Something Wicked This Way Comes

Some argue that this is Bradbury's masterpiece, although I think the Martian Chronicles just shades it, but that's just personal preference. Bradbury's writing here has a poetic quality to it that some may find hard to fathom, but stick with it, because this book has lots to say. The tale of two boys, Jim Nightshade and Will Halloway, on the cusp of their 14th birthdays, and the carnival that shows up outside their small town that changes them forever, Something Wicked This Way Comes takes us on a journey into the heart of darkness. Bradbury touches on what it means to be a friend, the hopes and fears of the two boys, the seductive power of the dark forces marshalled against them by the freaks of the Pandemonium Shadow Show, and the power of good to triumph over evil. For me, the stand out character is Will's father, Charles Halloway, the town library's janitor and a distant, remote figure to Will, seemingly incapable of communicating with his son. But the events of the few days and nights covered by the book change all that, with Halloway discovering a power within himself he never knew he had, and discovering that the way to defeat evil is to deny them the weapons they would use against us. The way Will begins to see his father in a new light by the end of the story is quite moving. Recommended.

And another book about nothing. The book tells the story of two boys, Jim and Will who are friends, and Will's father, who likes to drink and regrets not being young anymore. There is a storm coming, and the boys are gifted an metal rod device that can prevent lightning from burning their house.

Books like Asimov's and Dune grasped me in the very first sentence. This, and the latest ones I've been reading, does not.

Read: 10%, 54:00/9:17 hours

Rating: 8.9/10

Reading this book felt like being in a bad dream. Ray Bradbury has an almost ethereal writing style, unlike anyone else I've read, that creates a mystical little town which is suddenly overtaken by Cooger and Dark's Pandemonium Circus. Bradbury really lets your imagination do the heavy lifting but at the same time, makes the story flow effortlessly towards its discomforting conclusion.

It was hard to get into this initially due to the almost abstract way Bradbury likes to write, but once I let myself get engrossed in the world, I couldn't stop reading. I really liked it and will definitely make an effort to read more of Bradbury's work.