Review: The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury

2 stars for The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury.

I am never an enthusiast where collection of short stories is concerned. But I make an exception after reading about The Illustrated Man in another book. Though I did not finish that book, I am glad that it leads me to this book and cannot wait to start reading. Why? Because the little introduction about a man completely covered in tattoos, tattoos that come to life when the night falls, totally captivates me.

It starts with a prologue in which a homeless man, a hobo, is sitting in front of his campfire eating his dinner of pork and beans when another man comes by. The hobo narrator thinks it is odd because it is a warm summer night and yet the guy is wearing a long-sleeved wool shirt, buttoned all the way up to his neck and over his wrists. The man asks if he can spend the night by the fire with the narrator, who welcomes him. Getting ready for bed, the man takes off his shirt and reveals that he is covered in tattoos. Beautiful, vibrant, mysterious illustrations.

The man tells the narrator that he got the illustrations, as he calls them, from a woman who turned out to be a time-traveling witch. Right after getting the tats, the guy realizes they are not just simple illustrations. They are enchanted. They move and they change and they tell stories. Of the future. Creepy, scary stories. Each illustration is a little story.

The man also tells the narrator not to look at him during the night, not to watch those illustrations tell their stories. And especially, he is not supposed to look at the one empty spot on the man's back because his own story will materialize there. But, of course, the narrator will look, right? Who wouldn’t? He can’t help himself. Mostly, the book consists of the stories as told by the illustrations that come to life as the narrator looks on. Eighteen illustrations, eighteen stories.

All of the stories have a common theme about conflict between technology and humanity. Considering that this book was written more than seventy years ago, it is amazing that the author is writing stories about the dangers of virtual reality and space travelling. As a reader, I wonder "Who’s the time traveller? That witch or the author?"

As mentioned earlier, I am never really into short stories. But for this book, I find myself looking forward to the next story and the next and the next. As I read on, I realise, there is no continuity on the stories. There is much potential to be had in the stories but the author simply uses it as a platform to tell some totally unrelated short stories. Surprisingly, I am actually fine with the standalone short stories. To me, it does not really matter so long as they are good stories about glimpses into the future. Some are interesting. But some are boring. And some feel dated though this cannot be helped as the book was published in 1951.

My favourite is the first story about the Happylife Home. It has a virtual-reality play room where the children can let their imagination run wild. Unfortunately, this first story leads me to set my expectations high and I feel greatly disappointed when the rest of the stories fail to deliver.


Publisher: Flamingo; New Ed edition
Publication date: 14 Nov 2005

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A classic collection of stories – all told on the skin of a man – from the author of Fahrenheit 451.

If El Greco had painted miniatures in his prime, no bigger than your hand, infinitely detailed, with his sulphurous colour and exquisite human anatomy, perhaps he might have used this man’s body for his art…

Yet the Illustrated Man has tried to burn the illustrations off. He’s tried sandpaper, acid, and a knife. Because, as the sun sets, the pictures glow like charcoals, like scattered gems. They quiver and come to life. Tiny pink hands gesture, tiny mouths flicker as the figures enact their stories – voices rise, small and muted, predicting the future.

Here are sixteen tales: sixteen illustrations… the seventeenth is your own future told on the skin of the Illustrated Man.

*Blurb from Goodreads*

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