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The Bradbury Report
The year is 2071. It is a world very recognizable to our own, only now the United States has implemented a wide-scale, government-run cloning program that is tied directly to health insurance. Each US citizen has a "Copy" living separately in a cleared zone in the Midwest. If an "Original" is sick or injured and requires surgery, whatever he or she needs is taken from their clone. In the two decades since the program's inception, no person outside the government has ever seen their Copy or been inside the Clearances, and no clone has ever successfully escaped--until now. The Bradbury Report is a fascinating meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of as a race and society. It is a powerful work of speculative fiction, beautifully written, about love, identity, free will, aging, and intelligence that will linger with you long after reading.
9 pages, Audio CD
First published April 15, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
October 8, 2012
I did not finish this. I was willing to overlook the appalling naivete displayed by the author of economics. I was willing to overlook the sheer implausibility of the premise, as there may have been time to explain.
I was less willing to overlook the complete lack of believability in the setting. This is 2071 -- except that you would think it was the early 2000s. If this book had been written in 1980 I might have been more tolerant. People don't even read the newspaper today! Cell phones, brief mentions of the web... I think worse pollution is all there is to distinguish technology from 10 years ago. Jobs are the same, vehicles are the same, the web is there but all but unused.
But I kept at it for a while. I only gave up due to the immense tedium. Did someone tell Polansky he had to hit a certain number of words? Here is a sample of what nearly the whole book is like (at least as far as I got). It was people having a conversation where they always repeat what the other person says, then confirm. Tedious and maddening.
"Did you know him?"
"No, I did not know him."
"So you didn't know him."
"No, I did not know him."
Life is too short to waste on this rubbish.
Aside: The reader for this audio version did a good job--he fit the narrator of the story well. It's not his fault the book is crap.
I was less willing to overlook the complete lack of believability in the setting. This is 2071 -- except that you would think it was the early 2000s. If this book had been written in 1980 I might have been more tolerant. People don't even read the newspaper today! Cell phones, brief mentions of the web... I think worse pollution is all there is to distinguish technology from 10 years ago. Jobs are the same, vehicles are the same, the web is there but all but unused.
But I kept at it for a while. I only gave up due to the immense tedium. Did someone tell Polansky he had to hit a certain number of words? Here is a sample of what nearly the whole book is like (at least as far as I got). It was people having a conversation where they always repeat what the other person says, then confirm. Tedious and maddening.
"Did you know him?"
"No, I did not know him."
"So you didn't know him."
"No, I did not know him."
Life is too short to waste on this rubbish.
Aside: The reader for this audio version did a good job--he fit the narrator of the story well. It's not his fault the book is crap.
April 23, 2012
Things I liked:
It was true to character. The "report" is written in first person and he stays true to his self described lack of creativity. Yes, it was tedious at times, but a socially awkward man such as Ray would have sounded like that.
The narrator was great.
Didn't like:
Lack of answers. Very few of the things I wanted to know were asked or addressed.
Sexual content. Could have done without it and it didn't fit into the book. That was probably the only thing I found inconsistent, so I wondered if it was added to the book so it would have sexual content. Nope, did not like it and would not recommend the book based on this alone.
The jumping around in time was a little hard to follow. Perhaps if I'd read it rather than listened to it it wouldn't have confused me so much. I did like all the additional info, but having it come non-chronologically was complicated for me.
A little bit of offensive potty mouth.
I would have expected the future to be a little more.... advanced. If we have clones, would we also have more cooler technology?
Overall:
Not a bad book. If the sexual content was gone, I would have given it more stars. The rest I could have lived with. Well, I'd have liked to know more about the clone, but at least he made it believable as to why we don't learn more. But I would no recommend this to my friends.
It was true to character. The "report" is written in first person and he stays true to his self described lack of creativity. Yes, it was tedious at times, but a socially awkward man such as Ray would have sounded like that.
The narrator was great.
Didn't like:
Lack of answers. Very few of the things I wanted to know were asked or addressed.
Sexual content. Could have done without it and it didn't fit into the book. That was probably the only thing I found inconsistent, so I wondered if it was added to the book so it would have sexual content. Nope, did not like it and would not recommend the book based on this alone.
The jumping around in time was a little hard to follow. Perhaps if I'd read it rather than listened to it it wouldn't have confused me so much. I did like all the additional info, but having it come non-chronologically was complicated for me.
A little bit of offensive potty mouth.
I would have expected the future to be a little more.... advanced. If we have clones, would we also have more cooler technology?
Overall:
Not a bad book. If the sexual content was gone, I would have given it more stars. The rest I could have lived with. Well, I'd have liked to know more about the clone, but at least he made it believable as to why we don't learn more. But I would no recommend this to my friends.
February 6, 2011
This book had one of the best premises I've come across in a long time. Set in the future, everyone in America has a clone (for replacement parts, apparently) One clone escapes their "farm" and it turns out that this clone is the protagonist's own.--- Sadly, the writer has to have the dullest style I've come across in a long time as well -- I just couldn't finish this book.
********
This is being written about a month after the above. Finding myself with nothing to read and being snowed in, I returned to "The Bradbury Report" and finished it. I must remember, even if a book doesn't immediately engage, neither do some people. There are treasures out there, and the reason (I think) that the author uses such dispasssionate prose is because the moral questions in this book are tremendously important.
