A story prominently, and surprisingly, features astrology. ~~

Having enjoyed Michael Shaara's novel The Herald (see HERE) I made a point of acquiring the only other of his sci-fi work I could find: a novella or long short story Conquest Over Time. It had first appeared in a magazine, Fantastic Universe in 1956, has been re-published by Aegypan Press in a very slim volume. I sent to the UK for my bound copy, but note now that the story can be downloaded free - just Google the title if interested.

The title, Conquest Over Time, had led me to expect a different kind of tale. If that title fits at all it's only very obliquely. I was surprised to find that this is a story in which astrology plays a major part in the plot!

Nutshell synopsis:
Set in the far distant future. Civilisations both humanoid and other have spread far and wide across the universe. Our hero, Pat Travis, is the future's version of a big-time travelling salesman - bidding for commercial contracts on far-flung worlds, his job known as Contact Man: "one of the most hazardous occupations in history. Each new planet was wholly and completely new, there were no rules, and what you learned on all the rest meant nothing. You went from a matriarchy which refused absolutely to deal with men (the tenth ship to arrive had a lady doctor and therefore got the contract), to a planet where the earth was sacred and you couldn't dig a hole in it so mining was out, to a planet which considered your visit the end of the world and promptly committed mass suicide." So the job of Contact Man required many skills and plenty of luck. Travis had the reputation of being lucky, until he arrived on Diomed III, peopled by humanoids.

The inhabitants of Diomed III called their planet Mert, and lived their lives by strict astrological guidelines, believed that a person is exactly what his horoscope (calculated using their own alien astrological data), says he/she is. These people consulted astrology for every major decision, and by ill chance Travis had arrived on their planet on one of the worst-aspected days in history. (That's as far as I'll go with the plot to avoid spoiling it for others)

Although at the time of writing this story Michael Shaara, hadn't honed his craft to the high level of his Pulitzer Prize-winning The Killer Angels (1974) or the book I read recently The Herald (1981), he still had the knack of drawing in and holding on to the reader. He must have had some basic knowledge of astrology too - or more likely had consulted astrology text books - to have come up with this idea and developed it so well.

Snip:

"There are the seven planets" Navel was saying gravely, "and the two lights - that is, the sun and the moon. The first planet, that nearest the sun, is called Rym. Rym is the planet of intellect, of the ordinary mind. Second is Lyndal, the planet of love, beauty, parties marriage and things of a gentle nature. Third is Fors, planet of action, strife. Fourth is Bonken, planet of beneficence, of gain, money, health. Next comes Huck, orb of necessity, the Greater Infortune, which brings men most trouble of all. Then Weepen, planet of illusion, of dreamers and poets and, poorly aspected, liars and cheats. And finally there is Sharb, planet of genius, of sudden cataclysms."
"I see", Travis murmured.
"But it is not only these planets and their aspects which is important, it is also to be considered such houses and signs as through which these planets transit...." She went on, but Travis was having difficulty following her.

It's very clear that the author simply re-named our own planets - which was a bit of a cop-out. A writer with more in-depth knowledge and more confidence in their subject might have been able to invent a slightly different line-up of planetary "influences". Although, having said that, I'm not sure that a different set would have brought forth a race of humanoids. Hmmm. Tricky!

In case anyone is wondering, by the way, how the two could communicate in the same language, it was done via a device used by Travis, attached behind his ear.

PS:
Other novels with astrology prominent in their theme were listed in a post of January 2007: - see Novels Featuring Astrology.

Great Ill-timed Expectations. (Non-astro)

I often wonder how authors feel about their books, short stories and screenplays when time gives the lie, or more accurately, misjudgement to the timing of their storylines.

It's an odd experience to read science fiction, speculative fiction or stories set in a dystopian future, written many years ago, to find that the author's time-frame for his tale is now in the past. Nothing remotely close has happened, life has gone on, albeit with changes, discoveries, new technology and new traumas.

We tend to expect that, because during the lifetime of each generation, so many discoveries and technological changes occur, and we seemingly progress with breath-taking swiftness, that "the big picture" will change equally swiftly. After all, it's within my own lifetime that air travel became a possibility for ordinary people, that man first flew into space, walked upon the Moon. It'd seem reasonable enough to suppose that "the big picture" would speed along at the same perceived rate. That doesn't happen though, or at least it hasn't happened yet. The world at large isn't broadly different from the way it was in 1960, apart from the music, the fashions, gimmicks, cost of a beer, computers, blogs, the 3Gs, 4Gs, iPods, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Yes, I know things have changed, but then again much hasn't - not in the ways depicted by some novels.

