The Veldt [short story]

Bradbury takes readers into a disturbing version of technology-based Utopia in this short story, which depicts the life of the Hadley family. Their dependence on electronics and virtual reality has become so extreme that it is literally an addiction for the children, who are the epitome of spoiled brats. It's perfectly normal for children to react negatively when they are denied a toy by their parents, but most children don't have the smarts or the long-term memory to respond as violently as the Hadley children do. Many authors have wirtten on how children y have extremely violent thoughts, but are restrained from carrying out said due to their lack of long-term planning abilities, but in Bradley's world the children are more than show more capable. This twisted depiction is very much in line with Iain Bank's The Wasp Factory, but somehow not actually seeing the parents murdered is more disturbing... show less

This was a fun, slightly disturbing short story featuring something like the hollow-deck from Star Trek, some underloved and sociopathic children, and their clueless parents.

I am now curious if this is the origin of the lived virtual reality experience. If not, where does that concept first appear?

This short story makes you wonder about the wisdom and sense of letting artificial intelligence run life for you. Probably one of the best commentaries on smart homes in literature, as well as on raising kids who value screen time more than interaction with their parents and friends.

The other day, my husband stumbled upon a video on Reddit featuring EDM artist Deadmau5. The video showcased how he came up with the lyrics for his song, “The Veldt.” Deadmau5 created the music while live-streaming as a tribute to Ray Bradbury’s short story, “The Veldt.” Chris James wrote the lyrics, recorded his vocals, and sent them to Deadmau5. Watching Deadmau5’s reaction to the perfect lyrics is incredibly amusing.

Needless to say, my husband and I decided we needed to read Bradbury’s “The Veldt.” It’s a clever story about a family with an advanced technological house called a Happy Life Home. This house has a nursery that can bring their children’s thoughts to life and essentially create any place they desire. show more The children seem to prefer Africa, but the presence of lions is concerning, prompting the parents to consider shutting off the nursery. However, the children throw tantrums and beg to keep the nursery active.

Published in 1950, “The Veldt” eerily mirrors contemporary society. While we may not have nurseries as depicted by Bradbury, the children’s behavior due to technology’s influence is spot-on. His foresight in envisioning how dependent families can become on technology is truly impressive. Let’s hope parents don’t meet the same fate as George and Lydia Hadley. “The Veldt” is a remarkable story, and we’re fortunate to have discovered it.

I have photos, videos, and additional information that I'm unable to include here. It can all be found on my blog, in the link below.
A Book And A Dog show less

Ray Bradbury demonstrates in this very short story his brilliant writing skills. It is not easy to put so much suspense and tension on so few pages, but Ray Bradbury succeeds here masterfully.

Revisited an old favorite from grade school. It's amazing how relevant this story remains sixty four years after it was written.

This was one of the short stories I grew up on and one of the reasons I still love SF, 40 years after reading it for the first time. This story came out in a collection of stories the book was called "The Illustrated Man", still have my SF bookclub edition.