If one gets to know his own clone (as happens in the book)-What happens if your heart gives out? What does the clone think of his own worth when it is revealed to him who (and what) he is.
This is a heavy, but wonderfully thoughtful book. I haven't devoted much time to the moral questions of human cloning -- it seems to be so much science fiction at this point. The truth of the matter is, at this moment in time, the actual cloning of a human being is quite possible, even if only in theory as yet. The science is here: do we use it?
Is one's own life so very, dreadfully important that we have the moral permission to create a human being for "spare parts", as it were? When Alan, the clone in question, is told about being a clone and why he has been born, he is devastated, losing all sense of self. "I am a bag of parts to be used when they are needed."
********
This is being written about a month after the above. Finding myself with nothing to read and being snowed in, I returned to "The Bradbury Report" and finished it. I must remember, even if a book doesn't immediately engage, neither do some people. There are treasures out there, and the reason (I think) that the author uses such dispasssionate prose is because the moral questions in this book are tremendously important.
If one gets to know his own clone (as happens in the book)-What happens if your heart gives out? What does the clone think of his own worth when it is revealed to him who (and what) he is.
This is a heavy, but wonderfully thoughtful book. I haven't devoted much time to the moral questions of human cloning -- it seems to be so much science fiction at this point. The truth of the matter is, at this moment in time, the actual cloning of a human being is quite possible, even if only in theory as yet. The science is here: do we use it?
Is one's own life so very, dreadfully important that we have the moral permission to create a human being for "spare parts", as it were? When Alan, the clone in question, is told about being a clone and why he has been born, he is devastated, losing all sense of self. "I am a bag of parts to be used when they are needed."
October 13, 2013
I understand if there are readers who don't like this book. I am actually surprised I like it as well as I do.
firstly -while considered sci-fi- the book has little of the genre about it. yes there are clones, but the story's focus is the human aspect rather than the scientific. coming from the issue in this way, there is no action and -some might argue- not a lot of plot.
secondly there is a plethora of detail included in the first person singular narrative. that type of story is problematic in that, an individual's reaction to it, is even more subjective than other types of prose.
for some reason I really like the narrator and the description, but I get why some would find it boring.
what The Bradbury Project does have that is inherent in the sci fi genre is the exploration of the topic ..... a look at the ethical questions of cloning as a practice and the moral obligations of the creator.
i'm about 3/4's of the way done and looking forward to the conclusion.
firstly -while considered sci-fi- the book has little of the genre about it. yes there are clones, but the story's focus is the human aspect rather than the scientific. coming from the issue in this way, there is no action and -some might argue- not a lot of plot.
secondly there is a plethora of detail included in the first person singular narrative. that type of story is problematic in that, an individual's reaction to it, is even more subjective than other types of prose.
for some reason I really like the narrator and the description, but I get why some would find it boring.
what The Bradbury Project does have that is inherent in the sci fi genre is the exploration of the topic ..... a look at the ethical questions of cloning as a practice and the moral obligations of the creator.
i'm about 3/4's of the way done and looking forward to the conclusion.
August 5, 2019
The concept had such potential! It's the later part of the 21st century in the U.S. People have the option of having clones created to supply their medical needs. Those who opt out of having a "copy" receive little health care. The clones are sequestered in a special area of the country. No one is allowed to ever meet their clone. Somehow Ray's clone has escaped the compound and Ray will get to know him...I know right??!! Sounds exciting...but sadly this was not the case.
I really hoped and tried that the story would grab me. After over 300 pages I knew about as much about the life of the clone before he met Ray as I did on page 100. There were SO many unanswered questions...by the end I just didn't care about the fate of these characters.
I really hoped and tried that the story would grab me. After over 300 pages I knew about as much about the life of the clone before he met Ray as I did on page 100. There were SO many unanswered questions...by the end I just didn't care about the fate of these characters.
July 17, 2014
This was a very interesting concept, but very blandly and slowly executed. There wasn't much action, just science and time. The ending was good, though I would have liked to know the Tall Mans reaction to what he discovered.
August 15, 2024
Silly. He never stopped talking about his wife, and it was starting to get on my nerves
February 17, 2025
Interesting premise, but it was sooooo slowwwwww
April 7, 2020
Please note: My reviews are more summaries to myself because I have a very poor long term memory, and the shorthand language in which I summarize should not wholly be taken as a review, per se.
The book starts with the narrator, "Ray Bradbury," reminiscing about his life and getting contacted by an ex girlfriend from his college years (he is now in his 60's). She wants to visit. He begrudingly agrees. He then spends a lot of time discussing to the reader about his college years, how he met Anna, how he married his wife, and how his wife and son died during childbirth.
He also mentions the US government creates "copies" of individuals to use as backups to harvest from for healthcare reasons.
It is for this reason Anna gets in touch with him. She has discovered his clone has escaped an area called the "Clearances," where all clones in the US are held. She works with an anti-cloning organization and wants him to meet his clone. They want to use this as propaganda. They also say the government will likely kill them all, if they're caught.
He agrees. He has an unrelated heart attack before meeting the clone. Eventually, the group moves Ray and Anna around Canada with the clone. Anna serves as a teacher to the clone, which they call Alan. Instead of focusing on cloning or the moral aspects of it, it's almost like they're living with and taking care of someone with special needs (I don't mean this as a drag on anyone who does this; for a novel about cloning, however, it doesn't much talk about cloning).
Eventually, Ray grows to be friends with Alan. He has another heart attack and is weakened even more severely. Alan, only sort of understanding his own purpose in life, decides to kill himself. Anna is returned to her family, and Ray says he will kill himself with a pill once he is alone. That's it.
The book starts with the narrator, "Ray Bradbury," reminiscing about his life and getting contacted by an ex girlfriend from his college years (he is now in his 60's). She wants to visit. He begrudingly agrees. He then spends a lot of time discussing to the reader about his college years, how he met Anna, how he married his wife, and how his wife and son died during childbirth.
He also mentions the US government creates "copies" of individuals to use as backups to harvest from for healthcare reasons.
It is for this reason Anna gets in touch with him. She has discovered his clone has escaped an area called the "Clearances," where all clones in the US are held. She works with an anti-cloning organization and wants him to meet his clone. They want to use this as propaganda. They also say the government will likely kill them all, if they're caught.
He agrees. He has an unrelated heart attack before meeting the clone. Eventually, the group moves Ray and Anna around Canada with the clone. Anna serves as a teacher to the clone, which they call Alan. Instead of focusing on cloning or the moral aspects of it, it's almost like they're living with and taking care of someone with special needs (I don't mean this as a drag on anyone who does this; for a novel about cloning, however, it doesn't much talk about cloning).
Eventually, Ray grows to be friends with Alan. He has another heart attack and is weakened even more severely. Alan, only sort of understanding his own purpose in life, decides to kill himself. Anna is returned to her family, and Ray says he will kill himself with a pill once he is alone. That's it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 12, 2019
I enjoyed this book way more than I expected to. At first it felt pretentious, especially with the review likening it to “1984,” but I actually sort of fell in love with the writing style. Especially Alan’s way of talking - the repetition served to add to his character and helped readers into his brain.
I didn’t give it five stars because I wish it had done a little more. Nothing really changed within any group, Ray just learned important life lessons. Now that I’m really thinking about it, pretty much nothing changes - Alan just learns more. For a book like this, which is supposed to be politically or societally relevant and thought-provoking, change has to happen on the wider scale, although focus on the individual is still key. I just feel like the mark was slightly missed.
I also was not a fan of Anna’s sexual encounter with Alan. At all. Especially as she acted as a mother figure later on. Ew.
I didn’t give it five stars because I wish it had done a little more. Nothing really changed within any group, Ray just learned important life lessons. Now that I’m really thinking about it, pretty much nothing changes - Alan just learns more. For a book like this, which is supposed to be politically or societally relevant and thought-provoking, change has to happen on the wider scale, although focus on the individual is still key. I just feel like the mark was slightly missed.
I also was not a fan of Anna’s sexual encounter with Alan. At all. Especially as she acted as a mother figure later on. Ew.
June 13, 2017
Vast swaths of narrative summary, with a dearth of actual scenes. It picks up in the last hundred pages, but it never lives up to it's (wildly implausible, unscientific) science fiction premise, which is unrealistic enough to be a literary conceit. Contrived, and the narrator is a real stinker, too. Poor company on a long, dull voyage.
November 24, 2018
This is Polansky's very first book, and his writing style is so minimal and straightforward that you don't realize how powerful it is until a passage or a scene sneaks up on you. I ended up really impressed by this book. My husband and I found it remarkable and remember scenes and quotes from it many years later.
April 1, 2024
Polansky writes about how his POV character views and interacts with a younger cloned version of himself in a lucid, riveting way that builds incredible suspense but also creates a powerful metaphor about identity, sense of self, and the way we all exist not only in the present but in the past. This book is unforgettable.
September 1, 2012
This was a fun read. I have several complaints with the details, but overall it was well done. The narrator "Ray Bradbury" had a very clear and consistent voice. He reminded me at times of Mersault from Camus' The Stranger; once again I'm finding slightly autistic, very literal voices appealing (and the fact that Anna hated Sundays I did take as a throwback to The Stranger). This book also (for obvious reasons) reminded me of Kashiguro's Never Let Me Go. The premise is the same (farming clones to use as spare parts), but Haversham is a humane place where the clones (while kept separate) are still treated fairly and raised as privileged children, while the Clearances are clearly inhumane (although we don't ever get any real answers about what happens in there, everything is always conjecture).
For the details, I found a few things to be annoyingly inconsistent:
First,they are supposed to be living in 2071, yet $60K is a large amount of money. In 2012, $60K is a moderate salary and could be expected to last a little over a year for a family of 3. I know that they are provided with a place to live and given a small stipend from the organization, but other than that all expenses must be paid out of pocket...yet at the end of 13 months there is still a lot of money left. This just seemed too unbelievable, especially given inflation.
Second, Anna is simultaneously unaware of the details of her organization and terrified of the organization. They are originally described as a smallish group, not very organized (they only know one or two others in the group), and one in which her husband was a founding member. However, someone is powerful enough to find all these safe houses and move the three of them; the Tall Man is involved at every step (so certainly he knows more than just 3 other members). Her description of them did not feel consistent with either her fear or their ability to make things happen.
