A Little Journey

Ray Bradbury (Ray Douglas Bradbury)Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.8

Word count: 15K words
Chapters: 2

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.A Little Journey by Ray BradburyAuthor: Bradbury, Ray, 1920-2012,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Feb 10, 2016

Editor's review

This is a short work by Ray Bradbury, made available as a free eBook by Project Gutenberg. Bradbury is known for his science fiction and fantasy short stories, and for infusing everyday scenes with unease and wonder; this piece likewise showcases his skill in concise storytelling and evocative imagery. The value of the Gutenberg edition lies in its convenient access and clean formatting, making it suitable as an introduction to the author's short fiction and for close reading in English literature classes. Read slowly and pay attention to hints in the environmental descriptions and dialogue, because Bradbury's turns often hide in the details rather than in overt plot developments. Note that the eBook page mainly provides bibliographic and release information; readers should go directly to the main text and not treat the description as a plot summary. Overall, this is a light but flavorful read, suitable for finishing in one sitting during spare moments.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English readers who want an initial taste of Bradbury's short fiction style
Students who need a short text for English close-reading practice
Readers who enjoy science fiction and fantasy short stories and prefer to finish in one sitting
Teachers looking for a discussable short text for the classroom

Not a good fit for

Science fiction readers seeking a full-length novel with extensive world-building
Readers who need a Chinese translation and are not comfortable reading the English original
Researchers expecting detailed author biography and work analysis

Reading tips

First read through to grasp the plot direction, then revisit the opening and ending to appreciate the echo between them.
Mark sentences describing the environment and characters' actions, and note the emotional hints within them.
After reading, retell the story in two or three sentences to check whether you have grasped the core turn.
If used in class, divide into groups to discuss the sense of openness the ending leaves with readers.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What are the language and edition details of this eBook?

This edition is released by Project Gutenberg, with the main text in English, classified under American and Canadian literature. It is a free eBook, easy to download and read on the go, but the page description mainly provides bibliographic information and does not offer a plot summary; readers need to go directly to the main text.

I haven't read other Bradbury works. Can I read this one directly?

Yes. This is a standalone short story and does not depend on prior events from other works. Knowing beforehand that he excels at creating wonder and unease in everyday scenes may help you enter the atmosphere, but it is not a necessary prerequisite.

Is this suitable as English learning material?

Yes. The short length makes it easy to finish in one sitting, and the concise language is good for practicing attention to detail and inferring implied meaning. It is better to read through first without seeking word-for-word understanding, then select key passages for close reading; this works better than sentence-by-sentence translation.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Ray Bradbury (Ray Douglas Bradbury) Author · American · 1920–2012

Ray Bradbury (1920–2012) was an American writer of science fiction and fantasy, born in Waukegan, Illinois. His best-known works include Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, and The Illustrated Man. Writing in a poetic style and preoccupied with questions of media and memory, he became one of the most influential speculative fiction writers of the twentieth century. In 1939 he founded his own science fiction fanzine, Futuria Fantasia, whose four issues were almost entirely written by himself; the Summer and Fall 1939 and Winter 1940 issues held in this collection belong to that series, which also includes the short story "A Little Journey." This self-published venture may be seen as the starting point of his professional writing career.