Authors are storytellers of course, not prophets, astrologers or psychics. They do not attempt to predict events. However, the fact that they chose to set their stories in a specific time frame must indicate that, at the time of writing, they considered the chosen time frame to be realistic and reasonably believable.

George Orwell's 1984, and Arthur C. Clarke's 2001 A Space Odyssey are two of the best known examples. In the 1980s Alan Moore's V for Vendetta depicted a near-future UK after a nuclear war, which left much of the world destroyed.

A lesser known novel, Down to a Sunless Sea by David Graham is yet another example. I read it and was fascinated by the story many years ago when it was originally published (late 1970s/early 80s). I lent it to a friend at work, who lent it to another, it was then lost for ever. I was surprised, when I again flicked through a recently obtained copy of that novel, to note the date the author had specified for the story's action to take place: 1985. The world had exploded into nuclear war, eventually leading to a pole shift. How odd that seems now, more than 30 years later. Sure enough there have been wars and terrorism, but nothing matching the author's vision of a USA rapidly crumbling, hunger and violence everywhere, citizens trying desperately to escape from America. (Ahem).......erm.....Never mind!

Douglas Adams said:

Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.

He got that right!

SCI-FI FRI ~ Nuclear Hurricane & Absolon

Two common ingredients of science fiction movies came up in a couple of DVDs we watched recently: robots taking over, working against human interest; and corporations taking over and.... working against human interest. Both were "B"-ish movies at best, probably made for TV, low budget jobs but still interesting: Nuclear Hurricane and Absolon.

In Nuclear Hurricane (2007) a computer called STACI, with a sweet-cum-bitchy female voice has been allowed complete control of a nuclear plant situated on a remote island - location undisclosed. The cooling system becomes a problem just as the father of all hurricanes is headed straight towards the island and the plant. As the hurricane gets stronger, and with the nuclear core in serious danger of meltdown, time is not on its side, nor it appears is STACI. HAL of 2001 a Space Odyssey and GERTY of Moon have nothing on STACI when it comes to malevolent intent!

I picked up the DVD in a rental store for two reasons: the thought of life imitating art (cf. Fukushima), and the fact that Jack Scalia plays a leading part. OOOhhh - I remember Jack Scalia from TV's Dallas in the old days. Loved him. He was one of Sue Ellen's many love interests (see below).



I note that he was born on 10 November 1950 -Sun in Scorpio. Dang those Scorpio males, they do have some kind of hypnotic magnetism, arising from either looks or writing style: Carl Sagan, Richard Grossinger, to name a couple of others mentioned in past posts. As it turned out I didn't even recognise Jack until the last 20 minutes of the movie, I'd been waiting for the Dallas version to miraculously appear (silly me!) He has aged and widened quite a bit. Once recognised, though, the twinkle in his eyes and the kindly aura I fell for was still there.

Nuclear Hurricane held our interest - that's as much praise as I can muster. The storyline is fairly predictable for anyone familiar with the genre. For Jack Scalia fans of yesteryear though, it's good to see him again.



Absolon (2003) is yet another post-apocalyptic tale. Embarrassingly for the author it's set in 2010. A deadly virus has emerged and killed off at least half of the planet’s population. A scientist created a drug known as Absolon. The drug nullifies symptoms of the viral disease, enabling users to continue to live, but they must keep taking the drug - and guess who owns the drug: an evil corporation! They obtain even more power and domination than we yet see in real life (but we shouldn't hold our breaths). However, the same scientist also created a complete cure which would wipe out the disease forever. He is killed....surprise surprise. Guess by whom!

Lead actor is Christopher Lambert, female interest Kelly Brook. We didn't recognise Lambert, but we both remarked on his rather strange demeanour and accent. We decided he must be an unknown actor from somewhere in Europe. He's American-born it turns out, but of French parentage. His father was a United Nations diplomat assigned to Switzerland. Christopher was educated at private boarding schools in Geneva and at the Paris Conservatoire. In his glory days, the 1980s and 90s, he was as co-star of Highlander and its sequels. He also played Tarzan in the Greystoke movie.





