There Will Come Soft Rains (1950) [pdf] • Hacker News Board

Re: There Will Come Soft Rains (1950) [pdf]

#81

Post by Tade0 » Tue, Aug 04, 2026, 1:04 PM UTC

laszlojamf wrote: post #66

The most interesting thing about science fiction to me isn't the things the authors get right, but what they get wrong. Like, the whole house talking in a ChatGPT voice, intelligent appliances, etc: brilliant prescience. But he still thought we'd be having linoleum on our floors...

To quote an obscure reference from my country:

Regarding linoleum let's agree to disagree. I for one appreciate it.

It is still present in my region to an extent. This year my relative bought an apartment where the kitchen floor is made from it.

Re: There Will Come Soft Rains (1950) [pdf]

#82

Post by greyhelm » Tue, Aug 04, 2026, 1:07 PM UTC

srean wrote: post #76

twotwotwo wrote: post #28

Okay, a stretch for HN, but: singer-songwriter Silvana Estrada named an album released last year Vendrán Suaves Lluvias (meaning There Will Come Soft Rains). She talked about how she and her brother read The Martian Chronicles as kids and she remembered the Sara Teasdale poem quoted at the end. She said she composed the songs at a difficult time in her life and, I guess, something about that image in the story (and t…

Does Tiny Desk have the best sound engineers or what ?

Tiny Desk, along with KEXP, are absolutely brilliant at what they do.

Re: There Will Come Soft Rains (1950) [pdf]

#83

Post by tetris11 » Tue, Aug 04, 2026, 1:07 PM UTC

    Eternal rains will come  
    We should say goodbye   
    And suffer on our own  
    As all our thoughts were wrong

Re: There Will Come Soft Rains (1950) [pdf]

#84

Post by ngvrnd » Tue, Aug 04, 2026, 1:10 PM UTC

So is The Pedestrian...

Re: There Will Come Soft Rains (1950) [pdf]

#85

Post by Jtsummers » Tue, Aug 04, 2026, 1:14 PM UTC

ngvrnd wrote: post #84

So is The Pedestrian...

> So is The Pedestrian...

It's set in November, not August, and another 27 years further in the future (at least the version currently linked to on the front page).

Re: There Will Come Soft Rains (1950) [pdf]

#86

Post by nahuel0x » Tue, Aug 04, 2026, 1:18 PM UTC

USSR animated version (1984): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oxP3TyuQx0

Re: There Will Come Soft Rains (1950) [pdf]

#87

Post by CTDOCodebases » Tue, Aug 04, 2026, 1:19 PM UTC

I liked Ray Bradbury's thoughts on the internet when it first came into existence

Re: There Will Come Soft Rains (1950) [pdf]

#88

Post by none2585 » Tue, Aug 04, 2026, 1:19 PM UTC

katzgrau wrote: post #79

No nuclear apocalypse yet. Nice.

The day is young!

Re: There Will Come Soft Rains (1950) [pdf]

#89

Post by srean » Tue, Aug 04, 2026, 1:24 PM UTC

greyhelm wrote: post #82

srean wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does Tiny Desk have the best sound engineers or what ?

Tiny Desk, along with KEXP, are absolutely brilliant at what they do.

An emphatic yes. It's a strange coincidence that I wanted to name KEXP too in my previous comment.

London Grammar @ KEXP ranks pretty high.

Re: There Will Come Soft Rains (1950) [pdf]

#90

Post by Tade0 » Tue, Aug 04, 2026, 1:25 PM UTC

nahuel0x wrote: post #86

USSR animated version (1984): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oxP3TyuQx0

This clip is what introduced me to this story.

This adaptation is heavily modified, but I think it adds to the whole thing. Soviet artists had an uncanny talent for making everything that's unsettling even more so.