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The Playground
"The Playground" was part of the first hardcover edition of Ray Bradbury's legendary work Fahrenheit 451, published in 1953. It is the first of Ray Bradbury's works to be authorized as an ebook.In the story, Charles Underhill is a widower who will do anything to protect his young son Jim from the horrors of the playground--a playground which he and the boy pass by daily and the tumult of which, the activity, brings back to Charles the anguish of his own childhood. The playground, like childhood itself, is a nightmare of torment and vulnerability; Charles fears his sensitive son will be destroyed there just as he almost was so many years ago.Underhill's sister Carol, who has moved in to help raise the young boy after his mother passed away, feels differently. The playground, she believes, is preparation for life, Jim will survive the experience she feels, and he will be the better for it and more equipped to deal with the rigor and obligation of adult existence.Underhill is caught between his own fear and his sister's invocation of reason and feels paralyzed. A mysterious boy calls out to him from the playground, and seems to know all too well why Underhill is there and what the source of his agony really is. A mysterious Manager also lurks to whom the strange boy directs Underhill. An agreement can be made perhaps--this is what the boy tells Underhill. Perhaps Jim can be spared the playground, but of course, a substitute must be found.ABOUT THE AUTHORRay Bradbury was a rabid and devoted science fiction fan from his early adolescence and from his early years of the Los Angeles Fiction Society. He sold his first story (a collaboration with Henry Haase) to Future Science Fiction when he was only nineteen years old and by the end of the 1940s was one of the most admired science fiction writers. The irony or paradox of Bradbury's career was that it was, at least in his mind, an essential failure. Bradbury's poetic, impressionistic, surreal, and decidedly non-rational stories were deemed unsuitable by John W. Campbell's Astounding science fiction magazine, and virtually all of his early work went to second and third level magazines for publication.In the postwar years, Bradbury's short stories found home in the so-called mainstream magazines; Mademoiselle, Charm, Redbook, Esquire, and the like, and he became the first science fiction writer to achieve some significant literary recognition through publication in Martha Foley's Best American Short Stories and the O. Henry Prize volumes. Bradbury's first "novel"--actually a collection of related short stories compiled from work he had published in Planet, Future, and Thrilling Wonder Stories--was published by Doubleday in 1950 and has never been out of print since. It was the basis for both a television feature and a theatrical film.The collections which followed, “The Illustrated Man” and “A Medicine for Melancholy” among others, were also successful, as was Bradbury's early novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes (also the basis for a Disney film produced in the 1980s). Bradbury collaborated with John Huston in the early 1950s on a film treatment of Moby Dick, and many of his short stories have been the basis for television and theatrical films, notably the feature-length The Wonderful Ice-Cream Suit.
23 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1953
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About the author
Ray Bradbury
2,560 books25.1k followersRay 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".
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".
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November 7, 2023
Story 8/72 from Black Water 1 (The Anthology of Fantastic Literature) read together with The Short Story Club
I am not a big fan of playgrounds because they are boring as hell for the parent, but now I dread them even more.
Ray Bradbury is a SF writer and also a poet. His beautiful prose struck me while reading the two Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles. What I also observed while reading The Martian Chronicles, is the way he can build tension and even terror in just a few pages. He really is a master of the short story.
The Playground is a fine example of childhood as horror. Apparently he wrote more of these. Charlie’s wife wants to take their 3 year old son to the local Playground. The man is scared by the violence that he imagines takes place there and wants to protect their son from it. He makes a pact with a strange man and the consequences are surprising and scary.
I am not a big fan of playgrounds because they are boring as hell for the parent, but now I dread them even more.
Ray Bradbury is a SF writer and also a poet. His beautiful prose struck me while reading the two Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles. What I also observed while reading The Martian Chronicles, is the way he can build tension and even terror in just a few pages. He really is a master of the short story.
The Playground is a fine example of childhood as horror. Apparently he wrote more of these. Charlie’s wife wants to take their 3 year old son to the local Playground. The man is scared by the violence that he imagines takes place there and wants to protect their son from it. He makes a pact with a strange man and the consequences are surprising and scary.
