Reviews

Green Shadows, White Whale by Ray Bradbury

nwhyte's review against another edition

http://nhw.livejournal.com/86784.html[return][return]It's the story of young sf writer Ray Bradbury, brought to Ireland by film director John Huston, to write a screenplay for Moby Dick. Huston comes across as a real monster, incessantly bullying his wife, Bradbury and other colleagues, with almost no redeeming features. I found Bradbury's portrayal of Ireland and the Irish irritating at first and then I realised that he was doing nothing more than writing in his usual style; it might as well have been Mars.[return][return]The short stories dropped into the narrative - including two with fantasy elements, which I list on my web page - are the best bits of a very uneven book. The only other "novel" I've read by Bradbury, To the Dust Returned, was equally uneven. Perhaps he is someone who needs the discipline of the short story form to write quality stuff. For

arationalvein's review against another edition

4.0

*Read for prompt Muggle Studies*

mirandasydney's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

jeffy's review against another edition

my review

abomine's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I came to this book expecting it to be more about Ray Bradbury's writing process and his manner of adapting Moby-Dick to screenplay. While there was a little bit of that, much more emphasis was placed on his experiences with the people and places of Ireland, as well as his complicated, love-hate relationship with director John Huston. 

One very telling detail of that relationship was Bradbury's frequent references to "The Beast", and it was not often made clear whether he was talking about the book, the whale, or the director. John Huston directed some classic films, but he was also (to put it mildly) callous and abrasive. Bradbury writes of his personal interactions with this man candidly, but without (too much) malice.

The stories of Bradbury's Irish friends take up a majority of this book. Some stories were ones Bradbury participated in, others were heard second-hand (almost always in a pub), all were a superb mixture of tragedy and comedy. The story about the homeless accordion player was, for me, particularly powerful.

As it is, it's a beautifully written love letter to the Emerald Isle, lyrical, comic, and tragic all at once. I was personally hoping for a bit more Moby-Dick stuff, but that's just because I'm Moby-Dick trash. This book wasn't really meant for Moby-Dick fans, anyway. It was written for Bradbury fans (I am one), for fans of travel memoirs (though it isn't really a travel memoir), and for fans of quirky larger-than-life characters. If a reader meets any one of those qualifications, they're bound to find something worthwhile here.

nicholasbobbitt1997's review against another edition

3.0

While I liked this book, I have to agree with other reviewers in that it plods along.

cschack's review against another edition

4.0

This is part recollection, part fiction. Bradbury weaves some Irish-themed (which you may have read in other collections) stories into a framework about the time he worked with John Huston to write the screenplay for "Moby DIck". Lots of time is spent in the country pub, and while Bradbury's prose often runs purple here as elsewhere, the pub really is the perfect setting. Your mileage may vary, but for a film nut and Bradbury fan, this is a double treat.