The Martian Chronicles

One of the 2012 resolutions is to read a book a week. Since this is the seventh week of 2012, I should be on my seventh book. Unfortunately, I am running behind. I am only reading my third book.

Book 1: 하나님의 대사 2, 김하중 (I read the second one of the Christian series written by the former ambassador to China, Ha Jung Kim.)

Book 2: The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury

Last fall, I read one of Bradbury's short stories, 'The Veldt,' on the subway. The story was so intriguing that my usual one-hour-long train trip seemed to end only in ten minutes. In the book, Bradbury depicts threats from advanced science in hyperbole. Bradbury really got me. His extreme imaginations on danger in technology did not stop questioning me about potential horrors in the future or even in the current generation. After 'The Veldt,' I wanted to read Bradbury's other works, expecting another surge of questions on science today.

The Martian Chronicles is now sitting on my desk. Again, science and technology play bad roles in the book. They provide humans not only with a mean to destroy the Earth but also with a way to land on Mars and destroy that neighbor planet as well. It is rather absurd. As a result of advancing technology, humans end up destroying two planets. Maybe Bradbury uses even absurdity to get attention on the coming danger in developing technology.

Another observation from the story is the unchanging human tendency to be discontent. In other words, the problematic nature of humans cannot be defeated by external changes such as moving to Mars. I do not think a single character finds genuine happiness in Mars.  

Honestly, I do not recall too many remarkable thoughts from the book. Sporadic reading makes it hard to digest a book; however, the rather discontinuous story line does not help me dig into the book either.