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The Rocket
"The Rocket" is a science fiction short story by American writer Ray Bradbury. It is also included in The Illustrated Man, a collection of short stories by Ray Bradbury.
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1950
About the author
Ray Bradbury
2,625 books26.2k 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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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
November 2, 2018
If you want to fly to Mars or Venus, you’ve got to have a rocket.
First published in the March 1950 edition of Super Science Stories, Ray Bradbury’s The Rocket (first published as “Outcast of the Stars”) visits the side of Bradbury’s canon that deals with exuberant imagination and what sometimes leads to irrational decisions. What if only one member of a family can go on the rocket? Who goes? How do they decide?
Family was important to Ray and this familial centrism runs through much of his work and is alive and kicking here. The practicality and common sense of women is also a theme in which Bradbury frequently returns as he does here.
A good Bradbury SF story.
First published in the March 1950 edition of Super Science Stories, Ray Bradbury’s The Rocket (first published as “Outcast of the Stars”) visits the side of Bradbury’s canon that deals with exuberant imagination and what sometimes leads to irrational decisions. What if only one member of a family can go on the rocket? Who goes? How do they decide?
Family was important to Ray and this familial centrism runs through much of his work and is alive and kicking here. The practicality and common sense of women is also a theme in which Bradbury frequently returns as he does here.
A good Bradbury SF story.
December 21, 2018
Brilliant commentary on imagination. A little bittersweet but also has a sprinkle of lightheartedness you don’t often get in Bradbury writings.
May 4, 2020
One of my favourite short stories ever. Yes yes yes I know the theme has been covered and repeated in several other works of Ray Bradbury but I suppose that's what makes it more beautiful and enjoyable. I never thought I would love reading about Space, Rockets and a warm family of the dystopian Capitalist future. I urge everyone to read The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury. One of the finest collections of short stories fr.
August 31, 2026
🚀
It’s the rich who have dreams and rockets!
This is a story about obsession and dreams, how someone can get lost in their own desires, become obsessed with a changing world, and desperately want to be a part of it.
Bodoni becomes so dissatisfied with what he has and so desperate for more that he starts losing touch with reality, and ends up hurting the people around him.
The ending was really bittersweet. Bodoni knows he’ll never achieve his own dream but right at the end he turns around and does something genuinely sweet for his children, giving them the experience he knows he’ll never have.
Such a good story! I truly enjoyed it!
It’s the rich who have dreams and rockets!
This is a story about obsession and dreams, how someone can get lost in their own desires, become obsessed with a changing world, and desperately want to be a part of it.
Bodoni becomes so dissatisfied with what he has and so desperate for more that he starts losing touch with reality, and ends up hurting the people around him.
The ending was really bittersweet. Bodoni knows he’ll never achieve his own dream but right at the end he turns around and does something genuinely sweet for his children, giving them the experience he knows he’ll never have.
Such a good story! I truly enjoyed it!
October 20, 2024
"El Cohete" es una crítica muy sutil a la desigualdad y a cómo el sistema puede limitar las oportunidades de las personas. Bradbury usa la ciencia ficción para hablarnos de problemas muy reales, como la pobreza y la falta de acceso a la educación.
El cuento nos hace reflexionar sobre si todos tenemos las mismas oportunidades de salir adelante, o si hay quienes tienen las cartas marcadas desde el principio. ¿No crees?
¡Disfruten la lectura!
El cuento nos hace reflexionar sobre si todos tenemos las mismas oportunidades de salir adelante, o si hay quienes tienen las cartas marcadas desde el principio. ¿No crees?
¡Disfruten la lectura!
January 16, 2022
A wonderful short story that really shows the love of a family and the beauty that can come from imagination. I sat for a while afterwards thinking about the balance between rational needs and irrational desires.
March 10, 2024
Imagination can take us anywhere. There were many flaws with the story, none the least was Why everybody was flying to Mars, etc. But taking your children on a ride of a rocket to their imagination is always a trip worth any expense.
August 4, 2022
After reading a couple of other stories from The Illustrated Man, I'd expected this one to be just as grim. It surprised me by taking a turn, a poor devoted father and a dream fulfilled.
February 25, 2023
"No, Bodoni, buy a new wrecking machine, which you need, and pull your dreams apart with it, and smash them to pieces."
the reality we live in
the reality we live in
February 5, 2025
Neorealismo italiano en cuento de ciencia ficción
July 20, 2025
Great work…
16:32-16:57
16:32-16:57
November 10, 2025
Un cuento donde la imaginación es el espacio donde las personas se pueden refugiar y a través del cual se pueden crear esperanzas y sueños.
March 6, 2026
So, I did not actually read The Rocket MAN, the one that inspired the Elton John song, but I read this one and thought it was really cute! :)
June 12, 2023
Excellent book
November 22, 2019
This is a story about a family that dreams of taking a rocket trip in a time when it is possible, but expensive. The father of the family deals in discarded technology and creates the fantastic illusion of rocket trips which are amazing. The man is a GREAT father.
March 11, 2020
Great story about how the new advances in technology impact the life of the lower class
August 27, 2020
Ray Bradbury, nos transporta a mundos inimaginables desde la visión de gente común y corriente. Lo que convierte al relato en una obra de enorme belleza.
June 27, 2022
9 out of 10
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews