The Murderer

by Ray Bradbury

One man's rebellion against the sensory overload brought on by ubiquitous electronics.

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Fiction, Classics, Audiobook, Crime

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1953

About the author

Ray Douglas Bradbury was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and realistic fiction.

Bradbury is best known for his novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and his short-story collections The Martian Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951), and The October Country (1955). Other notable works include the coming of age novel Dandelion Wine (1957), the dark fantasy Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962) and the fictionalized memoir Green Shadows, White Whale (1992). He also wrote and consulted on screenplays and television scripts, including Moby Dick and It Came from Outer Space. Many of his works were adapted into television and film productions as well as comic books. Bradbury also wrote poetry which has been published in several collections, such as They Have Not Seen the Stars (2001).

The New York Times called Bradbury "An author whose fanciful imagination, poetic prose, and mature understanding of human character have won him an international reputation" and "the writer most responsible for bringing modern science fiction into the literary mainstream".

Reviews

[Christi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible. He saw the future and it is Us.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story is about the meeting between the mental facility's psychiatrist and Mr. Brock, who calls himself The Murderer since he's keen on killing all technological devices. His first killing spree is the cause of his current arrest and detainment. He insists that machines (especially the noisy ones) keep people hostage from the world moving around them.

Even before their encounter the ambience proves that the culprit isn't wrong at all with his assumptions: the surroundings are filled with the melodies of different songs in every room and the doctor is constantly answering his wrist phone and multiple calls from acquaintances.

The most impressive part of this story is that it was written in 1950, therefore a long time before smartphones were invented and we became so dependent on them. In his brilliance Bradbury predicted how humanity would act in the coming millennium and created devices that closely recall those which keep us engrossed most of the day.

[nel · Rating 4 out of 5]

let a man hate noise

[Yolanda Sfetsos · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another story my daughter read for school and suggested I check out. I like Ray Bradbury and I enjoy a good short story, so I did.

Mr. Brock calls himself The Murderer because he's made it his mission to kill all the devices that hold people hostage every moment of the day. When the psychiatrist interviews him, Mr. Brock explains, in great detail and delight, how he went about doing it, and why...

This is is a short story that starts out suddenly and proves Mr. Brock's detailed assumptions about contraptions before we even meet him. That the psychiatrist is surrounded my never-ending music and takes several calls while walking down a busy office block before the interview is sheer brilliance.

I also liked how Ray Bradbury not only predicted OUR future, but created devices that echo the ones we have while also being totally unique. Loved that! Very clever.

One of my favourite things is when The Murderer refers to the TV as Medusa, because ain't that the truth?

Anyway. I felt bad for Mr. Brock. All he wanted was a bit of peace and quiet.

Is that really too much to ask for?

[Brett Minor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite being written over 60 years ago, this story really captures the image of the slaves our society has become to technology and having to always be connected. It is astoundingly accurate.

[Henni (hshouldbereading) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating:★★★½☆

I had to read that short story in my English class and I really enjoyed it.
It shows the impact technology has on our lives and describes an appalling future scenario where a man kills all the technological devices surrounding him because he couldn't stand them.

[Valter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!
Bradbury envisioned with astounding insight the era of constant connection and communication, of pervasive smartphones and media. 50 years before it happened.
Delightful, subversive and thought-inspiring.

[Juergen John Roscher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful short story about a man who can't live with electronic devices dominating his every wakening moment so he decides to do something about. Thus, he takes to murdering the devices that make his life unbearable.

This short-story was published in 1953. It is prophetic in how it depicts the time we live in with our hand held devices, cellphones, tablets, electronic watches, big-screen televisions, laptops, and so many other electronic gadgets. I sometimes feel like the murderer in this story. What I would give to take a hammer and smash some of my modern necessities.

I think it would be cool to do an update on this short-story on how electronics would influence our lives in 2080. Could we do as well as Bradbury did in this story?

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Then I went in and shot the televisor, that insidious beast, that Medusa, which freezes a billion people to stone every night, staring fixedly, that Siren which called and sang and promised so much and gave, after all, so little, but myself always going back, going back, hoping and waiting until-bang! Like a headless turkey, gobbling, my wife whooped out the front door. The police came. Here I am!"
Relatable

[Oleg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Visionary! All the annoyance of modern electronic-age notifications - from twitter, facebook, text messages, their constant distraction and therefore superficiality -- in one short story. Which was published seventy years ago.

[mark propp · Rating 5 out of 5]

words like prescient can be overused pretty easily, but in this case what other word is there.

personally, i don't mind having endless streams of data thrown at me by my phone or laptop, but i was expected to talk back that would make me snap.

[Christopher Moellering · Rating 5 out of 5]

As clearly as you could possibly envision 2020 from 1953.

[Bismah · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's kind of terrifying how accurate Bradbury predicted the future and how connected to each other we ended up being.

[Kiara · Rating 4 out of 5]

slightly too literal for my taste. after today i no longer trust technology. yes, i recognize the irony of reading this on my phone at an IT job

[hannah! · Rating 3 out of 5]

i mean, true.

[meerle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story, because it shoes how technology can influence someone's life

[Al · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prescient.

[Lois · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

[Jennifer Mafnas · Rating 4 out of 5]

bradbury saw the future somehow

[Lana Lazar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating take on technology - A+

[Sabrina AD]

Congrats to Ray bradbury for somehow catching how I feel about people blasting tiktoks from their phones on public transport in 1953.

[Madhukara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb read. Still relevant to today's age.

[Picka Ortiz · Rating 5 out of 5]

De mis favoritos de Bradbury

[catarina · Rating 4 out of 5]

everyone should read this short story

[Ruthie Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chilling! Bradbury saw the future, and we are living it.

[Forked Radish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apropos of the times, but don't compare squirrel chatter to human speech, it's demeaning to squirrels.

[Carito GM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nunca me decepciona en sus historias y ensayos. Un autor demasiado adelantado a su época es ahora cuando vemos lo visionario que fue con sus relatos que en aquel entonces, cuando escribió sus obras, era algo imposible de lograr y ahora son nuestra triste realidad.

[Caroline Paxton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had an interesting point of view on technology. For something written so long ago, this story is surprisingly accurate.

Favorite thing about the book: SHORT

[Stephanie Shimerdla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly prophetic. Well worth the quick read.

[Karla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haunting, how accurate Bradbury predicted modern technology back in the 1950s