Ray Bradbury: Biography and Creativity

Ray Bradbury is an American writer, thanks to whom science fiction took a worthy place in the world of literature. He is the author of more than eight hundred novels and novels, short stories and plays. But the most famous works are, of course, "Dandelion Wine", and "451 degrees Fahrenheit".

Biography Bradbury is amazing. He never attended literary courses and did not go to college, but already in his youth he was a man of great erudition. He began his creative career with composing poetry, and years later he received the title of "master of fiction". He worked for many years as a seller of newspapers, and subsequently received a million royalties for publishing his books. And, finally, Ray Bradbury, whose biography covers almost a century, the last years of his life was chained to a wheelchair, but he did not lose his sense of humor and lamented only that he could not live to the centenary. "But a hundred sounds more solid," he said in one of his recent interviews.

As Ray became a writer ...

Biography Bradbury began in the city of Waukegan, in 1920. We can say that the childhood of the future writer was happy. Mom read before a dream to the boy "The Wizard of Oz" and, oddly enough, the stories of Edgar Poe. His parents took him to the movies for the films "The Lost World" and "The Phantom of the Opera." Ray was surrounded by love and attention.

Observation, love of magic fiction, a tendency to reflect - all this was manifested in the author of the philosophical story "Dandelion Wine" very early. Without these qualities, he would never become a writer.

It should be said that Ray Bradbury, whose biography includes both attempts to realize himself as a poet, and years of work in cheap literary magazines, was born in a poor family. And lack of prosperity is not the best conditions for creativity. Nevertheless, he wrote his first work at the age of twelve. And it happened precisely because of the poverty that his family was doomed to during the Great Depression.

Ray Douglas Bradbury, whose biography contains quite gloomy periods, from an early age read a binge. But the parents did not have money for books. Once, after reading the novel "The Great Warrior of Mars" and not having the opportunity to buy the next book of Burroughs, he decided to compose a sequel. So the twelve-year-old Ray became writers.

Literary debut

If you try to expound a brief biography of Bradbury, you get an uncomplicated story about a talented boy from a wealthy family living in a world of dreams and who became rich and famous solely through hard work. A story that looks like a fairy tale. But in life everything was more complicated.

At the age of sixteen he published Ray Bradbury's first work (a short biography in any textbook mentions this event). But it could hardly be called a literary debut. The first published work was a poem. Then Bradbury wrote several stories in which the influence of Edgar Poe was viewed. These works published cheap journals containing, as a rule, creations of beginners and immature writers. It will be many more years until he finds his own style of writing, Ray Bradbury.

A brief biography of this writer, included in the textbooks on the history of American literature, certainly tells how he, in order to perfect his literary skills, worked for many years, printing in all kinds of journals. Every month he created at least five stories. At the same time I found time to follow the development of science, to attend various exhibitions.

Margaret

In 1946, Ray Douglas Bradbury met his future wife. The biography of every great man contains at least a small romantic story. As a rule, sad. Biography Bradbury is no exception. However, the love story of this prose writer is by no means sad. He lived a long happy life with Margaret McClure, had four children. And, perhaps, he could not have made such a significant contribution to the world literature, had it not been for the meeting with this woman.

«Martian Chronicles»

Writers' fees did not bring Bradbury the desired wealth. Margaret worked a lot to support her family and give her husband the opportunity to engage in creativity. Success came after the publication of the book "Martian Chronicles", which Ray quite rightly dedicated to Margaret.

"Trouble is coming"

This novel was first published in 1962. Initially, Bradbury wrote the script. The film on it was supposed to be filmed by Gene Kelly. However, due to lack of funding, the shooting did not begin. The writer had no choice but to rewrite the script in a book that was called "The trouble looms". The heroes of the work are children. The boys once run away from home, they dream of going to the carnival. They succeed, but during the holiday, children witness an amazing transformation.

In the early sixties, Bradbury continued to publish stories. But in this period he was also interested in dramatic art. The first collection of plays was published in 1963. A few years later, the project "The World of Ray Bradbury" was launched on television. As you might guess, the show was based on the plays of the creator of "Dandelion Wine". Dramaturgy Bradbury was fond of until the early seventies. At the same time, a collection of poems was published. Bradbury was published in various magazines, wrote stories, of which not all were related to the genre of fiction.

"451 degrees Fahrenheit"

In 1951 he published his main book, Bradbury. The biography of this American novelist, as has become clear, tells not only about fame and huge writing fees. Fame came to him a few years after the publication of "451 degrees Fahrenheit". At least in the homeland of Bradbury.

A brief biography, in which only the most important events from the life of the writer are stated, certainly mentions the incident that happened with him during the banquet dedicated to the Oscar. At the solemn event the writer got acquainted with the director Sergei Bondarchuk, who not only recognized the author of the famous anti-utopia, but preferred communication with him to acquaintance with Hollywood celebrities. The USSR was the most reading country, and its inhabitants the book about a society in which any aspirations to critically think are pursued, has appeared much closer, than to compatriots R.Bradbury.

In the biography of the hero of this article there are still many interesting facts. But before you talk about the last years of the writer's life, it's worth answering the questions: what is the uniqueness of the creative style of Bradbury? What contribution did he make to modern literature?

Features of creativity Bradbury

Biography and creativity of the American science fiction writer - the topic is quite interesting. Especially because, according to many, he was the most "not American writer". Bradbury was born and raised in the US, he is often called "the master of science fiction." At the same time his literature tends towards a parable, fantasy. And he himself raised in his works questions that worried a few of his countrymen. The tragedy of a society whose representatives are deprived of the ability to create, independently think, is shown in the book "451 degrees Fahrenheit". Yet Bradbury is perhaps the most optimistic writer of the last century. In most of his works, it is the joy of life or, as one of the critics put it, "the happy absorption of life experience" plays a major role.

Last years

Even when the writer was chained to a wheelchair, he did not stop working. His works were published every year. The last novel by Bradbury was published in 2006. At the age of 79, the writer suffered a stroke, after which he was partially paralyzed, but according to the writer's close and familiar, he did not lose his sense of humor and presence of spirit. In one of his last interviews, Ray Bradbury joked: "It's good to live up to a hundred. Then they will immediately give me some kind of bonus. Just because I'm not dead yet. "

Ray Bradbury died on the ninety-second year of life, June 5, 2012. After his death, an article was published in The New Yorker, in which this writer, along with Hemingway and Salinger, was named one of the most widely read American prose writers in the Soviet Union.