From information gleaned online it appears that Lambert is myopic and cannot wear contact lenses. This means that when playing a role that doesn't allow him to wear eyeglasses he can't see much on set - which well explains that rather odd demeanour of his when not wearing the tinted shades.

I picked up a junk store VCR tape of Highlander the other day, it's a film I didn't see back in the day. It'll be interesting to note how Christopher Lambert rolled in his heyday.

He was born 29 March 1957 in Great Neck New York with Sun, Mercury, Venus in Aries, close to midheaven; Moon in Pisces; and (according to Astrodatabank) Cancer rising. Moon in Pisces and Uranus (in Leo) in first house of self go some way to explaining his draw to the fantasy/sci-fi genre. He was well-cast as The Highlander, a tale depicting the climax of an ages-old battle between immortal warriors, through interwoven past and present day storylines. Triple Aries at midheaven - immortal warrior? Yes siree-bob!

SCI-FI FRI ~ DUNE ~ Frank Herbert ~ A Wee Astro Blooper?

Dune, often referred to as the sci-fi equivalent of Lord of the Rings, inspired George Lucas's Star Wars and numerous later sci-fi books and films. Dune is set on a desert planet far, far away in a time futher into the future than I can comfortably get my head around. After watching DVDs of a TV mini-series based on Frank Herbert's 1965 novel, as well as other DVDs featuring it's sequel Children of Dune, I'm about to become a bit of a Dune junkie, am waiting eagerly for a copy of the original novel to arrive. Since drafting this post I've also watched a DVD of the critically trashed 1984 movie Dune, directed by David Lynch. Didn't enjoy it at all, and am glad I saw the TV miniseries first.



To place the events of Dune in some kind of time context, which my curiosity annoyingly demanded, I gleaned the following, from a variety of sources. At some point (possibly several hundred years from now?) the Earth had became a burnt out shell, due to either nuclear war or environmental devastation. By that time, however, humans had de-camped, conquered space and colonised many planets. Gradually, over tens of thousands of years they built up a huge interstellar empire. At some point artificial intelligence had begun to take over from humans. Wars were fought against intelligent computers and robots. Eventually many technological achievements were outlawed or destroyed. The interstellar empire is, at the time of Dune, ruled by an emperor and series of "Houses" of ruling families, something akin to the old Royal Houses of Europe. These Houses constantly conspire one against another, in eternal feud.



As Dune (TV min-series version) opens, stewardship of planet Arrakis is transferred by the Emperor from one noble House to another: from House Harkonnen to House Atreides. On Arrakis a tribe known as Fremen inhabit the harsh desert environment. Over time they (originally an exiled religious sect) have adapted their culture and way of life in order to survive. They are known for their fighting skills and ability to survive in the waterless desert. Fremen culture revolves around water conservation. Water distilled from their dead is carefully saved, they consider spitting to be an honorable greeting, and value tears as the greatest gift one can give to the dead.


When travelling outside of their base they wear "stillsuits" (left): body-enclosing suits designed to collect and recycle all the moisture the body releases, from urine, feces and sweat, to the exhalation of water vapor in the breath. The water re-cycled is held in catchpockets, available to drink through a tube.

Arrakis is of great importance to the empire being the only known source of a precious "spice" called Melange. This "spice" is a by-product of giant sandworms, and the most valuable material in the known universe. It is used for "folding time" to enable ease of space travel, and, when ingested endows prescience and longevity.




I spotted one possible astrological "blooper" in the mini-series. In the background of some indoor palace scenes (can't find a suitable photograph), in an area where a Bene Gesserit sorceress has her trappings, there's a big round window behind which you can see part of the circle of an astrological chart showing zodiac signs - OUR zodiac signs. Surely the Bene Gesserit sisterhood of magical mental-conditioning and superhuman powers would have devised a zodiac appropriate for their part of the universe? The familiar version shown wouldn't be of use on any planet other than Earth. I won't know whether this backdrop came from the TV set-designers' imaginations or from Frank Herbert's own descriptions until I've read the book. One could say, I guess, that what was displayed was a keepsake, an antique from "the Old Planet". But that old planet, original birthplace of all humans, lay so far in the distant past at the time of Dune that anything belonging to Earth or its memory, would be quite unlikely to have survived.

Backdrops and costumes blend styles borrowed from ancient Egypt, Peru, ancient Greece, medieval Europe and the Middle East. Whether these accurately reflect what Frank Herbert had in mind I wont know until I've read the book(s).... which could take some time!


