Something Wicked This Way Comes: A Novel

Ray Bradbury, like the picturesque old libraries or city halls found in many a marginalized American small town, was so ubiquitous that I often felt he was taken for granted. He was such a fixture of the literary landscape for so long, lauded as one of our great prose stylists and narrative dreamers so often, that it was easy to forget he was there. Comfy old chair-like ubiquity aside, Mr. Bradbury's work remained moving, vital, and fresh right until the very end.Something Wicked This Way Comes has been a favorite novel of mine since my early twenties, when I finally got around to reading it. On the surface, Bradbury's nostalgiac Middle American nightmare is simply a dark and evocative fable of childhood; a precursor to every evil-threatens-a-small-town novel written by Stephen King or Dean Koontz or anyone who followed in their footsteps. It is the story of two boys--Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade--twelve years old, on the cusp of adulthood, suddenly faced with temptation and damnation when a devilish autumn carnival invades their picturesque little Midwest town. Little by little, Will and Jim discover that the delights promised by the carnival (led by the sinister Mr. Dark, covered in moving tattoos representing the many souls he's dragged to perdition) are thorny roses to say the least, wishes granted with terrible fine print folded into their infernal contracts.In deft, evocative, poetic prose, Bradbury paints a vivid and memorable portrait of a serene if static world invaded by a malign and alien influence, insidious precisely because it uses the all-too-human frailties of the townsfolk against them. Perhaps most impressive is the master's ability to entice the reader with nostalgia, then use those very objects of nostalgia to instill pity and terror equal to any Greek tragedy. For a man renowned for his love of autumn, carnivals, and Halloween with all its funhouse trappings, Bradbury succeeds magnificently in turning the objects of his affection (and ours) into vessels of fear. This is, perhaps, a central aspect of Something Wicked's success: by turning the objects of nostalgia and affection into devil's snares for our fragile, aging souls, Bradbury reminds us that what we love can damn us as well as redeem us. The difference between one and the other often balances on a knife's edge between ecstatic self-destruction and ascetic, self-punishing virtuousness.Folded into Bradbury's meditation on childhood fears and adult regrets, one also finds a simple, elegant consideration of how goodness and happiness rarely walk hand in hand. Telling his father that he considers him a good man, and learning that Charles sees himself that way as well, Will is forced to ask, "Then, Dad, why aren't you happy?"Charles's response: "Since when did you think being good meant being happy?"Seeing that his son doesn't understand, Charles tries to elaborate on just what trying to be good has cost him. "I was so busy wrestling myself two falls out of three," Charles says, "I figured I couldn't marry until I had licked myself good and forever... Too late, I found you can't wait to become perfect, you got to go out and fall down and get up with everybody else... [but] you take a man half-bad and a woman half-bad and put their two good halves together and you got one human all good to share between. That's you, Will..."If anyone's ever written a better paen to marriage and child-rearing, I don't know what it is. Will's conversation with his father, and the revelations both share, strike me as beautiful and true.And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why Ray Bradbury was a national treasure. Although he created a vast and beautiful body of work, in this simple, lovely, spooky little novel, made up of barely 80,000 words, he not only encapsulated the terrible moments that portend adulthood--the realization that grown-ups are fragile and flawed; the reality of one's own, eventual death--but also their obverse: the moment in our adulthood when we finally realize just how far behind us childhood, safety, and dreams without regrets lie. Two boys realize that a world of compromise and moral hazard awaits them, followed by death; an old man realizes that death is nearer than ever before, and that the compromises and moral hazards left in his wake make its approach all the more tragic.And yet, in the midst of all this darkness, hope endures. That it never comes across as a cloying, false, or flashy hope is further evidence of the late master's genius. The silver lining to Bradbury's thunderclouds is simple laughter; a willful outpouring of joy and delight, to light the darkness and defy the doldrums of inexorable time and lurking mortality. "Everything that happens before Death is what counts" Bradbury tells us, and we can only believe him. From the realization that we're all in the same boat--that we all suffer the same doubts, the same regrets, the same self-deceptions--we draw some small measure of strength, and find some small measure of hope, even in the face of oblivion. As the book's Moby Dick-derived epigraph proclaims: "I know not what lies ahead, but whatever it is, I'll go to it laughing."

