From Amazon.com:
A masterpiece of modern Gothic literature, Something Wicked This Way Comes is the memorable story of two boys, James Nightshade and William Halloway, and the evil that grips their small Midwestern town with the arrival of a "dark carnival" one Autumn midnight. How these two innocents, both age 13, save the souls of the town (as well as their own), makes for compelling reading on timeless themes. What would you do if your secret wishes could be granted by the mysterious ringmaster Mr. Dark? Bradbury excels in revealing the dark side that exists in us all, teaching us ultimately to celebrate the shadows rather than fear them. In many ways, this is a companion piece to his joyful, nostalgia-drenched Dandelion Wine, in which Bradbury presented us with one perfect summer as seen through the eyes of a 12-year-old. In Something Wicked This Way Comes, he deftly explores the fearsome delights of one perfectly terrifying, unforgettable autumn. --Stanley Wiater

Purchased last month at Black Bart's Bookstore's "Going out of Business" sale. It's on a bunch of wishlists, so I may make a bookring out of it before I read it.

Announced as a bookring this morning in this thread in the forums. I will PM the folks who have it on their wishlist today as well.

  How my bookring works:
    + Someone will PM you for your address, PM them back
      - If you are swamped, ask them to skip you and PM me and I'll move you down the list
      - Otherwise, send them your address
    + You receive the book, please make a journal entry letting everyone know that you received it
    + Put the book at the top of your TBR pile (under other rings/rays that arrived first)
    + Read the book (take your time and enjoy the book, don't feel rushed to finish it)
    + When the end is in sight, check the book's journal and PM the next person to get their address
    + Finish the book, make another journal entry and let everyone know what you thought of the book
    + Send the book to the next person on the list, make release notes (Controlled Release)
        or journal entry to let everyone know that it's in the mail
  * Feel free to PM me at any time with questions *

The order: JamesBrown - Rockwall, TX; USA choclaholic - San Antonio, TX; USA froggiepopple - Chisholm, MN; USA rubyjules - Castleton, VT; USA SueBo - Philadelphia, PA; USA LyekkaMarengo - Warriors Mark, PA; USA sqdancer - Spruce Grove, Alberta; Canada hunnyb - Sydney, New South Wales; Australia JeSuisBelle - Makati; Philippines sunshinedreamr - Somewhere in CT; USA anabanana - Los Angeles, CA; USA tuff517 - McQueeney, TX; USA efs300 - Bedford, NH; USA BigrTex - Cedar Park, TX; USA

Ring Completed Home Safely

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent to the first person on the list.

Enjoy!

Received this book for BigRTex's bookring. I will read this within the next ten days or so.

Well, this was a disappointment. Reading Bradbury is liking eating an extremely rich dessert. I can't complain about the taste, but too much and I lose my appetite. I read the first 50 pages and began to dread picking it back up. I read the last couple of chapters to see how it ended, and that's it for me.

I'm kind of in between books right now, and this just came in the mail today. So okay, looks like this is next. Review to follow.

2005/46

7?

This is another book I had a hard time determining a rating for. Although I read it in just two days time, it wasn’t easy reading. I think that if I hadn’t read it all in one shot like that, I, like the reader before me, also wouldn’t have wanted to go back to read anymore. I thought it was interesting, but not nearly as good as his classics "Farenheight 451" or "The Illustrated Man", two books that grace my permanent collection.

The title, with its untraditional verb placement, is actually pretty indicitive of Bradbury’s style and the sentence structure used throughout the book. Although quite descriptive, it takes you a while to wrap your mind around what he’s trying to say. As a literary device, I think it’s a great way to keep the reader feeling as disturbed, unsettled, and confused as the characters are in the story. Here’s an example of the writing, picked completely randomly from the book -- this passage describing Mr. Dark, the so-called illustrated (aka tattooed) man, from page 158-9:

“Mr. Dark came carrying his panoply of friends, his jewel-case assortment of calligraphical reptiles, which lay sunning themselves at midnight on his flesh. With him strode the Tyrannousaurus Rex, which lent to his haunches a machined and ancient wellspring mineral-oil glide. As the thunder lizard strode, so strode Mr. Dark, armored with vile lightning scribbles of carnivores and sheep blasted by that thunder and arun before storms of juggernaut flesh. It was the pterodactyl kite and scythe which raised his arms almost to fly the marbled vaults. And with the inked and stencilled flashburnt shapes of pistoned or bladed doom came his usual crowd of hangers-on, spectators gripped to each limb, seated on shoulder blades, peering from his jungle chest, hung upside down in microscopic millions in his armpit vaults screaming bat-screams for encounters ready for the hunt if need be the kill. Like a black tidal wave upon a bleak shore, a dark tumult infilled with phosphorescent beauties and badly spoiled dreams, Mr. Dark sounded and hissed his feet, his legs, his body, his sharp face forward.”

