Monday, October 6, 2014
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
A masterpiece of modern Gothic literature, Something Wicked This Way Comes is the memorable story of two boys, James Nightshade and William Halloway, and the evil that grips their small Midwestern town with the arrival of a "dark carnival" one Autumn midnight. How these two innocents, both age 13, save the souls of the town (as well as their own), makes for compelling reading on timeless themes. What would you do if your secret wishes could be granted by the mysterious ringmaster Mr. Dark? Bradbury excels in revealing the dark side that exists in us all, teaching us ultimately to celebrate the shadows rather than fear them. In many ways, this is a companion piece to his joyful, nostalgia-drenched Dandelion Wine, in which Bradbury presented us with one perfect summer as seen through the eyes of a 12-year-old. In Something Wicked This Way Comes, he deftly explores the fearsome delights of one perfectly terrifying, unforgettable autumn.
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This was a pretty good book. I give it 3/5 stars though as it started very strong but could have been a much better book at the end. I think Bradbury has a real problem with ending his stories. Fareinheit 451 also was a fantastic book until the end.
ReplyDeleteAt any rate it was still a fun and quick read and the story is pretty solid as it's about a carnival of horrors. It can be quite creepy but overall not particularly scary. Bradbury, like all good science fiction writers, really excels at getting across his philosophy through interesting ideas. In this book there is a character who just spouts off philosophy about growing up and good and evil and then once he does Bradbury seems to rush to the ending because he's already said what he wanted to say.
My favorite quote from the book:
"Really knowing is good. Not knowing, or refusing to know, is bad, or amoral, at least. You can't act is you don't know. Acting without knowing takes you right off a cliff...We can't be good unless we know what bad is, and it's a shame we're working against time."
^Fahrenheit
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