Jamie's Book #24: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

 

Something Wicked This Way Comes is a fantasy novel about a dark carnival that visits a Midwestern town and the two boys who discover its secrets.  

A major theme in the novel is good vs. evil; the boys Jim and Will, as well as Will's father Charles, represent good, and the cast of characters that make up the carnival –  such as Cooger, Dark and the dust witch, represent evil. Bradbury has a way bringing his characters to life through unique descriptive language. He's fond of metaphors like "That's Jim, all bramblehair and itchweed. And Will? Why, he's the last peach, high on the summer tree." It was this writing style, not so much the actual plot line, that kept me interested.

It's definitely got some creepy concepts in it, and once or twice I had to put the book down because the suspense was too much! On the other hand, there were a few scenes with Charles Halloway that went on and on – specifically when he is talking to the boys about the carnival's past and how to defeat it. I suspect for many this is the best part of the book, but I wanted to skim through most of it (I didn't though! I have a bad habit of skimming when I get bored.)

Overall – 8/10, definitely worth a read!

“A stranger is shot in the street, you hardly move to help. But if, half an hour before, you spent just ten minutes with the fellow and knew a little about him and his family, you might just jump in front of his killer and try to stop it. Really knowing is good. Not knowing, or refusing to know is bad, or amoral, at least. You can’t act if you don’t know.”

"Like all boys, they never walked anywhere, but named a goal and lit for it, scissors and elbows. Nobody won. Nobody wanted to win. It was in their friendship they just wanted to run forever… no one losing, both winning, thus saving their friendship for other times of loss. "

"Will runs because running is its own excuse. Jim runs because something's up ahead of him. Yet strangely, they do run together…. So there they go, Jim running slower to stay with Will, Will running faster to stay with Jim."   ( I really like this section of the book, when Will's dad is reflecting on the boys' friendship. It captures the strength of the friendship in a profound way.)