January 24, 2020
Ray Bradbury has a mystic connection to childhood.
Not to say that he is a writer of children’s stories, a conveyer of fun in the sun and a chronicler of innocence; Bradbury documents the autumnal child, that channel towards adulthood that remains long after the ascent to older age has been accomplished.
He can go backwards, traveling back along that ancient and lost tunnel to the fears, apprehensions, and collective horrors of growing up and see again from a child’s perspective the high mountain yet to be climbed.
In The Playground, first published in 1953, Ray has used this unique gift to illustrate both ends of the path – the adult looking back to how scary being a child can be, and wanting to protect that younger self, and also the fright of the child himself. Bradbury describes a scene where a father, a recent widower, looks on with fear and trepidation as his young son is first confronted with the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, but on a playground where these fears are manifested in scraped knees, bloody noses and chased tears.
Bradbury then goes one step further and creates a situation where the father has a choice, a real and then a paranormal decision to guard his boy against the dread of a violent and uncaring childhood.
Not to say that he is a writer of children’s stories, a conveyer of fun in the sun and a chronicler of innocence; Bradbury documents the autumnal child, that channel towards adulthood that remains long after the ascent to older age has been accomplished.
He can go backwards, traveling back along that ancient and lost tunnel to the fears, apprehensions, and collective horrors of growing up and see again from a child’s perspective the high mountain yet to be climbed.
In The Playground, first published in 1953, Ray has used this unique gift to illustrate both ends of the path – the adult looking back to how scary being a child can be, and wanting to protect that younger self, and also the fright of the child himself. Bradbury describes a scene where a father, a recent widower, looks on with fear and trepidation as his young son is first confronted with the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, but on a playground where these fears are manifested in scraped knees, bloody noses and chased tears.
Bradbury then goes one step further and creates a situation where the father has a choice, a real and then a paranormal decision to guard his boy against the dread of a violent and uncaring childhood.
October 25, 2023
It’s clear from the start that the playground is not a place of joy. Mr Underhill kids himself that he has no opinion about it, but when his wife says she’s going to start sending their three-year old son there, he objects. She insists it’s necessary:
“He’s got to be beat up and beat up others; children are like that.”
How do we raise our children in a violent world: to fight back, or give in?
Some who suffered in childhood, say it did them no harm, and the next generation should endure as well.
Others who suffered in childhood use their experience to strive to make sure the next generation do not suffer in the same way.
What sacrifices do we make to protect them, and is protecting them helpful in the long run?
“Any place where there’s lots of evil, that makes power.”
Image: Abandoned children’s playground - less scary than one full of violent big kids? (Source)
See also
• I love Bradbury's writing, and recently read Dandelion Wine (see my review HERE), which is semi-autobiographical interludes of a summer of his childhood, in a town he calls Green Town. I was startled that this was also set there, as it's much darker, and with a stronger supernatural element.
• The Ray Bradbury Theater screened a 20-min adaptation, starring William Shatner, HERE. It's a totally different story, and not nearly as good, imo, though Bradbury himself introduces it, so must have been happy with all the changes. In the film, the father is widowed, the female figure is an aunt, the boy is older (six), the playground seems exceptional (rather than normal in their time and place), the twist happens for a different reason, and the whole thing is cartoonish. The written version is a subtler psychological/supernatural story, and thus much more disturbing.
• William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies, which I reviewed HERE.
Short story club
I read this in Black Water: The Anthology of Fantastic Literature, by Alberto Manguel, from which I’m reading one story a week with The Short Story Club, starting 4 September 2023.
You can read this story here.
You can join the group here.
“He’s got to be beat up and beat up others; children are like that.”
How do we raise our children in a violent world: to fight back, or give in?
Some who suffered in childhood, say it did them no harm, and the next generation should endure as well.
Others who suffered in childhood use their experience to strive to make sure the next generation do not suffer in the same way.
What sacrifices do we make to protect them, and is protecting them helpful in the long run?
“Any place where there’s lots of evil, that makes power.”
