of Earth. Mars as Bradbury portrays it once had a thriving civilization that was destroyed with the arrival of humanity. It is a planet of canals and crystal cities. Humans establish new cities and spaces but the memory of those who were once there continues …
“The Martian Chronicles” by Ray Bradbury is a book I wanted to like so much. It is considered by many to be a classic of science fiction and it was the novel that launched Bradbury into prominence. His brilliance and poetic sensibilities shine through here. But the structure of loosely connected stories that may or may not take place on Mars (many of them were previous published and then put into this collection) make the whole work a bit less than the sum of its parts.
The basic premise of the novel is the settlement of Mars by humans from Earth and the gradual destruction of Earth. Mars as Bradbury portrays it once had a thriving civilization that was destroyed with the arrival of humanity. It is a planet of canals and crystal cities. Humans establish new cities and spaces but the memory of those who were once there continues to haunt the stories. Mars may be Mars but the stories here give us space to explore questions of colonization, memory, religion, violence and a myriad of other human foibles and failings. Bradbury was an author who could tap into the light and darkness of the human spirit and while the novel may be science fiction, like all good science fiction it has much more to say about us today. In fact, I might argue that Bradbury is less an author of science fiction and more an author of the fantastic – stories that often have a surreal, dark, horrific quality that indulge in our sense of wonder at the dark spaces of our own minds.
Like all of his works, even if you do not completely like it, you cannot help but admire Bradbury’s energy and joy with which he wrote. This may not be my favorite work of Bradbury (that honor goes to “[b:Fahrenheit 451|4381|Fahrenheit 451|Ray Bradbury|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1351643740s/4381.jpg|1272463]” and “[b:Something Wicked This Way Comes|248596|Something Wicked This Way Comes (Green Town, #2)|Ray Bradbury|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1409596011s/248596.jpg|1183550]”) but I acknowledge its place in the canon of twentieth-century science fiction literature.
Je me souviens avoir lu ce roman après que ma soeur l'ait étudié au lycée. J'en garde un bon souvenir, et c'est peut-être l'un de mes premiers contacts avec les grands auteurs de science-fiction.