This book is part of Bradbury's loosely constructed Green Town trilogy (there's also a collection of related short stories). A sort of classic tale in its telling, the story unfolds as a nostalgic coming of age yarn mixed with horror involving two young boys. The main struggle explored by the author is that of desire and temptation. Chiefly this evolves between the contrasting main characters. The protagonists, Will and Jim, are best friends, with the main difference being that Will is a bit more cautious and Jim is a bit more adventurous with a slightly edgier worldview than his friend. Will's father (another main character), is old--to put it simply. Charles has come into fatherhood later in life and doesn't know how to make amends with that, as the youth of his son seems only to be a constant reminder of how aged he is. This dynamic sets the stage for things to come. Enter the horror.Bradbury's language is flowery, purple-colored prose from an older time. In looking at other reviews, it seems that this style is off-putting to some readers. Bradbury does not take a "window pane" approach to describing things (as author Brandon Sanderson might describe the style). His words fall from the abstract and are more akin to poetry. The author paints the scene with notes and chords and melody. The wording is thick and may take some chewing, depending on your mood or frame of reference. It's is rife with allusion. That's not to say that the story is not there--nor is it boring or stylized. There is real tension and suspense. But, Bradbury coats the story in vivid hues to invoke tone, mood and perhaps the nostalgia he must have been thinking of when he wrote this. Indeed, the story itself is inspired by the author's own real life childhood experience from when a carnival came to his hometown.Still, no matter the author's style, there is a clear framework of a story. At times, it may seem a bit long--but not much. It's easy to see how other authors (like Stephen King for instance) were inspired by someone like Bradbury, when you have scenes involving sewer hideaways and sideshow freaks stalking through town on ill intent missions to find the two pesky young boys. Each time the protagonists escape the clutches of the Carnival, a new struggle ensues with solid reversals of fortune. And there is also the ever-present worry, that nobody will ever believe what is really go on here.Another thing to note of Bradbury's style is his use of the language to construct scenes. His prose may be purpled--but it is not so verbose. He has a wonderful way of describing these evil things lurking about the town as they tangle with the protagonists, and he does this without resorting to overwrought, visceral descriptions of violence. I felt particularly creeped out by the Dust Witch, Mr. Dark and even the eviscerated Mr. Electro who drolled out stoic declarations like a half-dead toad. All the characters of this dark Carnival had a presence, though not described in complete physical detail-I still had a sense of them. I could feel the mood, the fear they put into the protagonists.The story is a tad romanticized, and perhaps the voice of the young boys feels out of age at times. Yet, it pretty much works. All the capers the two get into seem realistic enough and appropriate for their age. The evil of the Carnival provides a stark contrast to the idyllic air around the boys, which keeps the nostalgia from going overboard.Also wonderful is the way that Bradbury creates problems between the boys, who are the best of friends in every sense of the word (at times they seem like they are right out of a 1950's sitcom). However, the absence of Jim's father coupled with his curious and more daring side give him a darker edge and we are genuinely worried about him--just as Will is. This also rings true for Charles (Will's father) who starts off as a nice fellow, but weak. We get to know Charles and understand his feeling of helplessness and struggle through this with him as he must put aside all his neurotic worrying about getting old, embrace life, and understand that his age is what it is (and that it is not even close to as bad as he has convinced himself it is).This story started out as a short story first (check out the slightly darker version called "Black Ferris") and then morphed into a screenplay which Bradbury hoped his friend Gene Kelly would produce. That never happened so Bradbury took the time to turn the treatment into a full novel--which is what we have here.The book is a story of boyish adventure, yet Bradbury's style makes the stakes much grander. The Carnival is not just some group of street criminals meant to rip off the good townspeople. There is something more sinister at work. Jim, Will, Charles and the citizens of Greentown come face to face with the physical manifestations of evil of the world and learn that even their small idyllic town is not safe. The struggle is eternal, for today's struggle will be yesterday's battle. The war lasts a lifetime. Yet, it's not so heavy as all that, when the protagonists learn that they must trust to life's good graces to keep evil at bay. They find the necessary strength within themselves to arm against the evil "Autumn People" of the world.Lastly, the elixir of life plot device, which Bradbury plays with in this story, is also refreshingly simple and yet a wonderfully unique take on this common trope. What dangerous consequences lie behind the glorious promises of a fountain of youth? Read and find out.A heartfelt tale through and through.Podcast: If you enjoy my review (or this topic) this book and the movie based on it were further discussed/debated in a lively discussion on my podcast: "No Deodorant In Outer Space". The podcast is available on iTunes or our website.

My son loved this book a lot and he wouldn't put it down. The novel we received is good quality! I recommend buying it!