The story, though probably thought-provoking for it’s time (published in 1962), I thought by today’s standards was actually rather elementary. The themes of this book have now been explored many times over. Fundamentally, it was about two boys, one fair-haired (Will Holloway) and one dark (Jim Nightshade). Friends and neighbors all their lives, born two minutes apart on either side of a Halloween midnight, these two were on the cusp of their 14th birthday. Together, they encountered an evil in the form of a carnival barker, the aforementioned Mr. Dark. The townspeople who are shallow enough to “want it all”, came to the carnival to have their deepest wish granted, but at the expense of their soul. The story explored how the boys, with the help of Will's rather complex father, overcame the evil by discovering it’s opposing power.

I think there were some interesting insights and symbolism here, involving water and wind and Time, but I must admit, I didn't totally get it. So either it wasn't too well done, or (more likely) it was a bit over my head.

On an interesting note, this book was supposedly Bradbury’s alter-ego novel to his treatise on his idyllic childhood in Illinois in the 1930s called “Dandelion Wine”. On the plus side, I did actually get through this book, as opposed to Dandelion Wine, which I couldn’t get into at all.

Thanks for including me in the ring, as reading this was an interesting experience. I’ll be mailing this out to the next reader later today.

I just received.

Not one of my favorite Ray Bradbury books, but I liked it enough to finish the whole book. I am waiting to get RubyJules address and then I will send it on its way.

RELEASE NOTES:

I received this book yesterday. I'm almost finished the one I'm reading now, and will start this next. It looks very short, so hopefully I will get it to the next person quickly.

Suebo picked up another copy and asked to be skipped. I PM'd LyekkaMarengo for their address, and will ship the book out as soon as I read it.

Ok, I think this book has completely scared me off from carnivals! I had such a hard time reading this book. It would be great for an insomniac, as it kept putting me to sleep, until I was about 3/4 of the way through it. I plodded along, though, as I wanted to know how it ended! Bradbury's writing is way too much for my little mind to handle.

RELEASE NOTES:

SueBo asked to be skipped so I mailed it to LyekkaMarengo today. It went first class, and should arrive there shortly.

Got this book on Thursday but didn't get a chance to journal it until now. Thanks for the ring, I'm looking forward to reading this classic.

Even though I am a big sci-fi fan I have never read any Bradbury and have a feeling this is not the best book to start with. I found the language very difficult to focus on. Seemed like there was too many words just for the sake of words. It got in the way of the story. I have a few other of Bradbury's classics and when I get the time I'll give them a try.

This on goes off to sqdancer on Monday or Tuesday.

Arrived safe and sound.

Not my favorite Bradbury either. I found kept getting "distracted". I like SF, but, like some of the others, I couldn't seem to really get into this book.

Sent out today via air mail.

Book arrived today - thanks everyone! Heard of this author somewhere and the title stuck in my mind as well. Have a couple of bookrings in front of it but will get into it soon (I love holidays!)

Found this really frightening!! Although the story was quite simple it had a big impact - and I'll never see carnivals in quite the same way. I'm looking forward to reading some other Bradburys now :)

Am sending this to anabanana when I get her address.

I received this book a few days ago. I look forward to reading it!

I found that I enjoyed this book. For me, the writing style heightened the suspence and creepiness of the story. Thanks for passing it along...

I mailed it off to tuff517 on 2/23.

Received this yesterday, will start ASAP.

I wanted to read this because it was one of my favorite movies as a child. I found the book very prosaic, not sure if I would read more Bradbury, though. The book was much richer than the movie, and I was able to see it all clearly as Bradbury described the Dark and Cooger carnival, the town as it fell under their spell, and the autumn season. Thanks for sharing! Will send out when I get an address.

Received this book yesterday. I have several bookring books in front of it on my TBR pile.

I just finshed this book this evening. A unique book, everything seemed to go at a fast pace, some times hard to follow but enjoyable. Not my favorite Bradbury but intriguing. Will send it back home to BigrTex soon.

Mailed this book back to BigrTex today to complete this bookring.

It's a wonderful feeling to finish a successful bookring. Thank you all for participating. The book is back home and I expect to read it this Summer and start it out on a bookray.

Sent out in response to a request via PaperBackSwap.com.

Looking forward to reading