The Illustrated Man

Ray Bradbury's classic collection of short stories is a weird, wonderful and unsettling read. Framed by the device of a man meeting the tattooed man of the title one night, he watches as the illustrations come to life as the man sleeps and. These form the stories in this collection.

Despite being written in the early 50's very little here seems dated. Yes some of the assumptions about space travel are a bit wide of the mark, but that really doesn't matter. What does matter is the depth and breadth of Bradbury's imagination. We meet the crew of a crashed rocket on Venus being pelted by incessant rain while in the deeps of the Venusian ocean something stirs; A man who replaces himself with a lifelike clockwork “marionette” - with dire consequences; Astronauts falling through space from an exploded rocket; A chillingly brutal child's playground where it's survival of the fittest....and so much more.

Every tale is told with effortless prose, and the sense of unease, the horror that runs through so much of Bradbury's work, never leaves you. There's a reason why this is considered one of the classics of fantastic literature - it's bloody good, is why.

The edition I have is the brilliantly illustrated Folio Society hardback. A superb edition of a superb book.

Very highly recommended.