Hatrack River Forum: Something Wicked This Way Comes-Bradbury

This is topic Something Wicked This Way Comes-Bradbury in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
http://www.hatrack.com/ubb/main/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=050761

Posted by Starsnuffer (Member # 8116) on :

So anybody read Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes. I'm reading it right now and I'm constantly amazed at how precise, though unusual, his descriptions are, and how beautiful his little morals are.
Any opinions on the book, or the writer?

Posted by Fusiachi (Member # 7376) on :

I started to read it once. For some strange reason, the title alone terrified me. The first few pages didn't help. To this day, I can't explain it. I'm not exactly a guy who scares easily. A psychological quirk, I guess.

Anyway, with a strong enough recommendation, I might pick it off the bookshelf when I get back home.

Posted by MidnightBlue (Member # 6146) on :

I really liked it. I remember being most of the through and terrified that the ending would be something I would absolutely hate, and which would completely ruin the book for me. Thankfully, it didn't.

Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :

I'm a HUGE Bradbury fan. I don't think it's possible to really claim to like words without loving Bradbury.

Posted by porcelain girl (Member # 1080) on :

I LOVED that book. The whole things just blew out at me like a warm spooky breeze, rustling dry leaves and smelling like cinnamon. Or death.
Hooray!

Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :

Bradbury's a phenomenal author, and Something Wicked This Way Comes is one of his best. Dandelion Wine is an amazing book as well.

Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Fusiachi:
I started to read it once. For some strange reason, the title alone terrified me.

Perhaps you'd have preferred it under its original title. In its first draft it was about a couple kids from Boston, and it was called, Something Wicked Pissah This Way Comes.

Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :

Shakespeare's Macbeth, I believe, "By the prickling of my thumb, Something wicked this way comes."

Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :

Ray Bradbury is a genius. While I know that 'Something Wicked' is supposed to be his suspense/horror offering, I felt MUCH more dread in 'Dandelion Wine.' The chapter where the mother and the youngest son go looking for the older boy, and they cross through the gully, and they're worried about the Lonely One...

:shiver:

Most terrified I've ever been, reading a book. And this was just this summer.

Posted by Earendil18 (Member # 3180) on :

I haven't lived until I've read these books...

Posted by Jim-Me (Member # 6426) on :

the passage describing the arrival of the train is an all time favorite of mine. *shudders*

Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :

Something Wicked This Way Comes is a true classic. I have hopes that someday we'll see a faithful adaptation.

But Scott is right- Dandelion Wine is even better!

Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :

Love this book. Haven't re-read it in a few years....I'll have to fix that. [Smile]

Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Noemon:
Bradbury's a phenomenal author, and Something Wicked This Way Comes is one of his best. Dandelion Wine is an amazing book as well.

So true. Dandelion Wine described that delicious feeling of being alive.

I must read it again. It's been years.

Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Dan_raven:
Shakespeare's Macbeth, I believe, "By the prickling of my thumb, Something wicked this way comes."

Was this statement intended to fact-check my joke? Next you'll tell me that Polish people can really change light bulbs without the assistance of 10 of their neighbours. [Razz]

(By the way, I believe it's "by the pricking of my thumbs..."

Bam! Right back atcha.)

Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :

Maybe it was the wrong book for a first time exposure to Bradbury but The Martian Chronicles just didn't raise my rent if you know what I mean.

Posted by Qaz (Member # 10298) on :

After you finish the book, see the movie. It won't compare to the book, but as a movie it is not bad, and was actually creepier to me.

Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :

Don't watch the movie! Not even casting Pam Grier as the Dust Witch could save that misbegotten thing.

Posted by Starsnuffer (Member # 8116) on :

I keep thinking how it could be done as a play or a movie, and I keep deciding that it can't be. The heart of the book is all behind the scenes, the narration that makes the scene more real and more understood by the reader than any movie or play could ever be.

Posted by ReikoDemosthenes (Member # 6218) on :

I think Martian Chronicles is my favourite of his books which I've read. I absolutely adore that one.