Hello!
When I was thinking about what book to write about for today’s “Writer Wednesday”, the idea of hot dogs and summer came to mind and made me think of Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles. What have hot dogs got to do with Mars? You may be asking this question, if you’ve not read the book. In short, Bradbury chronicles life on Mars- from a Martian and earthling perspective as various generations travel from our green planet to the famous red planet. Mars becomes so settled that hot dog stands even pop up on it.
Mars, out of all planets, seems to capture the imagination most. “Men from Mars” and even “women from Mars” in the classic episode, “Lucy is Envious” of the 1950s sitcom I Love Lucy, have drawn the imaginations of many. Imagination perhaps is the true key. Mars is close enough to be able to comprehend, but foreign and exotic enough to be utterly different.
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| “Lucy is Envious”- I Love Lucy |
In the days of Medieval and Renaissance exploration, people imagined giant sea monsters and wondered at what marvels and frights were just beyond their edge of the world. Today, our own earth is no longer a mystery to us. We travel a bit farther to a place such as Mars.
At the heart of Bradbury’s story seems to be the idea of exploration, of making something our own, of relating to something new until it becomes normal or even commonplace, like a corner hot dog stand. Perhaps, more so than Mars, what we are discovering is really imagination itself. In it, there are endless possibilities and one of the strongest mediums for exploration of this wide frontier is fiction. Fiction, like Mars, is accessible to the mind but vast enough to offer exciting new possibilities – stretching the limits of our imagination.
My best to you all,
Megan