Bernardo's Reviews > The Illustrated Man

“If El Greco had painted miniatures in his prime, no bigger than your hand, infinitely detailed with all his sulphurous color, elongation, and anatomy, perhaps he might have used this man's body for his art. The colors burned in three dimensions. They were windows looking in upon fiery reality. Here, gathered on one wall, were all the finest scenes in the universe, the man was a walking treasure gallery. This wasn't the work of a cheap carnival tattoo man with three colors and whiskey on his breath. This was the accomplishment of a living genius, vibrant, clear, and beautiful.”

Ray Bradbury’s The Illustrated Man is a collection of short stories which in general seem to be dealing with the same kind of emotions, while not really being related to one another in terms of narrative. These stories transmit a kind of nostalgic sadness associated with them, a feeling I had already felt when I read Bradbury’s short story There Will Come Soft Rains.

While The Illustrated Man remains a collection of science fiction stories, its main theme isn’t science at all, but its human characters. Bradbury explores a wide range of themes which end up giving a sort of hidden narrative to most of these stories. As usual, his writing is excellent and a pleasure to read, which is something you would come to expect from him.

In the end, this is a great collection of short stories from one of the genre’s most well regarded writers. Bradbury’s writing, his creativity and the various themes involved throughout the collection all combine and end up making The Illustrated Man a very good and well worth reading experience.