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The Dwarf
The owner of a Hall of Mirrors and a young carnival-goer observe a dwarf who uses the mirrors to make himself seem taller.
18 pages, ebook
Published January 1, 1955
27 people want to read
About the author
Ray Bradbury
2,411books24.2kfollowersRay 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".
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 4, 2020
A strange little carnival story. Nothing out of the ordinary here.
We follow a bigot and his kind girlfriend, which is the strange part, but that’s the conflict. Unresolved ending.
We follow a bigot and his kind girlfriend, which is the strange part, but that’s the conflict. Unresolved ending.
November 21, 2020
A great tale to teach us kindness and speaking up to those we may be too afraid to say anything to
November 10, 2022
Like a lens, a mirror which distorts can also elucidate.
October 31, 2024
This is a narratively great story, brimming with Bradbury's typically immersive, golden prose.
I liked the idea of the mirrors illuminating the true nature of the characters, who is truly grand in stature and who is stunted, but the way Dwarfism was depicted was a little distracting because it felt more like an average-sized person's fears of what it would be like to live with Dwarfism than what it is or was like for most people.
It might not have stood out to me the way it did if it hadn't been described so similarly in (the wonderful) Something Wicked This Way Comes.
That doesn't make it a bad story, and in fact I think it's a very good one. But this was simply one element I found distracting about it.
I liked the idea of the mirrors illuminating the true nature of the characters, who is truly grand in stature and who is stunted, but the way Dwarfism was depicted was a little distracting because it felt more like an average-sized person's fears of what it would be like to live with Dwarfism than what it is or was like for most people.
It might not have stood out to me the way it did if it hadn't been described so similarly in (the wonderful) Something Wicked This Way Comes.
That doesn't make it a bad story, and in fact I think it's a very good one. But this was simply one element I found distracting about it.
January 9, 2024
القزم
قصة قصيرة رائعة من عشر صفحات جعلتني ابكي تتكلم عن قزم يدفع بقشيش حتى يدخل غرفة فيها مرايا كثيرة و يشوف انعكاسات نفسه. اللي يشتغلو مؤجرين في غرفة المرايا هو شخص وقح و صديقته اللطيفة اللي تشفق على حال القزم. يحدث بنهاية القصة حدث غير متوقع و محزن للقزم عن طريق التنمر عليه واظهاره على انه اصغر من ما هو صغير بالفعل. بكيت و انا اقرا القصة. تتحدث القصة عن التنمر و القسوة اللي يضعوها البشر على بعضهم البعض، و كيف ان هالأعباء اثرها اسوأ بكثير على الناس المختلفين عن البقية. مذهل كيف ان الكاتب قدر يوصل قصة معبرة تلمس القلب و تجعلك تبكي في صفحات قليلة.
قصة قصيرة رائعة من عشر صفحات جعلتني ابكي تتكلم عن قزم يدفع بقشيش حتى يدخل غرفة فيها مرايا كثيرة و يشوف انعكاسات نفسه. اللي يشتغلو مؤجرين في غرفة المرايا هو شخص وقح و صديقته اللطيفة اللي تشفق على حال القزم. يحدث بنهاية القصة حدث غير متوقع و محزن للقزم عن طريق التنمر عليه واظهاره على انه اصغر من ما هو صغير بالفعل. بكيت و انا اقرا القصة. تتحدث القصة عن التنمر و القسوة اللي يضعوها البشر على بعضهم البعض، و كيف ان هالأعباء اثرها اسوأ بكثير على الناس المختلفين عن البقية. مذهل كيف ان الكاتب قدر يوصل قصة معبرة تلمس القلب و تجعلك تبكي في صفحات قليلة.
June 4, 2022
Up to Bradbury's usual standards. I didn't love some of the dialogue and the ending was a bit too unclear for me, but I did enjoy it.
October 1, 2022
7 out of 10
September 24, 2024
Ray Bradbury writes like a magician. This story is pure gold
October 12, 2024
A tale of karma set in a carnival hall of mirrors. The girl friend is kind and speaks out against her awful boyfriend.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
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