Third, when Alan first comes to Anna and is in withdrawl, I found all the poop unnecessary. He is not eating (at least at first) and would not have all this waste. I think Polansky was trying to see Anna as surrogate mother cleaning up and getting acclimated to her baby. I did not find this necessary, she is cleaning up vomit (which was believable) and his urine...the poo felt over the top.
Fourth, Ray goes to great lengths to talk about how religion is no longer part of society (I loved the Bush as Pretender comment) and to state that churches are now mostly museums and public civic centers. So, why then does Anna go to church every week? Shouldn't he have commented on her oddly religious state? I think Polansky just was cheaply trying to appeal to both sides by having an aetheist and a believer come together...just annoying, though to me.
Fifth, I did not think that (again projecting into the future) Anna and Ray would be so opposed to porn. Nor did I think that Ray would be so asexual. Even now in 2012, young people are pretty accepting of sexual needs and desires. Anna seems like too much of a prude for someone born in 2004ish.
Sixth, they were conflicting about Ray/Alan's appearance. Clearly Alan was better looking that Ray at the same age (and now of course since Ray is old), but frequently they say that Alan is beautiful and yet all agree that Ray was rather awkward looking. Despite the differences in height and weight and general carriage (which do vary occasionally in identical twins), there is an inconsistency here.
Finally, I realize that the idea behind the library scene is to lend credence to the idea that in the Clearances the clones slept in stacks. BUT WHAT ABOUT EBOOKS? I would imagine in 60 years that there would not be libraries in this sense.
Polansky makes several attempts to engage the reader in a moral discussion of the cloning process. From the beginning, Ray notes "the very terms we use 'original,' 'copy' were designed to be flattering to the former, dismissive to the latter...we are guilty, individually and collectively, of a staggering narcissism." I agree that the concept of cloning on a mass scale (especially one that results in these large scale factory-farm-like living conditions) is heinous, but I'm not sure that it needs to have an existential component.
I also liked the realism in that once in control, the activist group does not necessarily treat Alan any better than the government has been treating him.
As a complete aside, I found the genderized comment "A mother is only as happy as her saddest child" to be unbelievably offensive. It implies that women are so dependent upon their children as to not have any other life without them, while simultaneously implying that men are not as concerned with their children's happiness.
Fun summer read. I didn't take any of it too seriously and was not really engaged on an existential level. I know Polansky tried, but it didn't fell compelling to me as a discussion about human rights. I also didn't think he was very accurate in his dealing with the future. I think it would have been better if it was only 20-30 years in the future (rather than 60) and he had tried a bit harder to be realistic about changes. Overall, it was a light, fun book.
For the details, I found a few things to be annoyingly inconsistent:
First,they are supposed to be living in 2071, yet $60K is a large amount of money. In 2012, $60K is a moderate salary and could be expected to last a little over a year for a family of 3. I know that they are provided with a place to live and given a small stipend from the organization, but other than that all expenses must be paid out of pocket...yet at the end of 13 months there is still a lot of money left. This just seemed too unbelievable, especially given inflation.
Second, Anna is simultaneously unaware of the details of her organization and terrified of the organization. They are originally described as a smallish group, not very organized (they only know one or two others in the group), and one in which her husband was a founding member. However, someone is powerful enough to find all these safe houses and move the three of them; the Tall Man is involved at every step (so certainly he knows more than just 3 other members). Her description of them did not feel consistent with either her fear or their ability to make things happen.
Third, when Alan first comes to Anna and is in withdrawl, I found all the poop unnecessary. He is not eating (at least at first) and would not have all this waste. I think Polansky was trying to see Anna as surrogate mother cleaning up and getting acclimated to her baby. I did not find this necessary, she is cleaning up vomit (which was believable) and his urine...the poo felt over the top.
Fourth, Ray goes to great lengths to talk about how religion is no longer part of society (I loved the Bush as Pretender comment) and to state that churches are now mostly museums and public civic centers. So, why then does Anna go to church every week? Shouldn't he have commented on her oddly religious state? I think Polansky just was cheaply trying to appeal to both sides by having an aetheist and a believer come together...just annoying, though to me.
Fifth, I did not think that (again projecting into the future) Anna and Ray would be so opposed to porn. Nor did I think that Ray would be so asexual. Even now in 2012, young people are pretty accepting of sexual needs and desires. Anna seems like too much of a prude for someone born in 2004ish.
Sixth, they were conflicting about Ray/Alan's appearance. Clearly Alan was better looking that Ray at the same age (and now of course since Ray is old), but frequently they say that Alan is beautiful and yet all agree that Ray was rather awkward looking. Despite the differences in height and weight and general carriage (which do vary occasionally in identical twins), there is an inconsistency here.
Finally, I realize that the idea behind the library scene is to lend credence to the idea that in the Clearances the clones slept in stacks. BUT WHAT ABOUT EBOOKS? I would imagine in 60 years that there would not be libraries in this sense.
Polansky makes several attempts to engage the reader in a moral discussion of the cloning process. From the beginning, Ray notes "the very terms we use 'original,' 'copy' were designed to be flattering to the former, dismissive to the latter...we are guilty, individually and collectively, of a staggering narcissism." I agree that the concept of cloning on a mass scale (especially one that results in these large scale factory-farm-like living conditions) is heinous, but I'm not sure that it needs to have an existential component.
