You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

Cherie wrote: "I decided to check and see what was available in audio on Overdrive from my library. They had 3 different audio versions. I listened to them all and chose the version narrated by Stefan Rudnicki...."
Just finished listening to it. The narrator was actually very good when he was doing older characters like Mr. Halloway.

But as the tension built up I noticed the narrator less and less.

In the future I will be more careful about choosing the narrator of books. I have listened to a few by Blackstone Audio and liked all those narrators.

If the goal was to give me nightmares -- it worked!

We had stormy weather here and our power went out which seemed perfect for this book. While reading about the dust witch I could actually smell her revolting fishy breath and feel her fingers running feather-like up my spine.

(Turns out the cat had climbed up behind me and was breathing down my neck.)

Oh, that would be freaky, Joan.

When he was younger and nicer (meaning he did not bite like a piranha) my parrot, Tim, was usually out of his cage when someone was home. He loved to sneak up the side of the couch. When he saw you looking at him, he'd say "boo".

I can see why the story felt more real to you Joan with that set of circumstances. I think I'd have been on edge too. The last couple books that gave me the creeps (and nightmares) were NOS4R2 and The Shining. I know what you mean Joan about narrators. I know we've discussed this in YLTO before - the narrator can make or brake a story. I've abandoned several books due to not liking the narrator or given a low star rating (especially if they don't hold my attention and therefore miss parts of the story). I guess we all have our favourites and those which we avoid. I think there might be a thread somewhere which talks about narrator recommendations.

I love that your parrot would say boo to you. That would have had me jumping out of my skin all the time. I jump at noises enough as it is.

I'm sorry to say that the third part of the book Departures made me lower the rating. I found it silly. :(

I finished listening to the audio book version tonight. It was AWSOME! Stefan Rudbecki did a fantastic job with the narration. I am so glad I bought a copy of the book too. I am so happy that the group voted for this book and that I listened to Travis and the others who said it was such a good read. I have already added the rest of the Green Town books to my next series level.

There were so many places in the book that were just so good. I loved the story that Will's father told about in the library about humans laughing and crying, but I don't agree. Wasn't that just the creepiest part when the old witch was doing her thing to bind the boys?

Glad you enjoyed it so much Cherie.

I'm 30% in and I find it so-so. It's only a short book so I'll finish it, but I don't feel any urge at all to pick it up and read on. I think it's the writing. I have now decided to just read all sentences once so that I can focus on the actual story, and not keep getting distracted by the elaborate writing. Just not my cup of tea I guess.

You might think about an audio version, Peggy. Then you won't have to concentrate on the text and can enjoy the story.

Anyone have an opinion about the movie?

I have a scary-movie night coming up with my nieces and nephews; the age range is 15-24. Do you think this would be a good choice?

I saw Anna's comment about the language and wonder if I will grow tired of it or not. So far, about 20% mark, I'm impressed with Bradbury's creative powers in using language. Seems to make me really focus on the images and engages my senses. Sometimes I get tripped up and have to reread a sentence because of his unusual word choices or sentence structure, but not too much for the most part. Seems to be going really fast actually. Just started a little while ago, and the first 11 chapters flew by very quickly.

Something I've noticed about this book that has taken me by surprise is the quality of magical realism I detect in his writing here. I had no inkling. Wouldn't say that about either of the two previous Bradbury books I've read - Dandelion Wine or Fahrenheit 451. Anybody else taken by surprise by this?

In case someone wants to hear Chopin's march backwards


Chopin's Funeral March

Chopin's Funeral March backwards

Thanks Anna!

I wonder if my distraction by the writing is partly a language thing. I have no problems at all reading English, but maybe with this kind of writing (which even in Dutch would slow me down because I want to analyze those long and lyrical and metaphorical sentences to really get their meaning) English not being my native language does have an influence.

This is the farthezt thing from Farenheit 451 for sure

Peggy wrote: "Thanks Anna!

I wonder if my distraction by the writing is partly a language thing. I have no problems at all reading English, but maybe with this kind of writing (which even in Dutch would slow me..."

Could be or perhaps it's not your cuppa :)

I believe, in my case, it was just not my cuppa. But who knows? I might have enjoyed the prose more if I was a native speaker.

After all Fahrenheit 451 is quite different from SWTWC, and I read Dandelion Wine in Latvian.