As in many sci-fi/fantasy works there's an allegorical thread in Dune. Arrakis "spice" could easily be translated as oil. Arrakis, when pronounced, sounds spookily like Iraq, and the emperor's name, Shaddam Corrino IV - sounds like....well you know. Bear in mind though that the novel was published in 1965 - well before recent unpleasantnesses. A shrewd and very well-informed novelist like Frank Herbert could, perhaps, sense future developments.

“The function of science fiction is not always to predict the future but sometimes to prevent it.” ~Frank Herbert

If David Lynch couldn't fit Dune into a 2-hour movie, what chance do I have fitting the storyline into a tiny blog post? Enough to say that the epic tale develops via a mega-House feud and the emergence of a young prophet.

This is no "fluff" science fiction, it goes as deep as the reader/viewer is able to dive. It's clear that the attempts to adapt the book to either the big or small screen have only scratched the surface. Philosophical elements set around religion and its exploitation for political ends, manipulation of the gene pool, cloning, use and abuse of power and prophecy are examined. We are asked to consider, for instance whether, if we knew too much about the future that we would lose the power to make a difference. Should we ever place so much reliance on certain commodities ("spice", water..... oil) that we eventually find ourselves at the mercy of others who might wish to destroy us? Heavy stuff indeed!

There's new terminology to get to grips with - evidence of how dense is the detail in Dune.



FRANK HERBERT


Frank Herbert, creator of Dune and its five sequels, as well as sundry other novels, was born on 8 October 1920 in Tacoma, Washington at 7:30 AM (Astrodatabank).



Frank Herbert decided by the time he was 8 years old what he wanted to do with his life: become an author. He became a journalist first, after service in the navy, then began writing short stories, then novels, leading up to the epic Dune, with a series of sequels coming much later.

Herbert was an avid researcher. The depth, richness and scope of his imagination and creativity grew out of his reading, his curiosity and tireless questioning on many different fronts. His idea for Dune arose out of research he did for a magazine article (never published) about shifting sand dunes in the US.

.... he hung on to all his notes and ecological data, and eventually he began to play with the idea of an entire planet of sand dunes..... The end result, six years later, was a magnum opus that combined elements of religion, philosophy, politics, environmentalism, drug addiction, and evolutionary extrapolation -- all into a groundbreaking work that far surpassed anything produced in science fiction before. Dune was acknowledged as being at once a work of great literature, richly detailed, convincingly unfolded, and a work of fascinating ideas and predictions. Most significant within the latter category: his representation of the politics of trade cartels (a stunning parallel of OPEC's later significance in the late 70s), his allegorical message on the consequences of environmental shortsightedness, and his examination of the psychology of messianic movements..... (SEE HERE)

Herbert's attention to detail is easy to find in his natal chart - three planets in detail-oriented Virgo: Moon/Jupiter/Saturn. Virgo is one of two signs ruled by Mercury the writer's planet (the other being Gemini).

Mercury itself lay in Scorpio and forms part of a Grand Trine (harmonious linked circuit) in Water signs linking Mercury, Pluto and Uranus. The fact that Mercury (writing/communication)links to Uranus (futuristic) and Pluto (darkness and the unknowable) reflects well his chosen genre: science fiction.

Sun and ascendant in Airy, mentally oriented Libra link by helpful sextile to Neptune, planet of creativity, imagination and dreams. Sci-fi/fantasy ingredients are all there, and all nicely linked-in!

Arty Farty Friday: At the Movies ~ The Adjustment Bureau & Limitless

Arty Farty Friday this week features a couple of movies instead of paintings or photographs. It's all art, n'est-ce pas ?

While we were out of town last week we saw two movies: The Adjustment Bureau and Limitless.

I've been digging around my memory cells to discover why I found a certain similarity, or even continuity in the movies' themes, in spite of the fact that we saw them in the wrong order for any thought of potential continuity to have immediately kicked in.

The realisation that, in both stories, adaptations of literary works: a Philip K. Dick short story, and a novel by Alan Glynn, a lead character of senator is used, at the beginning of one and at the end of the other. I fancifully imagined that with a little bit of re-writing the two might easily dovetail: Limitless coming first, with The Adjustment Bureau carrying on a sequel to the tale.

Before going off at a tangent though, a bit of astrology. I'm posting the natal chart of Philip K. Dick (data from Astrodatabank with a AA rating (the most reliable of all). He wrote The Adjustment Team, the short story which provided screenwriters with the basic premise for The Adjustment Bureau.