Image: Abandoned children’s playground - less scary than one full of violent big kids? (Source)
See also
• I love Bradbury's writing, and recently read Dandelion Wine (see my review HERE), which is semi-autobiographical interludes of a summer of his childhood, in a town he calls Green Town. I was startled that this was also set there, as it's much darker, and with a stronger supernatural element.
• The Ray Bradbury Theater screened a 20-min adaptation, starring William Shatner, HERE. It's a totally different story, and not nearly as good, imo, though Bradbury himself introduces it, so must have been happy with all the changes. In the film, the father is widowed, the female figure is an aunt, the boy is older (six), the playground seems exceptional (rather than normal in their time and place), the twist happens for a different reason, and the whole thing is cartoonish. The written version is a subtler psychological/supernatural story, and thus much more disturbing.
• William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies, which I reviewed HERE.
Short story club
I read this in Black Water: The Anthology of Fantastic Literature, by Alberto Manguel, from which I’m reading one story a week with The Short Story Club, starting 4 September 2023.
You can read this story here.
You can join the group here.
April 27, 2023
If you're a parent or an older sibling, you probably know this feeling very well - the intense protectiveness and the fear of letting the child step out alone into the big and cruel world.
After all, in the words of Stephen King, "The world had teeth and it could bite you with them anytime it wanted."
Mr. Underhill really loves his three-year-old son Jim. Jim is the only thing left for him to care about after the death of his wife. And Jim is about old enough to start playing at the Playground, the place that fills Mr. Underhill with - maybe unreasonable? - sinking and hollow fear. Because his own memories of childhood are not of the idyllic happy time, no Sir! Because he'd rather sacrifice himself than watch his son go through the meatgrinder that obviously scarred him in the past.
I remember how scary it was then years later, he found the unexpected steel in his spine to stand up for what he thinks is right regardless of whether his views were shared by his classmates, and treating the schoolyard bullied with strength and dignity that suddenly showed all of my family what an amazing young man he's growing up to be. I remember how I always wanted to shield him from the world that has teeth - and how beautifully he has done without our protection, how he did not need a well-intentioned guiding hand, how he used the meanness of the world to grow up to be a very decent man.
And remembering all of that, painful as it was to let go and watch the child learn to navigate the big scary world, I feel all the sympathy for Bradbury's Mr. Underhill - and wishing that I could tell him that it would all be okay, that we all need to eventually face the world and, painful as it may be, let the ones we love face it, too. That ultimately it will all be okay.
But Mr. Underhill may not heed my advice. Because sometimes self-sacrifice is the only way you can cope, the only way you can show love. And I will watch him from the distance, from outside the Playground, with sadness and sympathy.
After all, in the words of Stephen King, "The world had teeth and it could bite you with them anytime it wanted."
"Really! Who said childhood was the best time of life? When in reality it was the most terrible, the most merciless era, the barbaric time when there were no police to protect you, only parents preoccupied with themselves and their taller world."Ray Bradbury may be the master of nostalgia - especially for the coexisting magic and sadness of childhood which he so well shows through the prism of enchantment and loneliness and longing. Yeah, not in this story. The Playground is the dreaded Chuckie to your childhood's Kens and Barbies and cute Monster Trucks. It is the embodiment of the parents' fear for their children's happiness and security.
Mr. Underhill really loves his three-year-old son Jim. Jim is the only thing left for him to care about after the death of his wife. And Jim is about old enough to start playing at the Playground, the place that fills Mr. Underhill with - maybe unreasonable? - sinking and hollow fear. Because his own memories of childhood are not of the idyllic happy time, no Sir! Because he'd rather sacrifice himself than watch his son go through the meatgrinder that obviously scarred him in the past.
"To be beaten from playground to kindergarten, to grammar school, to junior high, to high school. If he was lucky, in high school, the beatings and sadisms would refine themselves, the sea of blood and spittle would drain back down the shore of years and Jim would be left upon the edge of maturity, with God knows what outlook to the future, with a desire, perhaps, to be a wolf among wolves, a dog among dogs, a fiend among fiends. But there was enough of that in the world, already."I found this short story to resonate with me to a point. I don't have kids, but I have a brother younger than me by close to a decade. I remember how scary it was to drop him off at school for his first day away from home (unlike me, he has not been through the meatgrinder of post-Soviet kindergarten years!) and watch the desperate scared look in his eyes.
