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Summary: Battle between good and evil
Review: Ray Bradbury is more than just a sci-fiction writer. In Something Wicked this Way Comes, Bradbury uses vivid metaphors, and details to illustrate the story of two young boys coming to age. The underlying theme of this book is the battle between the good and evil on earth, and also the battle inside of all of us. This is a must read!!!!!
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Summary: Great book
Review: I read the book for a school project. One night while reading it I read over 100 pages in one sitting just because of the suspense at the end of each chapter. Great read, buy it.
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Summary: Not up to expectations
Review: Many high schools cover this book in english classes, and though I hadn't read it in school, I've always been fond of Bradbury's short stories, so I figured I'd give it a read. I was fairly disappointed. It doesn't match his short fiction. I found the plot and characters dry and predictable. Maybe I just don't like carnies...
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Summary: The Most Intense Carousel Ride Ever
Review: Ray Bradbury is an intriguing and insightful author. In this novel, which revolves around the life of two young boys that are attached at the hip, the fantastical plotline is only a small portion of what the book has to offer. The novel opens and the reader is introduced to the two young boys, each with very different backgrounds. One resents his lack of a father, and the other resents the advanced age of his father. One wants to forever cling to his boyhood, and the other can't wait to turn around and spit on his youth. When a dark and strange carnival comes to town, it seems that it holds solutions for everyone within its billowing tents. The one boy can grow older, and the other boy can make his father younger. Through the progression of the novel, many characters are lost to the somber carnival, and many of its previous members are introduced. If the reader can only cling on through the intense twists and turns this novel takes, he will be rewarded greatly at the end. Insight into human nature, and the true colors of good, found in the age-bent body of the father, and evil, found in many of the carnival members (essentially the owner, Mr. Black), will all be received by the faithful reader. The two boys triumph over the evil strangers, and they escape with scars gained only from their loss of innocence. In essence, it's the not quite average story of two boys reaching the brink of manhood.
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Summary: A Break in the Mold
Review: This was a great book, no questions asked! I dislike some of Bradbury's book, like "Fahrenheit 451", but this was a great book. I liked the way it kept you reading, making it hard to put the book down. At the end of every chapter, there was that constant overhanging feeling of suspense,forcing you to dive even further into this ocean of a book. The characterization was great, and the way Bradbury would switch from one scene to another to keep you updated was wonderful. The characters from the book acted like your worst nightmares would actually act, making the book seem all the more real. Even the beginning was exciting, unlike most books. This horror book skips the hassle of blood and guts, and just gets right down to the real thing: an evil group of people only you realize aren't what they appear to be. Not just another horror story with cardboard people and a stupid monster, this book really lets you get INTO the people in the book. It can get confusing at some points, but that's part of the fun. I recommend this book to sci-fi and fantasy lovers. "Something Wicked This Way Comes" just goes to show, looks can be deceiving.
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Summary: A Fantastical Read
Review: Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes is a novel about mankind's struggle with temptation. The three main character's Will, Jim and Charles (Will's father) live a relatively simple life before an evil carnival comes to their town. Once it rises up in the middle of the night, people in the town start to disappear and everything goes horribly wrong. The carnival offers what every person could ever dream of but the price is too horrible to bear. The boys have to struggle with their friendship while combating the evil that has manifested in their town. Charles also has to confront the greatest challenge he has ever faced and live up to being Will's father. Bradbury goes outside the narrow-minded sphere of reality, challenging our beliefs, and forcing us to confront our deepest desires and fears. Highly recommended.
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Summary: Don't read this book- I had to!
Review: This book is a waste of your time and I think it's crazy!
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Summary: Go and read this book, darn it!
Review: It's incredible... a must read. I'm serious. It's a great book. You really won't regret buying it, trust me. Honestly, why aren't 6/5's possible?
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Summary: By the pricking of my thumb...
Review: Great book, but the movie (also written by Ray Bradbury) was much better. It's probably the best Halloween (the holiday) movie I've seen.The book can stand on its own, though, and is a great read
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Summary: A timeless story
Review: There are so many levels to this novel, so many important subplots that to dismiss this book as an "evil carnie" story would be totally irrelevant and unfair. The evil- and this book defines evil, it hits the nail on the head- takes so many forms and affects so many people; but here are the most important:... 1) Jim and Will's friendship. They're best friends, but they're obviously spereated by their characters. Will has been brought up by both his parents; he's thoughtful, a little neurotic; shy, conservative and introverted. Jim is the opposite. He was brought up only by his mother, his father left when he was little; he's outgoing, impulsive, daring, eager to grow up, leave the past behind. Bradbury expresses their differences several ways: Wills' blond, Jim's dark-haired; Will was born one minute before Halloween, Jim's one minute after. And even though he's older, Will always feels he's behind Jim. Like Jim's always in a rush to grow up, leave Will behind... there's symbolism in a scene where Will's running after Jim, and Jim's constantly slowing down for Will. This is important when the carnival comes to town, because Jim, perhaps anxious for a father figure, is easily swayed in going with the carnival. In Star Wars, Jim would turn to the dark side, and Will the light... 2) Will's fathers age. Mr. Halloway feels like he's grown up too fast; and now, in his fifties, he believes that he's never done anything with his life. He feels particularly ashamed that he's never been there for Will: never young enough to play ball with him, run with him, climb with him. And now he's afraid that Will doesn't love him anymore, and is gradually turning into his father. Mr. Halloway bears a mental load on his back of age and regret. Bradbury does a wonderful job here, as in all his stories, of really communicating a man's personal fears and longings. You really side with Mr. Halloway, because his insecurities and insights are the same as ours. You feel his angst, and when the carnival comes beckoning, offering him the chance to be young again, you can truly understand his dilemma... This is really a novel about the evil which resides in us all, merely manifested into something tangible. It's about humanity: their desires, fears, longings, insecurities, regrets, and how we can't let go of them. This is a horror book, not it the sense of ghouls and goblins (though there's plenty of that); it's a horror book about the stuff inside of us, and what we don't express to the ones we love. This is my favorite book, and might just be yours once you read it.
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