How's about this for the chart of a sci-fi writer!? Classic!








Uranus (planetary ruler of everything futuristic, unexpected, eccentric) smack-dab on his ascendant. Moon and Venus in Aquarius (ruled by Uranus). Venus and Uranus in harmonious sextile and linked via two quincinx aspects (150*) to Neptune (planet of creativity and fantasy). But there's more: another, similar, formation (these are called "Yods" or Fingers of Fate). The second one has Neptune linked by sextile to dynamic Mars, with the pointer hitting Venus ( planet of the arts). There's even a third Yod: Moon and Saturn in sextile pointing to Pluto - not quite as obvious a connection as the other two, but still significant because Saturn rules career, Pluto rules darkness and secrecy. Astrologers consider that, in a Yod formation, the "energies" attributed to the two sextiled planets are blended and funnelled through the energy attributed to the planet at the apex of the formation.

Back to the movies:

Both films are what I call science-fiction-lite. No aliens, no transformers, no spacecraft or time travel. Situations are abnormal but play out with normal-ish characters and backrops.

A quick run-down in reverse order of our viewing: Limitless is the story of a down-at-heel writer (very well played by Bradley Cooper), a self-confessed loser suffering a mega-dose of writer's block. He has the opportunity to try an experimental drug which enhances brain function. He does so and in a flash attains the IQ of a genius with engaging charisma and boatloads of self-confidence. Of course, to maintain this wondrous mental capacity he needs to continue taking "the pill". Thereby hangs this tale, adapted from Alan Glynn's novel The Dark Fields. I haven't read the book but researches confirm that the movie is a close match apart from the ending. As it happens both my husband and I agreed that the movie ending was contrived at best, phoney at worst, and left quite the wrong message. Without giving away more of the plot, and the reason why the two might possibly dove-tail, I'll move rapidly on to:

The Adjustment Bureau is adapted from a short story by sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick. I haven't read the story, but understand from those who have that the movie bears little resemblance to it, apart from using the barest bones of the story's main proposition. Still, it was an engaging enough movie, we thought. Matt Damon plays the lead: an inspirational and honest congressman (a rare enough breed for sure) running for the Senate, but badly defeated due to some saucy revelations from his past. However his concession speech at defeat so inspires his audience that a come-back seems assured, even progress past the Senate to the presidency is whispered as a likely outcome - in time. But then love comes along and hits him between the eyes. He meets a dancer (Emily Blunt) - they are soulmates at first sight. The fun begins. The Adjustment Bureau's people take over.

This film, on one level, is a story concerning the different layers of reality, and fate/destiny - how they might work in a sci-fi-lite world. On a whole other level, though, the story could be seen as explaining that what we choose to call "fate" or "destiny" is nothing more than the consequence of our using free will to its fullest extent.

No more detail so as not to spoil the fun for others. Both movies are well worth a look. On a scale of 1 to 10 I'd give them both a 7.5.

"Equilibrium" & Christian Bale

We watched the 2002 movie "Equilibrium" on Sci-fi channel the other night. While it's not the best sci-fi movie I've ever seen, I enjoyed it - apart from some of the over-long action sequences involving a fictional martial arts gun skill called "Gun Kata".

The storyline, by Kurt Wimmers, is set in a 21st century world, after a 3rd world war has left utter devastation in its wake. Those who then assumed power had decided that a fourth war would wipe out life on Earth entirely. They determined that the way to avoid that would be to supress all human emotion and passion in humans. A totalitarian-type state emerges. The population is completely controlled, forced to dose regularly on a drug which prevents them from feeling any emotion. A ruling class of "clerics", highly trained in martial arts, with a chief known as "Father" has the job of supressing resistance from the few humans who have managed to escape the drug regime and retained their emotions. These unfortunates, when caught, are ritually incinerated alive.

Finally, it's a fight between good and evil (isn't it always?) An original good intention, to prevent war, had turned into an almost bigger evil than war itself.



I was particularly interested in the basic premise, because I'd had the same fundamental idea in my own, one and only attempt to write a short story, "Regions of the Homewind" (here). In my story's world the banishing of strong emotion to protect the human species had taken on a different, and more kindly, complexion.