I remember how scary it was then years later, he found the unexpected steel in his spine to stand up for what he thinks is right regardless of whether his views were shared by his classmates, and treating the schoolyard bullied with strength and dignity that suddenly showed all of my family what an amazing young man he's growing up to be. I remember how I always wanted to shield him from the world that has teeth - and how beautifully he has done without our protection, how he did not need a well-intentioned guiding hand, how he used the meanness of the world to grow up to be a very decent man.
And remembering all of that, painful as it was to let go and watch the child learn to navigate the big scary world, I feel all the sympathy for Bradbury's Mr. Underhill - and wishing that I could tell him that it would all be okay, that we all need to eventually face the world and, painful as it may be, let the ones we love face it, too. That ultimately it will all be okay.
But Mr. Underhill may not heed my advice. Because sometimes self-sacrifice is the only way you can cope, the only way you can show love. And I will watch him from the distance, from outside the Playground, with sadness and sympathy.
"Thank God, childhood was over and done for him. No more pinchings, bruisings, senseless passions and shattered dreams."
October 28, 2023
I have enjoyed short stories by this author before so I was looking forward to this one.
Charles Underhill and his wife are having a disagreement over whether their three year old son should go to play in the playground. She thinks yes but Charles remembers his own days of being bullied and when he checks the playground out he is horrified. Eventually he goes to great lengths to protect his son and this is at a great cost to himself.
This is a strange story with an even stranger ending and maybe not one of his best.
Charles Underhill and his wife are having a disagreement over whether their three year old son should go to play in the playground. She thinks yes but Charles remembers his own days of being bullied and when he checks the playground out he is horrified. Eventually he goes to great lengths to protect his son and this is at a great cost to himself.
This is a strange story with an even stranger ending and maybe not one of his best.
December 1, 2014
This just in: it turns out that kids can be monstrously terrible to each other. Feel free to take a moment to integrate this revelation into your heretofore innocent worldview.
How did I come to know this terrifying secret? From Ray Bradbury of course. (Although I do have this weird blank spot in my memory for the duration of what should have been my middle school years, but let's ignore that for now).
The Playground (available for FREE on audible) manages to pack a walloping creepiness punch into a short story of a father troubled by his memories of his time at the playground, and what such an environment (“an immense iron industry whose sole product was pain, sadism and sorrow”) might entail for his young son.
How did I come to know this terrifying secret? From Ray Bradbury of course. (Although I do have this weird blank spot in my memory for the duration of what should have been my middle school years, but let's ignore that for now).
The Playground (available for FREE on audible) manages to pack a walloping creepiness punch into a short story of a father troubled by his memories of his time at the playground, and what such an environment (“an immense iron industry whose sole product was pain, sadism and sorrow”) might entail for his young son.
November 17, 2016
This is a super short FREE audio @ Audible that manages to create a familiar scenario with a dastardly twist. It reminded me of the best sort of Twilight Zone episode. This is a creeptastic, atmospheric tale about a neurotic man doing his best to save his young son from the trauma that surely awaits him at the playground.
Though I could feel his pain, the father was a bit of a mess and I felt sorry for him and the kid. Let the kid be a kid, I wanted to scream, but damn if that man listened to me!
I mean, it's not like the playground had one of these:
October 21, 2023
"The Playground" is a dark look at the interactions among children. Charlie Underhill's wife wanted to take their three-year-old son to the city playground. But Charlie was appalled by all the fighting, pushing, and hitting among the children, and wanted to spare their delicate son from that experience. In the science fiction/horror ending he finds out that there is a way to shield his young son from the brutality on the playground, but at a terrible cost.
This short story is in the "Black Water" anthology being read by the Short Story Club.
This short story is in the "Black Water" anthology being read by the Short Story Club.
December 5, 2014
This was a nice creepy short story and it's available for free on Audible.
Bradbury's wonderful prose comes right on through, even though the story isn't long.
