September 28, 2004

• "All Summer in a Day" - Ray Bradbury. You'll find it in his book, A Medicine for Melancholy.
• It's also in the Bradbury book "The Illustrated Man" - a great and extremely depressing collection of stories. I was just thinking I'd like to go back and check that out....
• You can read the story here: "All Summer in a Day" I swear this was asked about before on MoFi, or possibly at MeFi, but for the life of me I can't find a link. Maybe I'm just misremembering the Bradbury fiasco. ;)
• Thanks, cynnbad, for reminding me what good SF is all about (and peoplefilter for the link)!
• I saw the movie in grade school - it was so sad! I'm crying again at the memory of it.
• I too saw the movie, both at school and on PBS I think. And then, many many years later, in college, a friend was describing how he took his dad back out to Seattle, to dad's boyhood home, for Spring Break. They were watching a little TV, and all of a sudden the program was interrupted for breaking news. The sun was coming out! News footage of the sun for a few minutes. Then the clouds took over, and it was back to regularly scheduled programming. We had a good laugh over that. And then I had nightmares of the movie for a whole week. *sniff*
• goddammit i'm still a sap. i read that shameless play for sympathy and now i'm crying, just like i did when i read it the first time. remind me never to see the movie.
• I was already pretty sad tonight, and then I read that story. Feh. NSFDepressives (but it's still a well-imagined tale)
• Damn. That story is going to bother me for weeks. Same thing happened with the end of "Beijing Bicycle". Damn.
• Yea, Benji movies make me sad too.
• I remember that story, too. I read it some summer, I think, between grade four and grade six... My mother was a teacher, and had her class books at home, and I was bored and read the "big kids'" reader. I remember that story. I'm glad I read it at home, because our class didn't use that reader. It must be awesome to write something that stays with people so long.
• Peoplefilter, thanks for the link. After a long time, I read "The Veldt" again. Another interesting story in similar lines is "Nightfall", a popular Asimov story.
• My favourite story from Medicine was Pillar Of Fire. Yay futuristic zombies!
• ray bradbury is from my hometown, waukegan, illinois. this sidenote brought to you by sidedish
• Thanks for the help, everyone! You're the best!
• Dang, I'm overcome with emotion just thinking of the first time I saw the movie version. Damn, I dare not reread it. I'm supposed to be industriously gathering system requirements, not sniffling at my desk.
• cynnbad, you might also tell your kid what my mom told me to tell bullies: "I'll remember this someday when I'm you're boss and you ask me for a raise!" It doesn't really affect the bullies, but it's satisfying (and school-appropriate) to holler. (/thread derail)
• TheRoach I think you're thinking of the story "The Long Rain" which is in the book The Illustrated Man. This is another Bradbury story where it rains all the time. Except this time it's on Venus and the crew of a spaceship has to find shelter. It was also part of the movie "The Illustrated Man" with Rod Steiger.
• OK, as long as all the SciFi fans are alerted, can you help with this story? The scene is a hot planet, so hot that the inhabitants must stay in caves when the sun shines. I think the orbit was so fast that each "day" lasted only about 90 minutes. Each of these inhabitants lived only 5 days, though I don't remember whether it was 5 long days or 5 90 minute periods. One of them finally makes it across the desert in the limited dark period, only to discover some stuff that tells the readers that the inhabitants are the generations-removed descendants of explorers who crashed on the planet many years before. I think I read it in the late 60's or early 70's in an anthology.
• ecomuseboy: "Frost and Fire", also by Bradbury. I've got both that and "The Long Rain" in "R is for Rocket" first published in 1962. (My copy, judging from the writing in blue crayon on the cover, was 25 cents from the bargain bin, and, as should be obvious by now, was well worth the investment.) My first comment--hi all!
• Thanks again, everyone. My daughter read it and had no reaction. "Normal behavior?", I asked. Yeah, kids are mean, she said. Made my gut twist. I'm very sad. That story profoundly affected me in the '70's. Now the storyline appears to be expected. I am very sad.
• Bloody buggering fucksocks, people. I've not read it yet, and given these comments, I think I might save it until I'm able to get a big long depressive run-up to it. I've never seen one small thread make so many people cry... Bradbury rulez, by the way. Hello, Friendly Turtle! And cynnbad - maybe this is deeply wrongful advice, but have you considered teaching the kid the greatest, most shocking swearwords ever, their true meaning, and the appropriate manner in which to use them? Instant playground power, for not much cost... *goes off to hell, does not pass Go, does not collect £200*
• cynnbad Maybe your daughter knew you were expecting a big reaction and scored by not giving it to you? How old is she?
• You're welcome, fellow MoFites. I had to Google a bit for the text, or I woulda been first in line to comment. I meant to mention the short film, too, but forgot it when I rewrote my reply. :)
• Thanks Friendly Turtle! And welcome! This thread makes me realize how long it's been since I read any of my Bradbury (I wonder if I still have the books?). I'll have to dig it out, or visit our local used bookstore.
• Mean kids have been that way forever. But the consecuences in that particular case are notorious and show how a little envy and "we where just playing" can cause so much harm. More when done naively.
• I always hoped that little boy got to leave the planet when he was older, and go where there were lots of sunny days.
• I don't care how jaded people get anymore. I'm glad I cried -- don't care who thinks I'm a wuss. I'm just sad for the kids who think that's part of life. Maybe if we read more Roald Dahl? Get the ironic thing on? Sure, flashboy, I cuss like a sailor, but not in a useful way. No, the daughter's reaction wasn't calculated, just a shrug. I'm old and sentimental I suppose. Is that a danger to national security?! I pay the taxes, but SHE goes to war! Hi, Friendly Turtle. Just FYI, I still actually read real printed text, even though my daughter thinks I'm defincient because I don't experience the world through a GameCube. Too bad for them/us.