Bradburyish adj.

of, relating to, or characteristic of the writing of Ray Bradbury, esp. in focusing on psychological concerns (often based on the presumed simplicity of personal interactions) rather than technological developments

SF Criticism

  • 1948 J. Van Couvering Letter in Planet Stories Spring 123/1 page image

    Earthbound was Bradburyish. No plot, but who cared? Excellent yarn.

  • 1958 P. S. Miller in Astounding Science Fiction May 146/2 page image P. Schuyler Miller

    ‘The Body’ is very Bradburyish—a story of a man put into a dog’s body.

  • 1965 L. Jones in New Worlds June 113 page image Langdon Jones

    This book is Bradbury at his most Bradburyish—and his best. Personally, I found it tremendous.

  • 1976 B. W. Aldiss Space Odysseys 178 Brian W. Aldiss

    The vital question of scale arises too in the Bryce Walton story. This pleasant Bradburyish piece contains the quote which heads this section; ‘A human being is the smallest thing of all, out here,’™ thinks one spaceman, drifting in space. But an answer is given: ‘The human being was bigger than the Universe itself.’

  • 1995 P. Di Filippo in Asimov’s Science Fiction Oct. 162/1 page image Paul Di Filippo

    They exhibit a wide-ranging talent, comfortable and proficient with such diverse tales as the Bradburyish ‘The Ground Under Man’ or the Barrington-Bayley-like ‘Another Brush With The Fuzz’ or the La Fontaine-style fable ‘Flies’.

  • 2005 N. Gaiman in J. L. Blaschke Voices of Vision 136 Neil Gaiman

    I think it’s going to be a very Bradburyish short story. It’s going to have that flavor, at least in my head.

Research requirements

antedating 1948
Research History
Fred Galvin submitted a 1976 cite from Brian Aldiss in "Space Odysseys". Bill Mullins submitted most other cites.

Last modified 2021-08-02 18:40:36
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.