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In a booklet included with the Intrada release of James Horner's soundtrack for SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, it states that Ray Bradbury had wanted the story to be made into a movie starring Gene Kelly (who was very enthusiastic about it). Unfortunately, no money was forthcoming for the project, so Bradbury reworked his screenplay into this novel. This version that I read contains concluding notes from the writer who confirms that this was indeed the case. Intriguing.
When I first read SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, I was in high school. I thought the book was "okay," but I wasn't overly impressed. Now, decades later, I've reached an age when the story has much more relevance to my situation in life, and I enjoyed it a great deal more. (Actually, I thought that the Disney movie version handled it even better as it put substance to some of Bradbury's more poetically abstract ideas, although Bradbury purportedly didn't care for it.)
SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES looks at life as perceptions and reactions to our experiences. The young teen protagonists are anticipating the excitement of what is yet to come, and adventures come out of nowhere for them. Charles Halloway, the father of one of the boys, is obsessed by his diminishing years and the thoughts of what he has failed to do. Into their lives comes the sinister Autumn People, bringing a Carnival that promises the fulfillment of desires, but at an unanticipated cost.
Bradbury obviously did a great deal of self-reflection in preparing this. He admits to revisiting youthful memories and his reactions to events, but he must have also been thinking of how people face an awareness of the end of life. SOMETHING THIS WAY COMES contains more pertinent and practical philosophy than I've read from many Great Thinkers ... and that's quite an achievement!
It's not an ideal presentation, though. The story has played back and forth in my mind and has spurred more of my own self-reflection. For that aspect alone, this is an invaluable book. Yet, the "poetry" of Bradbury's language frequently became a bit much for me, especially in his descriptions of character thoughts. From time to time, this also resulted in "Nobody talks that way" dialogue. Perhaps this was all intended to be a fable. However, my biggest complaint is with the library sequence with the father and the boys (which is absolutely brilliant in the Disney movie version). It runs for multiple chapters, and it has the father speaking aloud to the boys in an almost stream-of-consciousness manner. That wore out its welcome long before events moved forward.
SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES is one of those books that I think might be best to avoid reading too early in life. It is not difficult to understand, but I think it would be better appreciated by those who are looking at what they've accomplished and are thinking, "Is this all there is?" It offers a perspective that has always been there, but that we are often too busy to notice.
When I first read SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, I was in high school. I thought the book was "okay," but I wasn't overly impressed. Now, decades later, I've reached an age when the story has much more relevance to my situation in life, and I enjoyed it a great deal more. (Actually, I thought that the Disney movie version handled it even better as it put substance to some of Bradbury's more poetically abstract ideas, although Bradbury purportedly didn't care for it.)
SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES looks at life as perceptions and reactions to our experiences. The young teen protagonists are anticipating the excitement of what is yet to come, and adventures come out of nowhere for them. Charles Halloway, the father of one of the boys, is obsessed by his diminishing years and the thoughts of what he has failed to do. Into their lives comes the sinister Autumn People, bringing a Carnival that promises the fulfillment of desires, but at an unanticipated cost.
Bradbury obviously did a great deal of self-reflection in preparing this. He admits to revisiting youthful memories and his reactions to events, but he must have also been thinking of how people face an awareness of the end of life. SOMETHING THIS WAY COMES contains more pertinent and practical philosophy than I've read from many Great Thinkers ... and that's quite an achievement!
It's not an ideal presentation, though. The story has played back and forth in my mind and has spurred more of my own self-reflection. For that aspect alone, this is an invaluable book. Yet, the "poetry" of Bradbury's language frequently became a bit much for me, especially in his descriptions of character thoughts. From time to time, this also resulted in "Nobody talks that way" dialogue. Perhaps this was all intended to be a fable. However, my biggest complaint is with the library sequence with the father and the boys (which is absolutely brilliant in the Disney movie version). It runs for multiple chapters, and it has the father speaking aloud to the boys in an almost stream-of-consciousness manner. That wore out its welcome long before events moved forward.
SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES is one of those books that I think might be best to avoid reading too early in life. It is not difficult to understand, but I think it would be better appreciated by those who are looking at what they've accomplished and are thinking, "Is this all there is?" It offers a perspective that has always been there, but that we are often too busy to notice.
