Reading Journal : A Sound of Thunder - Ray Bradbury(1952)

 Rating : 9/10

Before this short story, I had read one of Ray Bradbury's most famous works, Fahrenheit 451. However, when I read the book I felt that it didn't live up to its reputation. Although the fact that I'm not that fond of dystopian novels may have influenced my thoughts, inevitably my impression of Ray Bradbury wasn't that good. However, this novel exceeded my expectations and may be the best short story that I've read recently. A Sound of Thunder is about a time in the near future, when time travel is actually a thing. A man named Eckels goes on a hunt for a Tyrannosaurus rex with his guide Mr. Travis, but causes a disturbance which effects the timeline, and there is a 'sound of thunder' in the end. The thing that I liked most about the story is its open ending. Though anyone could guess that 'raising a gun' and a 'sound of thunder' easily means Eckels is shot in the end, Bradbury doesn't mention it directly, giving the story an air of mystery that greatly adds to the atmosphere. Also, the book gives new insight on how time works. Many works of fantasy have speculated on how a disturbance in time could affect the future, but this book, in my perspective, takes the seriousness of the effects to a whole new level, dramatically illustrating the difference with the sign. "TYME", and President Deutscher well illustrated how big the disturbance was. All in all, A Sound of Thunder was the perfect introduction to World Lit, and it sparked an interest in short stories inside of me for the first time.