There is no future for e-books, because they are not books. E-books smell like burned fuel.
Interpretation
Ray Bradbury expresses skepticism about the future of e-books, emphasizing the sensory experience of physical books.
In this quote, Ray Bradbury critiques e-books by highlighting the intangible qualities of traditional printed books that e-books lack. He argues that physical books provide a sensory experience, such as the smell of paper and ink, which contributes to their value and cultural significance. Bradbury's perspective suggests that the shift to digital formats may overlook the deeper connection between readers and the printed word.
In practice
In a discussion about the impact of technology on reading habits.
I've written about 2,000 short stories; I've only published 300 and I feel I'm still learning. Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he'll eventually make some kind of career for himself as a writer. Ray Bradbury, 1967 interview (Doing the Math - that means for every story he sold, he wrote six "un-publishable" ones. Keep typing!)
I never went to college, so I went to the library.
There must be something in books, something we canβt imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You donβt stay for nothing.
I think the sun is a flower, That blooms for just one hour.
The first thing a writer should be is - excited. He should be a thing of fevers and enthusiasms. Without such vigor, he might as well be out picking peaches or digging ditches; God knows it'd be better for his health.
You can't try to do things; you simply must do them.
I am still bowled over by this great young adult novel by David Levithan called 'Every Day,' which is about a character with no gender or body who wakes up every day in the body of a different person. It's a really impressive execution of a really great premise.
Perhaps the story in the book is just the lid on a pan: It always stays the same, but underneath there's a whole world that goes on - developing and changing like our own world.
Chapter One. The Bride." He held up the book then. "I'm reading it to you for relax." He practically shoved the book in my face. "By S. Morgenstern. Great Florinese writer. The Princess Bride. He too came to America. S. Morgenstern. Dead now in New York. The English is his own. He spoke eight tongues." Here my father put down the book and held up all his fingers. "Eight. Once in Florin City...
The great thing about a short story is that it doesn't have to trawl through someone's whole life; it can come in glancingly from the side.
Her reputation for reading a great deal hung about her like the cloudy envelope of a goddess in an epic.
The only sensible ends of literature are, first, the pleasurable toil of writing; second, the gratification of one's family and friends; and lastly, the solid cash.
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