I also liked the realism in that once in control, the activist group does not necessarily treat Alan any better than the government has been treating him.
As a complete aside, I found the genderized comment "A mother is only as happy as her saddest child" to be unbelievably offensive. It implies that women are so dependent upon their children as to not have any other life without them, while simultaneously implying that men are not as concerned with their children's happiness.
Fun summer read. I didn't take any of it too seriously and was not really engaged on an existential level. I know Polansky tried, but it didn't fell compelling to me as a discussion about human rights. I also didn't think he was very accurate in his dealing with the future. I think it would have been better if it was only 20-30 years in the future (rather than 60) and he had tried a bit harder to be realistic about changes. Overall, it was a light, fun book.
May 31, 2018
Dystopian sci-fi book about the ethics of cloning; interesting.
June 5, 2018
Innovative speculative fiction. I enjoyed the easy pace, like talking to an old friend....what would you do if?... So, if you liked Brave New World or The Handmaid's Tale you will like this.
September 1, 2020
I thought it was okay, despite an interesting premise. Not a bad read.
May 20, 2021
Very straight forward style of writing on A very relevant topic. One of the most honest presentations Ive seen of characters, plot and story. Big recommend.
June 29, 2022
one interesting idea, executed poorly
Read
April 11, 2025DNF. Not my cup of tea.
March 15, 2013
I give up. The detailed description of the shit in the clone's pants did me in. 3 disks in but I don't care how it ends; I'm returning it. More detailed review later.
[LATER] I had a few problems with this book, one of them not having to do with the novel itself but with the audiobook, which was narrated by the worst reader I've yet heard on these things. I've seen other reviewers posit that the narrator was merely playing the part of the dull, humorless, monotone and completely bland narrator of the novel, but the stilted way he read, like a slow student being asked to read aloud in class, gives me doubts. There are ways to read "monotone" and "dull" without making things sound so choppy.
The novel gets off to a super slow start; it reads less like any sort of "report" and more like a memoir. That would be fine if I wanted a memoir, but even for a memoir it felt false because it supposedly takes place in the future, and it felt exactly like a setting from the past. When our elderly narrator tells us of his college days, they don't even sound like MY college days, and tracing his age back from the late 2000s would put his college days after mine. I'm not saying every futuristic novel has to be chockablock with sci-fi nonsense (everyone drinking Space Coffee and taking transporters to the holo-feelies or whatever) but damn. It could've been reckoning back to the 1960s or something. He doesn't even mention stuff that exists TODAY. And this was published in 2010!
There are other small things:
-Why the hell (except to maybe show this character's lack of imagination) would you give one woman the pseudonym "Anna" and another one the pseudonym "Ann"?
-People take FOREVER to get to the point. This is not suspense. THIS IS NOT SUSPENSE. There was one point where Anna said, "I'll get to the point" and I said aloud, "PLEASE DO."
-Maybe the fundamental flaw is that the MC is so goddamn boring and unlikable that I just don't care about him. There's really nothing to get into.
-The whole "clones for parts" is, all right, one of the classic sci-fi "what ifs" but personally I can't even entertain it as much of a possibility given that 1. Human cloning is already illegal in the U.S. and 2. They've already demonstrated that it's possible to just grow organs, either on a cleansed framework of animal organs populated with adult stem cells or 3D printed, so the possibility is driven even further from the realm of possibility.
-And, as I noted above, once they got to the in-depth description of a guy having shat his pants (no one would write that level of detail in a diary entry, no one) I was like, "NOPE!" and shut it off.
All in all it's a slow, plodding, boring, mis-cast and mis-set sci-fi with no real sci that I can see (doesn't help that no one knows the mechanics of cloning or much about it at all, and the story doesn't hook me enough to make me want to stick around and find out - honestly I don't even trust it would eventually tell me).
[LATER] I had a few problems with this book, one of them not having to do with the novel itself but with the audiobook, which was narrated by the worst reader I've yet heard on these things. I've seen other reviewers posit that the narrator was merely playing the part of the dull, humorless, monotone and completely bland narrator of the novel, but the stilted way he read, like a slow student being asked to read aloud in class, gives me doubts. There are ways to read "monotone" and "dull" without making things sound so choppy.
The novel gets off to a super slow start; it reads less like any sort of "report" and more like a memoir. That would be fine if I wanted a memoir, but even for a memoir it felt false because it supposedly takes place in the future, and it felt exactly like a setting from the past. When our elderly narrator tells us of his college days, they don't even sound like MY college days, and tracing his age back from the late 2000s would put his college days after mine. I'm not saying every futuristic novel has to be chockablock with sci-fi nonsense (everyone drinking Space Coffee and taking transporters to the holo-feelies or whatever) but damn. It could've been reckoning back to the 1960s or something. He doesn't even mention stuff that exists TODAY. And this was published in 2010!
There are other small things:
-Why the hell (except to maybe show this character's lack of imagination) would you give one woman the pseudonym "Anna" and another one the pseudonym "Ann"?
-People take FOREVER to get to the point. This is not suspense. THIS IS NOT SUSPENSE. There was one point where Anna said, "I'll get to the point" and I said aloud, "PLEASE DO."