In about 45 minutes, I was suitably creeped out and it didn't cost me a dime.
Bradbury's wonderful prose comes right on through, even though the story isn't long.
In about 45 minutes, I was suitably creeped out and it didn't cost me a dime.
October 28, 2023
So, this story is quite dated. Even if children really do often play rough, I think the type of thing described in this book doesn’t happen in most western playgrounds. Maybe I’m naive. But children rarely go to playgrounds all on their own anymore and parents are quick to step in.
Nevertheless it’s a good story. It’s a bit creepy and does show the lengths a parent might go to protect their child or rather save them from going through the same trouble they did.
Nevertheless it’s a good story. It’s a bit creepy and does show the lengths a parent might go to protect their child or rather save them from going through the same trouble they did.
October 21, 2023
“It was a cooling September night with the first sniff of autumn in it. Next week, and the children would be raked in off the fields like so many leaves and set to burning in the schools, using their fire and energy for more constructive purposes. But they would be here after school, ramming about, making projectiles of themselves, exploding and crashing, leaving a wake of misery behind their miniature wars.”
Was childhood a time of never-ending play and wonder and happiness? Or was it a time of being terrorized by other children who beat and bullied and belittled us? It’s hard to remember accurately, once we’ve grown up.
But there’s someone who does remember, remembers it as clear as a Green Town summer sky. Ray Bradbury, someone I trust unreservedly regarding all things childhood, finds a way to give us the view from our child self and our adult self at the same time, in this atmospheric and unsettling story. What a genius he was.
Was childhood a time of never-ending play and wonder and happiness? Or was it a time of being terrorized by other children who beat and bullied and belittled us? It’s hard to remember accurately, once we’ve grown up.
But there’s someone who does remember, remembers it as clear as a Green Town summer sky. Ray Bradbury, someone I trust unreservedly regarding all things childhood, finds a way to give us the view from our child self and our adult self at the same time, in this atmospheric and unsettling story. What a genius he was.
October 28, 2023
It was a cooling September night, with the first sniff of autumn in it. Next week, and the children would be raked in off the fields like so many leaves and set to burning in the schools
This powerful parable of childhood and being an adult packs a wallop.
How much should we coddle our children? How much should we let them experience struggles and challenges so they are better prepared for life? Can we sacrifice ourselves in order to pave the success of our children?
This is a dark satire, enough to make the reader squirm. Perfect for Halloween reading.
This powerful parable of childhood and being an adult packs a wallop.
How much should we coddle our children? How much should we let them experience struggles and challenges so they are better prepared for life? Can we sacrifice ourselves in order to pave the success of our children?
This is a dark satire, enough to make the reader squirm. Perfect for Halloween reading.
October 9, 2022
Quando criança Charles sofreu muito em um playground onde era maltratado , humilhado e surrado por crianças maiores que ele. Agora Charles tem um filho de três anos que quer brincar nesse playground. Ele vai fazer de tudo para proteger seu filho dessas crianças que ele vê como demoníacas e desse parque que ele vê como sendo o próprio inferno.
October 17, 2014
I have to admit I am not a fan of Bradbury at all. I thought Fahrenheit 451 was a weak watered down version of 1984 with cardboard cutout characters. And I felt the Martian story collection was just boring.
But this story is haunting and evocative. I guess will have to give Bradbury another chance.
But this story is haunting and evocative. I guess will have to give Bradbury another chance.
December 30, 2021
moral of the story: don't let your parental neuroses stand in the way of your child experiencing childhood
December 31, 2023
The Playground
Ray Bradbury
Read with the Short Story Club https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
Week starting 23rd Oct. 2023. - Story 8
from Black Water 1 (The Anthology of Fantastic Literature)
Read in English
Ray Bradbury
Read with the Short Story Club https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
Week starting 23rd Oct. 2023. - Story 8
from Black Water 1 (The Anthology of Fantastic Literature)
Read in English
November 28, 2024
La VIOLENCIA qué da esta historia. Verdaderamente siento que refleja la realidad de las infancias, la convivencia de los niños y la crianza de los padres, asi como los sacrificios qué están dispuestos a hacer.