A quote from "Equilibrium"

Mary: Let me ask you something.
[Grabs his hand]
Mary: Why are you alive?
John Preston: [Breaks free] I'm alive... I live... to safeguard the continuity of this great society. To serve Libria.
Mary: It's circular. You exist to continue your existence. What's the point?
John Preston: What's the point of your existence?
Mary: To feel. 'Cause you've never done it, you can never know it. But it's as vital as breath. And without it, without love, without anger, without sorrow, breath is just a clock... ticking.

Christian Bale played the leading part of Cleric John Preston with some style, I thought. I took a look at his natal chart. This is a 12 noon version as his time of birth is unknown.

No wonder he was able to play a person with no emotion so well - he has no planets in Water signs (the emotional signs) in his natal chart. He has Sun and two personal planets in Aquarius, a sign said by some astrologers to be cool, aloof, and fairly emotionless. OOOokay, says this Aquarian blogger! Also, I'm noting that the Moon's apogee (Black Moon Lilith) the point at which Moon is farthest from the Earth, falls close to Bale's natal Sun. I don't know how significant that might be, but, bearing in mind that the Moon represents, among other things, our mother and our emotions, a news story involving Bale recently, recorded at Wikipedia might be relevant:

On 22 July 2008, Bale attended a London police station by appointment and was arrested in connection with an alleged assault on his mother, Jenny, and sister, Sharon, who called the authorities. After being held for more than four hours, he was released on bail, pending further investigation. He denied the allegations and on 14 August, 2008 British police declared that they would take no further action against him. The charges were dismissed for lack of evidence.

There have been other angry outbursts on sets of his films too.
Bale himself has said,"If everyone really knew what a jerk I am in real life, I wouldn't be so adored in the slightest."

He has aggressive Mars in Aries (strong in its own sign) and square his natal Sun - a constant challenge to his "self". His natal Moon could be in either late Aries or early Taurus - I'd guess Taurus - it's in conflicting Earthy element to his Airy Sun, whereas Aries would make for a more harmonious inner/outer self (Moon/Sun) . There seems to be some underlying conflict in his nature, if news stories are anything to go by.

There is a nice Grand Trine in Air signs in Bale's chart. It links Uranus, Saturn and Mercury - a harmonious circuit indicating easy intellect, though with unpredictable thought patterns and a hard Saturnian edge to his attitudes.

Ray Bradbury - A Surprising Chart

I've just finished reading Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451". Bradbury is probably the world's most repected science fiction writer. I read many of his short stories in my youth, but hadn't read anything of his for many years until now. When I started the book I was a wee bit irritated by his over-done, highly descriptive passages. My reading eye had been too much exercised by reading journalist news reporting and dry astrology text books! I soon got re-oriented, and began to appreciate and enjoy the difference.

I wondered whether Mr Bradbury's natal chart would reflect his lifelong obsession with fantasy and the future. He was born on 22 August in Waukegan, Illinois, at 4.50pm.




Hmmmm - Well, that's not exactly what I'd expected ! Old fashioned Capricorn rising; future oriented Uranus opposing his Sun and other planets.... Saturn conjunct Venus. But wait - Mercury, the writer's planet is conjunct Neptune (fantasy) and there are 4 planets in Leo - one of the most creative signs in the zodiac. Maybe I should find out a little more about him before I complain!

There's evidence of his attraction to fantasy here, but old fashioned Saturn conjunct Venus planet of the Arts, Capricorn rising, and Uranus (which I'd have thought was the science fiction writer's planet) is opposing his natal Sun.

From Astrodatabank's Wiki pages

"Bradbury collects things - books, toys, antiques, auto parts and literally anything that he can get his hands on, all of it going into the bric-a-brac chaos that he calls his office. During lecture tours he has cris-crossed the country by train inasmuch as he never flies, and has never learned to drive a car. Railroad timetables are stacked in his office, suggesting a story to him as does every other item of his odd flea-market of junk. (He declares that he will only ride in a car if he can cower in the back seat.) Perhaps it is his amiable wit as well as his grasp of the fascination of the odd and macabre that makes him so beloved a writer of the genre."

Aha! He might write about the future, but he's stuck in the past himself!



To get more a "feel" for the man, some of his quotes are helpful. These, on the topic of computers, shine even more light on his Capricorn rising and his Uranus-Sun opposition:

Bill Gates and his partners are flimflamming America. (1995)

I don't understand this whole thing about computers and the superhighway. Who wants to be in touch with all of those people? (Brown Daily Herald, March 24, 1995.)