-Maybe the fundamental flaw is that the MC is so goddamn boring and unlikable that I just don't care about him. There's really nothing to get into.
-The whole "clones for parts" is, all right, one of the classic sci-fi "what ifs" but personally I can't even entertain it as much of a possibility given that 1. Human cloning is already illegal in the U.S. and 2. They've already demonstrated that it's possible to just grow organs, either on a cleansed framework of animal organs populated with adult stem cells or 3D printed, so the possibility is driven even further from the realm of possibility.
-And, as I noted above, once they got to the in-depth description of a guy having shat his pants (no one would write that level of detail in a diary entry, no one) I was like, "NOPE!" and shut it off.
All in all it's a slow, plodding, boring, mis-cast and mis-set sci-fi with no real sci that I can see (doesn't help that no one knows the mechanics of cloning or much about it at all, and the story doesn't hook me enough to make me want to stick around and find out - honestly I don't even trust it would eventually tell me).
May 19, 2016
When someone needs a new organ, he can obtain one from his clone - or any clone. The copies live in the Clearances, deliberately separated from their originals, and never the two shall meet. But one of the copies has escaped, and anti-cloning protestor Anna recognises him. Thus sixty-something-year-old widower Ray meets his twenty-something-year-old clone.
The anti-cloning group plans for Ray to write a report about life with his copy, Alan. Anna and Ray become Alan's teachers, caretakers, and family, meant to groom him for becoming an anti-cloning spokesperson.
The framing device is pseudonymous "Ray's" report. On page 2 he states, "I have never had a sense of humour," which immediately makes it difficult for readers to want to connect with him. His specialty is teaching mathematics, so he admits he's not much of a writer. That could explain why Steven Polansky's publishers let him keep infodump - and naming characters Anna and Ann, both mentioned in the same sentence - under the guise of being true to Ray's character or whatever, but it doesn't work. I came close to quitting this on more than one occasion.
My favourite TV shows are boundary-pushing animated comedies, thus The Bradbury Report is an unexpected delight that may well suit fans of South Park and the works of Seth MacFarlane - you'll understand why. But it's also heart-breaking, particularly when echolalia-ridden Alan is told of how and why he came into existence.
The Bradbury Report has a sci-fi heart in a literary body. The subject matter is fascinating, but often presented in a way that didn't immediately connect with this genre-preferring reader. This is similar to my experience with Liz Jensen's The Rapture - the structure often made me lose interest, but when the story's good, it's very bloody good.
The Bradbury Report is a slow novel, almost seeming like vignettes rather than a cohesive whole, and Mr. Polansky has won awards for a short-story collection. But The Bradbury Report creates a strange but unforgettable reading experience. A paperback edition is due out later this year - you'd be wise to give it a crack.
The anti-cloning group plans for Ray to write a report about life with his copy, Alan. Anna and Ray become Alan's teachers, caretakers, and family, meant to groom him for becoming an anti-cloning spokesperson.
The framing device is pseudonymous "Ray's" report. On page 2 he states, "I have never had a sense of humour," which immediately makes it difficult for readers to want to connect with him. His specialty is teaching mathematics, so he admits he's not much of a writer. That could explain why Steven Polansky's publishers let him keep infodump - and naming characters Anna and Ann, both mentioned in the same sentence - under the guise of being true to Ray's character or whatever, but it doesn't work. I came close to quitting this on more than one occasion.
My favourite TV shows are boundary-pushing animated comedies, thus The Bradbury Report is an unexpected delight that may well suit fans of South Park and the works of Seth MacFarlane - you'll understand why. But it's also heart-breaking, particularly when echolalia-ridden Alan is told of how and why he came into existence.
The Bradbury Report has a sci-fi heart in a literary body. The subject matter is fascinating, but often presented in a way that didn't immediately connect with this genre-preferring reader. This is similar to my experience with Liz Jensen's The Rapture - the structure often made me lose interest, but when the story's good, it's very bloody good.
The Bradbury Report is a slow novel, almost seeming like vignettes rather than a cohesive whole, and Mr. Polansky has won awards for a short-story collection. But The Bradbury Report creates a strange but unforgettable reading experience. A paperback edition is due out later this year - you'd be wise to give it a crack.
March 16, 2011
ATTN: Thar be spoilers here!
"The Bradbury Report" is a speculative novel in the form of a thought experiment.
What would happen if cloning became legal in the US and several western states were evacuated and turned into "The Clearances," a land set aside for clones who are being raised as spare parts for Americans who can afford them?
The year is 2071. As "The Bradbury Report" opens there are almost 250 million clones held in a setting reminiscent of "Area 51."
After a clone escapes and is found by an anti-cloning group, one of the members recognizes him as a former lover from her college days. At the request of the group she contacts the man (the book's narrator, who uses the alias "Ray Bradbury") who is now 67, and dying of heart disease.
Soon the anti-clone activist, Anne Pearson, "Ray Bradbury" and the clone whom they name "Alan" embark on a trek across Canada. The point is to avoid the authorities (who are closing in) while Bradbury writes a report to demonstrate to the world the evils of cloning. This book is the result.
I was compelled by Steven Polansky's skill as a writer to finish this book, but it was somewhat of a slog at times. The tone (the narrator's voice, really) is depressive and lacks affect, making it hard for Polansky to generate excitement in the reader. This gray tone also makes the revelations -- which skillfully lead the reader onward -- feel underplayed, almost to the point of being anticlimatic.
