Essay/Term paper: Ray bradbury's something wicked this way comes

Essay, term paper, research paper:  World Literature

Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes

David Glasgo Modules 15-16 Dec 20, 1996

Someone knows your secret dream, that one great wish that you would pay
anything for. That person suddenly makes your dream come true - before you
learn the price you have to pay. Ray Bradbury's, Something Wicked This Way
Comes, is a chilling and suspenseful thriller, making a boy's secret dream come
true right before his own eyes and that of his friend's too. The story in this
book continually jumps back and forth between three characters; two which are
always together and the other the library janitor and father of the one.
Bradbury's style keeps the book flowing smoothly throughout all of his hopping
and skipping around. He seems to be a mastermind of writing as the story
develops before your eyes and you get drawn in never wanting to leave, until the
book is over and you know the ending. I felt like I was sitting right there on
the clouds watching all of this take place. Bradbury pulls you into the book
and makes it "our place, too."
All of this starts off quite interesting. It is October, the month of
Halloween, and in this strange year Halloween came early. A lightning rod
salesman, come to the town predicting a humongous storm that is coming this way.
The clouds speak their own words, telling the same. Jim Nightshade and William
Halloway, neighbors and best friends, one born a minute before October thirtieth
and one born a minute after October thirtieth, both lay there in Jim's front
yard. The salesman stopped and told them that the storm was coming and it was
coming for them. One of their houses would get struck by lightning and who was
to say which one. "This," said the salesman, "is the one." He had been talking
about Jim's house, his was the one to get struck.
Will's father, a janitor for the town library, knew the storm was coming
too. He had never sensed one quite like this, so fierce and strong. As the
kids arrived to get their books, he smiled and whispered, "Just a storm, nothing
but a storm." He helped Will and Jim get their books then sent them home
quickly and then followed soon after.
Both Jim and Will, and Will's father had seen the signs of the carnival
to come, but in the month of October. Either way the boys were excited. That
night the train came at three in the morning. Jim and will both heard it and
both sat up at the same time. They opened their windows looked at each other
and then looked at the train out of town. They asked themselves why three in
the morning and why that strange music knowing the other was doing the same.
They both got dressed and raced out to the hilltop above the field to watch them
set up and see what they both sensed was wrong. The clouds of the sky dropped
in low so that they couldn't see. When they rose again the skeleton frame was
already set up. They could only see one person, the rest were on the train. As
they watched, poles of the tent started pulling the clouds onto them and
spinning them into canvas to form the top and sides of the tent. This just
couldn't be. They got up and ran as fast as they could home. As they were
running the finally realized what was wrong with the music. It was being played
backwards, but there was no one playing the calliope that was putting forth the
music. Will's father saw the two shadows running back towards the houses as he
walked home. He had heard the music too through the open window of the library.
"Three in the morning, thought Charles Halloway, seated on the edge of his bed.
Why did the train come at that hour?"
This book is a very good one even if you don't like adventure or
fantasies. It keeps you interested in the book at all times and it reads very
smoothly. I suggest this to all kinds of people to read. Every girl should try
at least one of Ray Bradbury's books to see if you like his style.