Who do you want to talk to? All those morons who are living across the world somewhere? You don't even want to talk to them at home. (On the topic of Internet chat rooms)

Video games are a waste of time for men with nothing else to do. Real brains don't do that. On occasion? Sure. As relaxation? Great. But not full time -- And a lot of people are doing that. And while they're doing that, I'll go ahead and write another novel. (Salon.com, August 29, 2001)

Fee-fi-fo-fum....I smell the bood of a reactionary! There's more.......

The current science fiction writers are a bunch of jerks. As for cyberpunk, it's crap -- you can't read it. (Brown Daily Herald, March 24, 1995.)

And - shock horror - his politics!!

[George W. Bush is] wonderful. We needed him. Clinton is a s***head and we're glad to be rid of him. And I'm not talking about his sexual exploits. I think we have a chance to do something about education.... It doesn't matter who does it -- Democrats or Republicans -- but it's long overdue. (Salon.com, August 29, 2001)

The great thing is our counter-revolution that occurred in the polls a few weeks ago. I think it's great. All the Democrats are out and the Republicans are going to have a chance in a couple of years. It doesn't make a difference what party you belong to--it's a chance for a fresh start. It's very exciting. (Speaking about the "Republican Revolution" of 1994)

These, I like though:

If we listened to our intellect we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go in business because we'd be cynical: "It's gonna go wrong." Or "She's going to hurt me." Or,"I've had a couple of bad love affairs, so therefore . . ." Well, that's nonsense. You're going to miss life. You've got to jump off the cliff all the time and build your wings on the way down.


Stuff your eyes with wonder. Live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made up or paid for in factories.

So, his natal chart does describe him after all! I have a feeling that he and I would not get on, much as I love science fiction, and much as I admire Mr. Bradbury's writing skills.




Quotes from
http://www.spaceagecity.com/bradbury/quotes.htm

Time-wise

I often wonder how writers feel about their stories and books when time gives the lie, or more accurately the misjudgement, to the timing of their plotlines.

It's an odd experience to read science fiction and post-apocalyptic novels and short stories written many years ago, finding that the author has set his plot in a time-frame which now, in 2007, is in the past. Nothing remotely close to their imaginings has happened - life has gone on, albeit with changes, some discoveries, new technology and a few new traumas. The authors were storytellers, not astrologers or psychics, they were not predicting events. The fact that they set their plots in a specific time frame, though, indicates that they considered the chosen date to be realistic and believable, at the time of writing.

George Orwell's "1984", and Arthur C. Clarke's "2001 A Space Odyssey" are two of the best known examples. A lesser known book called "Down to a Sunless Sea" by David Graham is yet another. I bought a secondhand copy this week. I'd read it back when it was originally published (first in the UK then in the USA) in the late 70s/early 80s. I lent it to a friend , who lent it to another, and it was lost for ever. I was surprised when I flicked through the book again to see the date the author had specified for the action to take place - 1985. The world had exploded into nuclear war, eventually leading to a pole shift. How odd that seems now, 22 years later. Sure enough there have been flurries of war and terrorism, but nothing matching the author's vision - USA crumbling, hunger and violence everywhere, citizens trying desperately to escape from America to Europe. Perhaps what he imagined for 1985 is yet to come - or perhaps it will remain an author's imaginings for ever.

There are some examples of similar misjudgements, related to TV presentations at TV Tropes Wiki (scroll down to section on "TIME".) A remark made there highlights an interesting point:
" Writers in the 1950s and 1960s thought that placing something in "The Year 2000" was as good as placing it a million years in the future. Even today, The Future is generally 300-500 years hence, even if we've developed a vast star-faring civilization. Some of this is a product of the progress-mania of the early 20th century -- after all, if in your lifetime, you'd seen mankind go from inventing the airplane to walking on the moon, it didn't seem all that unreasonable that we'd be living on Jupiter by 1999. This sort of thing gives many shows set Twenty Minutes Into The Future a shelf-life of about fifteen minutes. "

What surprises me most is not what authors imagine, but that they risk specifying dates. This can detract from a very good tale. In spite of the fact that a story is just that - a story, many readers must find themselves wearing a slight sneer when dates now well past are specified: "Neener neener neener. It didn't happen!"

I think we can be reasonably certain that many of the thoughts we have about 2008, 2010 and 2012 will prove to be just as misjudged as some plotlines from past literature.