So, uh, how did this random site get the rights to republish Bradbury? Or, to judge by their front page, did they mistake Bradbury's works for public domain?
There Will Come Soft Rains (1950) [pdf]
321–330 of 469 posts
Re: There Will Come Soft Rains (1950) [pdf]
#322First time I have seen a parental rating in a blog post.
Re: There Will Come Soft Rains (1950) [pdf]
#323Re: There Will Come Soft Rains (1950) [pdf]
#324Earlier quoted context omitted.
With the expiration of New Start earlier this year, there are no nuclear arms control agreements in effect between the US and Russia, which hasn’t been the case since the 1960s. Russia, China, and the US are all actively modernizing and developing new nuclear capabilities. China has been greatly expanding their nuclear arsenal, building hundreds of new silos. North Korea has an expansive set of tactical and strategic…
In addition, usage of tactical nuclear weapons comes up again and again from Russian sources, driven by the situation in the Ukraine war.
Plus the current US President has purged most of of the military leaders who might resist any unwise or unlawful orders regarding nuclear weaponry. (Or just in-general, for that matter.) Potential orders he mused-about during his first term.
https://www.axios.com/2026/04/03/military-officials-ousted-r...
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2024/10...
Re: There Will Come Soft Rains (1950) [pdf]
#325Okay, 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…
And if your in the mood for a hard rain there is this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvZmrygK3F0&t=3790s
An obligatory mention, also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEtQfqpKi1I
Re: There Will Come Soft Rains (1950) [pdf]
#326The planets were meeting, and each one complained about something.
Then Earth said: "I’ve got humans."
The others said: "Don’t worry, that’s not permanent."
Re: There Will Come Soft Rains (1950) [pdf]
#327I read this story in 4th grade. It felt like the future. Now, it feels like most of the technology is within reach - at least, it could be built. The automated stove being the main exception. But the most unrealistic part of this story is how all the IoT automation continues to work in the absence of the Internet.
The other unrealistic part is the absence of ads.
Re: There Will Come Soft Rains (1950) [pdf]
#328"water, gas and light bills"
I assume light bills refers to electricity, as, especially pre war, that's what electricity was predominantly used for?
Re: There Will Come Soft Rains (1950) [pdf]
#329Re: There Will Come Soft Rains (1950) [pdf]
#330It seems quaint now, but it’s astonishing how much the fear of war (especially nuclear annihilation) affected mid-century fiction. In addition to "There Will Come Soft Rains" we have short stories like Stephen Vincent Benét’s "By the Waters of Babylon." In that story, society has been bombed back to the stone age. Even religion is a stone age recreation. Something like hot and cold running water seems like it must co…
We also don't fully appreciate how much this shaped the American Baby Boomer psyche. My dad talks of regular Nuclear War drills in elementary school.
Or a certain cohort of Gen X who were old enough to watch The Day After or Threads and comprehend the possibilities.