No entendía a donde iba a esta historia y el final me dejo helada.
No entendía a donde iba a esta historia y el final me dejo helada.
April 18, 2013
You’ll Never View Childhood or Parenthood the Same After This
“When you have two precious bits of porcelain and one is broken and the other, the last one, remains, where can you find the time to be objective, to be immensely calm, to be anything else but concerned? No, he thought, walking slowly, in the hall, there seems to be nothing I can do except go on being afraid and being afraid of being afraid.” –Charles Underhill
Do you remember what it was like to be a kid? The fears of children are varied and this novelette by Ray Bradbury crystallizes a child and a parent’s fears in a tight, disturbing, trippy story that will send a shiver up your spine.
“Are all playgrounds like this?” Underhill said.
“Some,” replied the boy on the playground. “Maybe this is the only one like this. Maybe it’s just how you look at it, Charlie. Things are what you want them to be.”
And in this story, the Playground is hell, the place where children go to be bullied and beaten, and it is this fate, that of living a childhood of torment, that Charlie wants to save his son from experiencing.
The bottom line: Mr. Bradbury takes the traditional viewpoint--that childhood is the best time of our lives--and flips this notion on its head, holding a mirror to the reader that says, "No, it isn't! Here's why!" This was my first Ray Bradbury story and it won’t be the last.
“When you have two precious bits of porcelain and one is broken and the other, the last one, remains, where can you find the time to be objective, to be immensely calm, to be anything else but concerned? No, he thought, walking slowly, in the hall, there seems to be nothing I can do except go on being afraid and being afraid of being afraid.” –Charles Underhill
Do you remember what it was like to be a kid? The fears of children are varied and this novelette by Ray Bradbury crystallizes a child and a parent’s fears in a tight, disturbing, trippy story that will send a shiver up your spine.
“Are all playgrounds like this?” Underhill said.
“Some,” replied the boy on the playground. “Maybe this is the only one like this. Maybe it’s just how you look at it, Charlie. Things are what you want them to be.”
And in this story, the Playground is hell, the place where children go to be bullied and beaten, and it is this fate, that of living a childhood of torment, that Charlie wants to save his son from experiencing.
The bottom line: Mr. Bradbury takes the traditional viewpoint--that childhood is the best time of our lives--and flips this notion on its head, holding a mirror to the reader that says, "No, it isn't! Here's why!" This was my first Ray Bradbury story and it won’t be the last.
September 2, 2024
This was how Ray Bradbury did horror.
The element of this story that makes it most scary is that it centers around a conceptually ordinary event—a dad taking his young son to the neighborhood playground. But then it twists into something bleak and dark, not by the introduction of a vampire or werewolf, but by an unexpected answer to a basic question of parenting: what would you do to keep your child safe?
The element of this story that makes it most scary is that it centers around a conceptually ordinary event—a dad taking his young son to the neighborhood playground. But then it twists into something bleak and dark, not by the introduction of a vampire or werewolf, but by an unexpected answer to a basic question of parenting: what would you do to keep your child safe?
March 13, 2024
How far would you go to save your child from the worst horrors of growing up?
Following the death of his wife Charles can’t bear to think his son Jim would face up to the rough and tumble in the playground and encounter physical and emotional bullying.
Bearing in mind when this was written, 1953, this is a tremendous story and grasp of the realities of childhood.
What parent hasn’t felt guilty leaving their loved ones at the door of the nursery and that first day at school. Then worried all day until home time.
Jim is just 3 years old, vulnerable and looks like his late mother. How can you contemplate anything bad happening to him becomes Charles’ nightmare.
I loved the writing. The descriptions of “the playground” both observed, felt and imagined and the aroma of menace it gives off. Some of these are the smells remembered from youth. I well recall the magical scents of my childhood. Pear drops, leather and petrol. But for Charles they are the negative ones that pervade his senses; mingled with those associated with violence and running repairs.
The dilemma faced by a caring adult, especially a lone-parent is brilliantly captured here. How to ease my child into the harsh realities of life where I can’t always be to protect them. There are practical considerations and financial realities as well.
