I was reading some Bradbury a few years back, including The October Country, and I was struck with how bizarre his writing is. He uses some of the strangest metaphors and his writing style is quite eccentric. But a great many of his short stories--especially the older ones--are just brilliant. In many of his classic tales he hits hits the perfect note in terms of plot and character and especially in conciseness, his style always unique. Read his older stories such as The Kilimanjaro Device or The Sound of Thunder. I'm trying to think of one of his Martian stories about a guy all alone on Mars for many years suddenly finds messages to himself left by a younger version of himself. It's hilarious and tragic at the same time. But more importantly, it is so well constructed. It grabs you and doesn't let you go.

That said, Bradbury wrote a lot of freakin' stories and many of them just aren't all that great. I would recommend Bradbury: 100 Of His Most Celebrated Tales. The Martian Chronicles is great too.

Edit: The story I couldn't remember is called "Night Call, Collect" from I Sing The Body Electric.

President Camacho wrote:Honestly, tastes do change and I think the more a person reads the more they develop a preference in content and writing style but may still be pleasantly surprised every once in a while by something out of the norm.

Although I was being humorous (or attempting to be) in the above post, I find that older men enjoy poetry more so than younger men. Exhibit A is Dwill. Dwill is 100 years old and he loves poetry. You can't even expect him to respond to your posts unless its style is consistent with one form or another of poetry.

DWill is a hundred years old? No wonder he's so smart.

Yes he sucks the life from his mental patients little by little. They all complain about it but no one believes them... because they're crazy!

President Camacho wrote:Yes he sucks the life from his mental patients little by little. They all complain about it but no one believes them... because they're crazy!

I knew it! He just seems like a mind vampire.

What happens when I hit 1,000 posts?