On the plus side, Polansky has flashes of a wonderful self-deprecating wit. In one place someone compares his writing style to "a bad Czech translation." He also has a very delicate touch in phraseology -- his own unique style . . . I'm trying to think of another writer like him, perhaps Umberto Eco.
I won't give away any more of the plot, but I will recommend "The Bradbury Report" to a Portland reader -- someone who's willing to spend time with a book of ideas, and doesn't mind a few days of gray skies.
"The Bradbury Report" is a speculative novel in the form of a thought experiment.
What would happen if cloning became legal in the US and several western states were evacuated and turned into "The Clearances," a land set aside for clones who are being raised as spare parts for Americans who can afford them?
The year is 2071. As "The Bradbury Report" opens there are almost 250 million clones held in a setting reminiscent of "Area 51."
After a clone escapes and is found by an anti-cloning group, one of the members recognizes him as a former lover from her college days. At the request of the group she contacts the man (the book's narrator, who uses the alias "Ray Bradbury") who is now 67, and dying of heart disease.
Soon the anti-clone activist, Anne Pearson, "Ray Bradbury" and the clone whom they name "Alan" embark on a trek across Canada. The point is to avoid the authorities (who are closing in) while Bradbury writes a report to demonstrate to the world the evils of cloning. This book is the result.
I was compelled by Steven Polansky's skill as a writer to finish this book, but it was somewhat of a slog at times. The tone (the narrator's voice, really) is depressive and lacks affect, making it hard for Polansky to generate excitement in the reader. This gray tone also makes the revelations -- which skillfully lead the reader onward -- feel underplayed, almost to the point of being anticlimatic.
On the plus side, Polansky has flashes of a wonderful self-deprecating wit. In one place someone compares his writing style to "a bad Czech translation." He also has a very delicate touch in phraseology -- his own unique style . . . I'm trying to think of another writer like him, perhaps Umberto Eco.
I won't give away any more of the plot, but I will recommend "The Bradbury Report" to a Portland reader -- someone who's willing to spend time with a book of ideas, and doesn't mind a few days of gray skies.
August 17, 2010
While it's true you can never tell a book by its cover, you can ascertain the premise of some books by their title. Right away, you know the Bradbury Report is going to be science fiction. Clones used for personal harvesting? A concept to close for comfort.
United States has become a rogue nation where cloning is not only condoned but required for any kind of health care benefits to be affordable. It is regulated and highly secretive. The book follows around three main individuals; Ray (not his real name but more on that later), an older male with a bad heart who is visited by his former college friend, "Anna", a member of a group opposed to cloning. She informs Ray that a clone has "escaped" from the Clearances (formerly North and South Dakota). In fact, it is Ray's clone that has escaped. The book follows Anna, Ray and his clone (named Alan)as they travel throughout Canada on the run from an American government. It follows the trials and teaching that Ray and Anna provided for Alan so that he can learn about life outside of the Clearances.
The book is written from Ray's point of view because his task is to write about his feelings and experience regarding meeting his clone. This sometimes makes the story feel disjointed with timelines jumping all over the place. However, the timelines are not important because Polansky is really looking at giving us a glimpse of the human condition. It is a sad and ultimately unfulfillable story but it can be because life sometimes is. The ending throw me for a loop at first but made sense when held in context with the rest of the story. Overall, a very good story.
United States has become a rogue nation where cloning is not only condoned but required for any kind of health care benefits to be affordable. It is regulated and highly secretive. The book follows around three main individuals; Ray (not his real name but more on that later), an older male with a bad heart who is visited by his former college friend, "Anna", a member of a group opposed to cloning. She informs Ray that a clone has "escaped" from the Clearances (formerly North and South Dakota). In fact, it is Ray's clone that has escaped. The book follows Anna, Ray and his clone (named Alan)as they travel throughout Canada on the run from an American government. It follows the trials and teaching that Ray and Anna provided for Alan so that he can learn about life outside of the Clearances.
The book is written from Ray's point of view because his task is to write about his feelings and experience regarding meeting his clone. This sometimes makes the story feel disjointed with timelines jumping all over the place. However, the timelines are not important because Polansky is really looking at giving us a glimpse of the human condition. It is a sad and ultimately unfulfillable story but it can be because life sometimes is. The ending throw me for a loop at first but made sense when held in context with the rest of the story. Overall, a very good story.
August 4, 2010
I started this book with eager hopes, having read that it is the new '1984' or 'Brave New World.' It was a force of will to get past the first 50-100 pages, but eventually the story drew me in.
The story is meant to be a 'report' by a man in his late 60's, who goes by the alias of 'Ray Bradbury.' Set in the year 2071 in the United States, most aspects of life seem familiar, except that Americans can choose to have a clone made of themselves for spare parts. Ray had a clone made when he was in his 40's, and we know from the start that the book is the story of the time he spent with his clone. He doesn't meet this young man, called Alan, until page 177.
The first half of the book sets up the story. We learn about Ray's college friendship with a woman named Anna, and about her recent role in helping Alan withdraw from the drugs given to clones to make them docile.
