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A review by joriereads
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This book had all of the makings to be really interesting and engaging: from plot, thematic elements, the author, and even aesthetics. Unfortunately, it was an overwhelming letdown from weak characters, to unfinished world building. Ray Bradbury has an expectation of being good and thought-provoking within his books and unfortunately this one was lackluster and bland.
To begin, the world was half baked at best. A carnival theme should be super cool, set in October and around Halloween. The kids talked about having school but there was no timeline of events for me to figure out the days of the week. If it was close to Halloween, there was no mention of decorations or general enjoyment of the holiday. In 1962 they were still celebrating Halloween and decorating, trick or treating, etc.
Because of this there were no real rules defined with the carnival. It felt like Ray took a line of coke and began writing, then threw ideas out in order to solve the problem. Was it supposed to be love and acceptance that drove the carnival workers away? Or was it meant to be laughter? Was it both? What was the point of the carnival being in town? To make money? To get new workers? To feed on misery? That needed to be defined well.
Ray wrote over-prosey. Prose and beautiful writing is important, but knowing when to stop is crucial. There were several scenes where he was using metaphor after metaphor in order to explain things (the jewel stealing scene comes to mind specifically) where he over did it and it became confusing and tedious to read.
The characters were unfinished and boring. There should have been better juxtaposition against Will and Jim. Additionally, the father was a loser. He spent his time lamenting and whining about being old, having a young hot wife, and not knowing his son. Him not knowing his son is only directly his fault. I do not feel pity and will not feel pity over absentee fathers who are bad to their wives and children. He got a hero arc he did not deserve. That being said, I do appreciate that an adult was the one to really figure everything out to save the day. That alone was a good thing.
It was not scary and it was not tense. There was no vibes. I wish that Ray committed to at least one of his million ideas he tried to shove down our throats in this book.
TLDR:
pros:
To begin, the world was half baked at best. A carnival theme should be super cool, set in October and around Halloween. The kids talked about having school but there was no timeline of events for me to figure out the days of the week. If it was close to Halloween, there was no mention of decorations or general enjoyment of the holiday. In 1962 they were still celebrating Halloween and decorating, trick or treating, etc.
Because of this there were no real rules defined with the carnival. It felt like Ray took a line of coke and began writing, then threw ideas out in order to solve the problem. Was it supposed to be love and acceptance that drove the carnival workers away? Or was it meant to be laughter? Was it both? What was the point of the carnival being in town? To make money? To get new workers? To feed on misery? That needed to be defined well.
Ray wrote over-prosey. Prose and beautiful writing is important, but knowing when to stop is crucial. There were several scenes where he was using metaphor after metaphor in order to explain things (the jewel stealing scene comes to mind specifically) where he over did it and it became confusing and tedious to read.
The characters were unfinished and boring. There should have been better juxtaposition against Will and Jim. Additionally, the father was a loser. He spent his time lamenting and whining about being old, having a young hot wife, and not knowing his son. Him not knowing his son is only directly his fault. I do not feel pity and will not feel pity over absentee fathers who are bad to their wives and children. He got a hero arc he did not deserve. That being said, I do appreciate that an adult was the one to really figure everything out to save the day. That alone was a good thing.
It was not scary and it was not tense. There was no vibes. I wish that Ray committed to at least one of his million ideas he tried to shove down our throats in this book.
TLDR:
pros:
- relatively quick read
- at times cool aesthetics
cons:
- this is a book that men read and rave about to feel like they are intellectuals
- it dragged and was boring in different areas
- no world building
- plot was boring
- a waste of aesthetics
- disappointing characters