Now and Always (Book)

Ray Bradbury’s Now and Forever, first translated into Turkish in 2022, is a science fiction work distinguished by its lyrical narrative and emotional intensity, composed of two short novels: A Music Playing Somewhere and Leviathan ‘99. While addressing metaphysical themes such as death and immortality, time and fate through a pastoral style, Bradbury’s poetic language imbues these stories with profound depth. Now and Forever transcends classical science fiction to assume the character of a literary text that poses universal questions about human existence.

Subject

A Music Playing Somewhere, one of the two stories in the book, centers on a journalist caught between past and future, who experiences life in the town of Summerton—a place that exists outside of time. Leviathan ‘99, inspired by Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, presents an existential tale set in the vacuum of space. In both narratives, Bradbury guides his characters to the thresholds of death, eternity, and madness.

Characters

A Music Playing Somewhere

• James Cardiff: A journalist who arrives in the small, time-stalled town of Summerton. Possessing a poetic sensibility, Cardiff’s perception of reality is shaken as he becomes aware of the town’s peculiar structure and its immortal inhabitants. He strives to prevent the town’s dissolution. He is the protagonist.
• Inhabitants of Summerton: These people do not age, die, or experience time; they represent a pastoral utopia. Yet their immortality gradually transforms into an existential void. They function less as individual characters and more as metaphors.

Leviathan ‘99

• Ishmael Hunnicut Jones: A young astronaut who joins the crew of the spaceship Cepheus. He serves as the observer, narrator, and witness to the events.
• The Captain: A deranged captain obsessed with destroying the comet Leviathan. His compulsive personality drags everyone aboard the ship toward catastrophe.
• The Ship’s Crew: A multinational group confronting a cosmic threat. Each member embodies a different aspect of humanity—its fears, beliefs, and contradictions. Some surrender, some question, and others fight.

Themes Through Character Symbolism

• James Cardiff → Memory, love, confrontation with death and the shadow of the past
• Summerton → Pastoral immortality, the desire to escape time
• Ishmael → The narrator-witness, voice of reason and curiosity
• The Captain → The limits of obsession and madness, humanity’s march toward self-destruction
• Leviathan → Cosmic chaos, confrontation with the unknown, the inevitability of fate