9 ♠ A Sound of Thunder


In this second round of the Deal Me In challenge, I was excited to read a classic by Ray Bradbury, whose works are new to me.  "A Sound of Thunder" is one of his best-known science fictions, and it's about a man named Eckels who signs up to go back in time on a safari - hunting dinosaurs, that is.

I guess I will always compare these kinds of plots to The Lost World by Conan Doyle, a big favorite of mine.  My overall feeling about "A Sound of Thunder" was that, in scope, it was trying too hard.  It covered the two big topics, prehistoric life and time travel, but there wasn't a lot of development, and the reader was asked to take a lot at face value.  For example, (spoiler in white):  Eckels's behavior seemed perfectly natural to me, and it's hard to imagine him being the first offender.  There were some good descriptions throughout, but also gratuitous cussing that felt like filler.

1.5 stars.  Decent read for waiting at the doctor's office, not worth it if you have more time.

Comments

cleopatra said…
I've only read a few Bradbury's but so far I'm definitely not a fan. Thanks for the review. I'll definitely skip this one.

BTW, I thought The Lost World was great, too!
January 11, 2015 at 10:12 PM
Anonymous said…
First of all: love the photo. :-)

Second of all, I'm a Bradbury fan, but haven't read this particular story, though I've often heard about it, so I am unable to defend him in this case. :-) He has another time-travel related story ("The Kilimanjaro Device") that's on my list for this year and that I'm looking forward to.

I was a big fan of the Lost World movies (and their knock-offs) growing up. Burroughs' "At the Earth's Core" and "Pellucidar" were other favorites.
January 12, 2015 at 11:54 AM
TracyK said…
Coincidentally, I just read this short story this morning. My husband handed me a huge book of time travel short stories, and I flipped through and chose this one to try. To be honest, I was not all that impressed and I had some of the same reactions you did. But I know I must have read the story many many years ago when I was in my twenties and probably liked it then. And I felt like I was reading a bit of history since it has become so well known.
January 12, 2015 at 1:18 PM
Marian said…
Yay, another fan! :) I so enjoyed the Professor Challenger books. Too bad they're not as well known!
January 16, 2015 at 5:44 PM
Marian said…
I'll haven't given up on Bradbury yet. :) Maybe my expectations were over the top - there are authors whose more famous works didn't really impress me (e.g. Oliver Twist), but I enjoyed their other books very much.
January 16, 2015 at 5:50 PM
Marian said…
When it comes to such a unique genre as time travel, I think there are certain stories that really define it for us, and everything else pales in comparison. H.G. Wells set it in stone for me, that one could go back in time and talk to people and live a fairly "normal" day! :) Though I am still intrigued by Bradbury's rendition, it just didn't convince me the way I was hoping.
January 16, 2015 at 5:56 PM
Beth said…
I am a big Bradbury fan, but this one did not impress me either. The Martian Chronicles is great, though.
April 9, 2019 at 11:38 AM
Marian H said…
Cool, I'll have to check it out! It's impossible to judge an author by one short story, and I've heard good things about Bradbury in general.
April 9, 2019 at 5:19 PM
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