All aspects will be weighed up, along with conforming to social norms. Few fathers I suggest would think about the steps Charles takes, driven by fear, motivated by love, but lacking reason and perpetuating a living nightmare.
Following the death of his wife Charles can’t bear to think his son Jim would face up to the rough and tumble in the playground and encounter physical and emotional bullying.
Bearing in mind when this was written, 1953, this is a tremendous story and grasp of the realities of childhood.
What parent hasn’t felt guilty leaving their loved ones at the door of the nursery and that first day at school. Then worried all day until home time.
Jim is just 3 years old, vulnerable and looks like his late mother. How can you contemplate anything bad happening to him becomes Charles’ nightmare.
I loved the writing. The descriptions of “the playground” both observed, felt and imagined and the aroma of menace it gives off. Some of these are the smells remembered from youth. I well recall the magical scents of my childhood. Pear drops, leather and petrol. But for Charles they are the negative ones that pervade his senses; mingled with those associated with violence and running repairs.
The dilemma faced by a caring adult, especially a lone-parent is brilliantly captured here. How to ease my child into the harsh realities of life where I can’t always be to protect them. There are practical considerations and financial realities as well.
All aspects will be weighed up, along with conforming to social norms. Few fathers I suggest would think about the steps Charles takes, driven by fear, motivated by love, but lacking reason and perpetuating a living nightmare.
September 5, 2012
Ray Bradbury is one of my all-time favorite authors, and this is the first of his works to be made available as an e-book. Some people have noted that "The Playground" is dark and disturbing; I can't deny that. However, it is very well-written, to the point that the dark and disturbing is made palatable. This story will grab your attention and never let go until the final word. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for someone who has never read Bradbury before, but if you're already familiar with his work, you will enjoy this.
November 18, 2023
Fascinating look at memory, grief, and childhood trauma. Very few children go to out to play on their own this young anymore (3 years old), but I’m of a generation that did. Luckily, most of us took care of each other, especially the youngest. That was not always the case though, it seems.
October 29, 2023
As with Bradbury's science fiction stories: a very imaginitive idea worked out in a most unimaginitive way. If only Bradbury had had the talent to emulate the likes of O.Henry or Roald Dahl ...
August 3, 2023
This was interesting, but once I realized where it was heading, there weren't really any surprises left.
The main character's motivation was a little questionable, personally. It is hard to tell, however, how realistic his concern actually was; he seemed a bit of an unreliable narrator to me, and I'm not sure what he was really seeing on the titular playground and what he was imagining in his head or taking extremely out of context. Is this a dystopian future where playgrounds are terrifying or is he an overly-concerned helicopter parent?
The ending was odd, though not really out of place with the rest of the story. I'm not quite sure what I'm supposed to make of it. It had a Twilight Zone-esque twist, but I'm not sure I really liked the twist as much as I wanted to.
I haven't read any Bradbury in years and years, so this was a nice starting point back into his work.
May 16, 2017
If you know me personally, then you know that I love me some depressing dark dystopian literature.
I love how Ray Bradbury can make something as cheery and happy as a children playground the most depressing darkest pit in the world.
Absolutely an amazing book! If you read Fahrenheit 451 and liked it, then you'll love this one!
I love how Ray Bradbury can make something as cheery and happy as a children playground the most depressing darkest pit in the world.
Absolutely an amazing book! If you read Fahrenheit 451 and liked it, then you'll love this one!
June 3, 2022
The Playground is society and so on...
July 9, 2017
Not as creepy as some other Bradbury, though I was reminded of the merry-go-round and carnival in "Something Wicked This Way Comes" when thinking about the Playground and the person who runs it.
December 30, 2019
Not much. Just a short story. Trite plot. Cliche characters. Fairly predictable.
But My Oh My what Bradbury does with it.
But My Oh My what Bradbury does with it.
March 15, 2022
El horror precoz
December 28, 2024
hahaha, the horrors of being a child, the horrors of being a parent! “probably the son of a successfully ulcered father” sets the tone 😂
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