This is not an ordinary book: it's a BookCrossing book! BookCrossing books are world travelers - they like to have adventures and make new friends...and every once in a while they even write home to say what they've been doing.

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Headed out directly from Better World Books as a wishlist tag - enjoy!

I loved all of Bradbury's earlier stuff; a few of his later works didn't do much for me, but these stories sound like good ones. I might have to try to snag a copy of this book myself. ;)

Ray Bradbury wrote one of the "books of my life": Dandelion Wine. Since then, I became an addict for his works. Well, we all need our addictions, don't we :-)

Thank you so much, hyphen8!

I truly enjoyed the first story, with Bradbury's sense of humour, sensitivity and humanity. "Somewhere a band is playing" is about the "fountain of youth". It sometimes reminded me of Jorge Luis Borges, and I guess Carlos Ruiz Zafón has been influenced by some of Bradbury's work.

I can't resist to transcribe some passages [SPOILERS ALERT]:
"Since we have been gifted with long lives, the least we can do is pass that gift on in inanimate objects - novels, poems, plays - books that rouse to life when scanned by a living eye. You must never receive a gift, ever, without returning the gift twice over. From Jesus of Nazareth to noon tomorrow, our baggage is the library and its silent speech. Each book is Lazarus, yes? And you the reader, by opening the covers, bid Lazarus to come forth. And he lives again, 'it' lives again, the dead words warmed by your glance"

"The great 'medicine' was finding that we were alive and loving it. We have celebrated every day of our lives. The celebration, the exhilaration, of worshipping the gift, has kept us young. Does that sound impossible? By simply knowing you're alive and looking at the sun and enjoying the weather and speaking it every moment of your existence, this ensures our longevity. We live every moment of our existence to the fullest, and that is a superb medicine. In that way, we refuse the darkness."

The second story wasn't so appealing to me, maybe because it is based on Herman Melville's Moby Dick, which I didn't like. But it's worth a reading, anyway.

The book will go to slipperbunny ASAP, when I return to the island

Sent to slipperbunny today.
Sorry for the delay. Life has been really tough lately.

Enjoy! :-)

Thank you so much for the book and the tea<3!

Though I do enjoy Bradbury's poetic way of writing, these stories didn't interest me much. The first one was ok, but I think both of the stories needed something more.

Released to the recycling shelf in Kamppi.