When Anna appears on Ray's doorstep after over 40 years, she shocks him with the news that his clone has escaped, and she wants Ray to help her flee to Canada with the clone.
To me the most interesting parts of the book were the parts with Alan. He is a blank slate, and has to be taught everything. How to eat, how to talk, how to behave. He is loyal to Anna, and begrudgingly gets to know Ray. The second half of the book takes them on a dangerous, but sometimes heartwarming and funny journey across Canada and to their destinies.
The story is meant to be a 'report' by a man in his late 60's, who goes by the alias of 'Ray Bradbury.' Set in the year 2071 in the United States, most aspects of life seem familiar, except that Americans can choose to have a clone made of themselves for spare parts. Ray had a clone made when he was in his 40's, and we know from the start that the book is the story of the time he spent with his clone. He doesn't meet this young man, called Alan, until page 177.
The first half of the book sets up the story. We learn about Ray's college friendship with a woman named Anna, and about her recent role in helping Alan withdraw from the drugs given to clones to make them docile.
When Anna appears on Ray's doorstep after over 40 years, she shocks him with the news that his clone has escaped, and she wants Ray to help her flee to Canada with the clone.
To me the most interesting parts of the book were the parts with Alan. He is a blank slate, and has to be taught everything. How to eat, how to talk, how to behave. He is loyal to Anna, and begrudgingly gets to know Ray. The second half of the book takes them on a dangerous, but sometimes heartwarming and funny journey across Canada and to their destinies.
November 18, 2014
The book The Bradbury Report, by Steven Polansky, is a science fiction/fantasy novel about a man who is one of only two people on the earth who knows the secret of time travel. By writing this book, Polansky is telling the readers a secret no one is supposed to know and which is censured by the government. This book is enjoyable, however, it isn’t especially memorable. This is mainly because this book doesn’t have enough happening in it for most people. The introduction is too extensive and it goes on and on till the point in which most people would consider abandoning the book. However, as with everything, this book will definitely suit someone’s taste. This book might be especially engaging for people who are big fans of science fiction and are very patient readers. If someone can wait for some time to reach the climax of the book and wants to spend more time getting to know every detail about the characters and setting in this book they will definitely like it. This book is best suited for pre-teens, teens and some adults.
November 1, 2012
This was a very interesting pseudoscience fiction book which has more social science implications than other types. It forces you to face several moral questions involved with cloning so long as you are willing to suspend your disbelief and make it all the way through. It is a very plausible narrative of a fairly implausible eventuality of government-forced cloning for the purpose of tissue transplant. If you can get past the fact that the government has become organized enough to set up a widespread cloning program including a huge colony in the Dakotas (they can't even provide a fair tax code or medical coverage, for crying in a bucket), the rest of it is fairly interesting.
The book got lengthy in part, based on my teen son's reaction every time the audio book was playing in my car when he got in, but remained interesting.
It's really about 4 1/2 stars, but Goodreads doesn't allow you to assign 1/2 stars.
The book got lengthy in part, based on my teen son's reaction every time the audio book was playing in my car when he got in, but remained interesting.
It's really about 4 1/2 stars, but Goodreads doesn't allow you to assign 1/2 stars.
May 1, 2012
This book by Steven Polansky was a fantastic read and very thought-provoking. The story takes place in America and Canada about a hundred years in the future. The main character, Ray Bradbury (a nom de plume) writes about his life and friendship with a girl named Anna. Anna is a rights activist in the future and what she represents are the clones. America is the only country where cloning is legal, and the entire population has one or else doesn't qualify for life insurance, healthcare, and is severely discriminated against. In the book, Anna's activist group comes to Ray and tells him they need help with a clone, HIS clone. He is reluctant at first but eventually agrees to house the clone and teach him how to feel normal emotions and be a part of a society. It was a wonderful book and it really made me value my humanity.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 14, 2010
Note: I received an Advanced Reader Copy from my local bookstore.
The writing style took me a bit to get used to. At one point I almost gave up because it seemed too choppy, too disconnected. But then I convinced myself "hey...it's supposed to be written as if the guy was writing a report himself" so, I got over it...sorta. Enough to finish the book at least. I enjoyed the plot, though I felt impatient, waiting for some action at some points.
I'd definitely suggest it to those who like Science Fiction. In fact, I was reminded of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury as I read this and can't help but think using the name Bradbury was a hat tip in a sense.
The writing style took me a bit to get used to. At one point I almost gave up because it seemed too choppy, too disconnected. But then I convinced myself "hey...it's supposed to be written as if the guy was writing a report himself" so, I got over it...sorta. Enough to finish the book at least. I enjoyed the plot, though I felt impatient, waiting for some action at some points.
I'd definitely suggest it to those who like Science Fiction. In fact, I was reminded of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury as I read this and can't help but think using the name Bradbury was a hat tip in a sense.
October 28, 2010
In this not-so-far in the future story, clones are kept in a special area of the United States. They exist for one purpose only - to be available in case the "Original" needs a part. The government of the U.S. has done a great job at keeping thoughts of these nameless copies far from the minds of the 'regular' citizens. There are a few who decided not to participate in this government run health program for moral reasons and this creates problems for them should they become seriously ill. No average citizen ever sees the clones, until one day when a clone wanders out of the Clearances where they are kept. This book tackles some big issues, and gives the reader much to think about.
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