Whenever people go at this book, they kind of get hung up on the abiding sense of nostalgia Bradbury elicits throughout without seeming to register - yes, it is a book very much about nostalgia, but in the sense that nostalgia is a lie....The past is this comfy place we tell ourselves is wholesome, but really it's a fiction we choose to dwell in rather than face the actual truth.Two 13-year-old boys - best friends - William "Will" Halloway and James "Jim" Nightshade, born two minutes apart either side of Halloween, have lived their entire lives in Green own, Illinois. A wholesome kind of place Norman Rockwell would have been proud to signed his name too but, as with any small town - below the surface secret dreams and desires lurk and curdle and churn and threaten to spoil, which attracts the attention of the October People in the form of Mr Cougar & Mr Darks Pandemonium Carnival...You can tell the rest of the story from the opening, it's not a murder mystery. To this sleepy little town, catharsis arrives in the tall, dapper form of the Devil - Mr Dark - and all must face some kind of truth concerning themselves and, in realising their vanity, become forever his to feed off for all eternity as one of his sideshow freaks.It's a beautiful book, every line infused with the sense of time and its place - the onset of the coming winter held at bay by the last of sweet autumn. You can taste the kettle corn and cotton candy, you can ride all the rides - hide in terror from the Dust Witch as she tries to steal you away from her ghastly, living balloon - and feel absolutely transported by some of the most beautify wrought prose you'll ever read outside a Shakespearean sonnet...But you have to remember, this picture of dappled autumn fields is the lie Bradbury writes to take your mind away from what's really staring the book's protagonist right in the face.Will's father isn't yet an old man, but he will be and sooner than he'd like, and he feels he fails as a father because of it - seeing only his waning vigor - he doesn't see the face his son see's at the age he is but see's himself as he fears his son *will* see him as just the next few years pass by.That's Will's father's secret - Will's too in a sense, but only because his dad seems more distant than he once was, and he's too young yet to understand why. To him, his dad is still just his dad.Like I say, the past is this lie we simply find comforting. And we all tell it, even with the best of hearts and greatest of intentions.So you have this impasse - and then, catharsis, naturally provoked by the villainous Mr Dark...If you've only ever seen the film version or just meant to read "Something Wicked" but just never have - you should do, because it's not just simply a rite of passage - it's a damn fine book.Like I say, I often think people get wrapped up talking about the wrong side of the nostalgia Bradbury evokes, just the pretty stuff. That isn't what this is, though it does a gorgeous impression - Bradbury is actually far less rose-tinted in this novel than he is in the previous "Dandelion Wine." - maybe he just does a better job of hiding it, maybe because it's about things that are ending - yes! - like the season and the time (1950's America) and the place (the Midwest) and Will Hallorans father: everything is beautiful simply because it actually is drawing to a close.But in these pages, those things haven't closed just yet - and that's the thing to celebrate.The actual present, the mindfulness of being where you are and dealing with whatever comes when it happens.Till then, it's days that are still warm and nights that are clear and woodsmoke and fires of an evening now the nights are drawing in and - way in the distance - the sound of a carnival, the scent of hotdogs and sweet onions and good things.Dark isn't the villain - although, yes - he is truly villainous - however, his only power exists because his victims fear their secret hearts be known. Dark just sees their hearts. He is what he is, a force of nature - neither good or bad particularly - just cathartic, like the oncoming storm that starts the book off...“The seller of lightning rods arrived just ahead of the storm.”If you haven't yet already, enjoy. You owe yourself this book.

Gostei, embora haja outros livros do autor doas quais tenha gostado mais (por exemplo, "O homem ilustrado").É para os fãs do gênero e do autor.

Una maravillosa historia.

A tale of two diametric opposite, yet inseparable teenage boys, complementing in more ways than the two sides of a coin, yet dissimilar in more ways than a mammal and a reptile. This is the story of two friends; one, an almost ideal boy, another, a dark almost sociopath teen. A dark carnival's arrival to town and it's impact on the town people's life.You begin - "First of all, it was October, a rare month for the boys." and you are intoxicated. This is a fantastical adventure that explores the frailties of the human will and nature when confronted by desire and greed. The story dwells upon the trivial human desires and how easy it is to lure someone to do the unthinkable with just a mere promise of their desire's fulfillment. This is the story of a boy whose strange attraction to these dark powers is bringing himself closer to his destruction with every passing page and his friend's determination to not lose him.In this book Bradbury creates an exhilarating atmosphere that leads to a sleepless night and cover to cover reading session. The language is spellbinding too. I suggest this book to readers of all ages, there is enough for everyone here.