apes13's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
red_rose_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
lighthearted
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
imakandiway's review
2.0
Não fosse pelo sentido de humor teria desistido deste livro muito mais cedo.
quoththegirl's review
3.0
Next up! A Graveyard for Lunatics: Another Tale of Two Cities by Ray Bradbury. No matter how much I read, there always seems to be more Bradbury out there. I was a little thrown by this one, I’ll admit. Bradbury writes vibrantly, forcefully, and rapidly: this is excellent in a short story. In a novel, though, it’s occasionally disorienting. I honestly wasn’t quite sure what was happening at times, there were so many exclamation marks, italics, and oblique references being thrown around. (One can’t be too poetic in conveying that a character is dead, or one’s audience wonders whether he is physically or only metaphorically dead.) Things did sort themselves out in the end so that I ultimately enjoyed the novel, but the initial feeling of being bogged down by enthusiasm was a new and unpleasant one for me. Not his best novel, certainly.
jarichan's review against another edition
4.0
Welch wahnsinnige Nacherzählung von Dickens "A Tale of Two Cities". Man muss das Original jedoch nicht kennen, um dieses Buch geniessen zu können. Was man jedoch mögen sollte, sind verrückte Geschichten, chaotische Handlungsstränge und Bücher, die man teilweise nicht versteht. Denn auch ich hatte im Grossen und Ganzen keine Ahnung, was hier abgeht.
Und genau darin liegt der Spass bei diesem Werk Bradburys. Eben genau darin, dass man nicht weiss, was vor sich geht. Das ergeht unserem Drehbuchautoren nämlich gar nicht anders. Aber keine Sorge, am Schluss wird alles aufgeklärt.
Bradbury dekonstruiert hier Hollywood. Reisst es nieder, baut es wieder auf, nur um es erneut zu zerstören. Wir befinden uns in einer Traumwelt einer Traumwelt. Gehen dem schönen Scheinen auf den Leim, reissen uns los, nur um in dunkle Abgründe zu fallen. Das oben genannte Chaos ist gewollt, denn Bradbury ist ein kluger, umsichtiger Autor, der ganz genau weiss, was er tut.
Mochte ich den ersten Band der Crumbley-Reihe bereits sehr, so habe ich dieses Buch hier geliebt. Jede Seite, jede Begebenheit. Ich hatte riesigen Spass, habe mich auch gegruselt und bin erschaudert. Habe mich gewundert, mich gefragt. Hier konnte ich voll und ganz in die Geschichte eintauchen und Hollywood mal von unten betrachten.
Grossartige Literatur eines umso grossartigeren Autoren.
Und genau darin liegt der Spass bei diesem Werk Bradburys. Eben genau darin, dass man nicht weiss, was vor sich geht. Das ergeht unserem Drehbuchautoren nämlich gar nicht anders. Aber keine Sorge, am Schluss wird alles aufgeklärt.
Bradbury dekonstruiert hier Hollywood. Reisst es nieder, baut es wieder auf, nur um es erneut zu zerstören. Wir befinden uns in einer Traumwelt einer Traumwelt. Gehen dem schönen Scheinen auf den Leim, reissen uns los, nur um in dunkle Abgründe zu fallen. Das oben genannte Chaos ist gewollt, denn Bradbury ist ein kluger, umsichtiger Autor, der ganz genau weiss, was er tut.
Mochte ich den ersten Band der Crumbley-Reihe bereits sehr, so habe ich dieses Buch hier geliebt. Jede Seite, jede Begebenheit. Ich hatte riesigen Spass, habe mich auch gegruselt und bin erschaudert. Habe mich gewundert, mich gefragt. Hier konnte ich voll und ganz in die Geschichte eintauchen und Hollywood mal von unten betrachten.
Grossartige Literatur eines umso grossartigeren Autoren.
pcalves's review
3.0
Not Bradbury's best — it's all Technicolor and mystery novel/movie cliches —, but I loved the depiction of a 1950's Hollywood studio and its over-the-top characters.
viiemzee's review
3.0
This is the first Ray Bradbury book I've ever read, and I've always known him as a sci-fi writer. So, to read a murder-mystery was not something I expected.
I enjoyed the twists and turns to the story, and the fact that he borrows ideas from his own life (his best friend was a stop motion artist much like Roy, and he had worked at a movie studio as a screenwriter when he was young) makes the story even more compelling. In fact, the writer is a self-insert of Bradbury; he just doesn't have a name.
Overall it took me a while to get into the story, but it is a short novella with a compelling twist (even though I did see it coming half way through) so I recommend it to murder-mystery fans!
I enjoyed the twists and turns to the story, and the fact that he borrows ideas from his own life (his best friend was a stop motion artist much like Roy, and he had worked at a movie studio as a screenwriter when he was young) makes the story even more compelling. In fact, the writer is a self-insert of Bradbury; he just doesn't have a name.
Overall it took me a while to get into the story, but it is a short novella with a compelling twist (even though I did see it coming half way through) so I recommend it to murder-mystery fans!
readerofbooks70's review
funny
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
I would say that they main draw of this book is old Hollywood mystery and Bradbury's perfect turn of phrase. The book is at times v e r y slow and there is a lot of talking that doesn't really move the story forward.
Again, Bradbury's writing style is great but I think in some ways, I preferred his short stories over his novels
Again, Bradbury's writing style is great but I think in some ways, I preferred his short stories over his novels
lah_reads's review
4.0
It took me a while to get through this one because I didn't finish it before NaNoWriMo started, so I pretty much didn't look at it at all in November. That said: I really enjoyed it. Especially getting glimpses of what Ray Harryhausen's studio must have looked like along with interactions between my favorite author and my favorite movie-magic artist (the narrator is Bradbury's fictionalized self, and Roy is Harryhausen, hands-down, no doubt. Apparently, not everyone knows they were best friends, but I'm a huge fan of both, so it made these two characters a little more magical to me). The story, itself, wasn't quite as enticing as DEATH IS A LONELY BUSINESS, but it was still an enjoyable read. I did predict a major part of it, but there was an important twist at the end that I did not anticipate at all. I have to admit that it's not my favorite Bradbury, but it's still a wonderful book.
mariannak98's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5