I've read 9 or 10 chapters of part 2, and I'm enjoying it more now than I did in the beginning.

Starting this one today. I hope it is nice and spooky

Anna wrote: "In case someone wants to hear Chopin's march backwards


Chopin's Funeral March

Chopin's Funeral March backwards"
Anna thanks for those links to Chopin's Funeral March forward and backward -- or should that be forwards and backwards?

Joan, I bet you think that's a simple question--"backward" or "backwards." By an odd coincidence, my husband was explaining to me this morning about some internal dispute at his company as to which form to use in documentation distributed internationally. When I mentioned your question to Peter, he sent me a link. To summarize what it says, the answer depends on whether you are using it as an adverb or an adjective, and whether you are using American or British English.

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/educ...

Casceil,
the difference is a common topic of discussion in my house because my husband and stepchildren are English. Happily we all agree on the need for the Oxford comma.

Just started, I love the word play. Shades slithered, doors boomed, keys rattled their bones in locks.

I think this will be a book to read again for me.

I just finished, and I'm so happy to have read this one! While not blatantly scary, it gave me wonderful shivers the whole time I read.

I find it interesting that many of the complaints about the prose in Something Wicked echo my feelings on last month's Mrs. Dalloway. I found myself pondering why it was that I devoured this one while struggling to get through Woolf's novel, and I think the answer came down to pacing. Mrs. Dalloway meandered without allowing me to draw breath, while the poetry of this one ebbed and flowed in a way that felt as natural as breathing to me.

I'm hoping against hope that the plans for a movie remake follow through. I would love to see Tim Burton get his hands on Something Wicked This Way Comes, for instance. The '83 version, from the previews, just doesn't hold the unsettling atmosphere that made the book for me.

On a random note, while looking for the movie trailer I stumbled across Darren Brown's television special by the same name. I found that very fitting, because if ever there was a real-life Mr. Dark, I'd say it's him.

Thans for the comment on the 1983 movie.
You are rigth Tim Burton and Johnny Depp would be perfect. Well I think Johnny Depp is perfect in just about everything.

No wonder I nevwr made it through the whole movie. I thought I had a recent version but it is just the 1983 version put to dvd with a new cover that made it look more modern. Now I remember I didn't really like it

Too funny, Brittany. I stumbled onto the Darren Brown special too. Watched the whole thing!

Cherie wrote: "Too funny, Brittany. I stumbled onto the Darren Brown special too. Watched the whole thing!"

Have you seen his show "Trick or Treat?" It's good, and I love trying to figure out how he does what he does, but it's scary how easy people can be manipulated. It seemed to me that the series got darker the longer it ran, until he was pulling tricks that could be incredibly dangerous if he misjudged the person he was messing with. I pictured him as Mr. Dark the whole time I was reading, lol.

I love Derren Brown. I guess I have to as a fellow hypnotist although I don't do it for entertainment like he does. He is very talented and very good at reading people. There is a lot of preparation and setting up that goes in to his shows and us at home only see what he/producers want us to see.

This does seem like one movie really calling for a remake, and I agree that this is perfect Tim Burton territory.

I went ahead and gave the book 5 stars despite some reservations because I really did find the writing amazing overall with its flowing, often stream-of-consciousness, style and the creative, at times idiosyncratic, language.

Yes to Tim Burton & Johnny Depp!!!

Peggy wrote: "Yes to Tim Burton & Johnny Depp!!!"

& Helena Bonham Carter

:)

I have yet to read this but I want to. My library only has 1 copy.
I agree Tim Burton and Johnny Depp are great together. Helena Bonham Carter is in a class by herself.

Joan wrote: "Struggling with the audio-book, my library did not have a hard copy. The separate voices and personalities are not conveyed by the reader Paul Hecht

So much of the book is about the interactions b..."


I agree there was a feeling of melancholy in the characters and how they interacted with each other. I just felt down while reading and kept switching to a new book

I am really enjoying this book. I love the foreshadowing at the beginning with the guy who sells the lightning rods. What a way to begin a book!
(view spoiler)[ I think it is telling about Jim's character that he wants to tear the lightning rod down to see what effect the stom will have on his house, and this terrifies Will. Jim and Will are perfect foils for each other.
I love the way the eerie atmosphere continues with the poster announcing the carnival and the sounds and smells that seem to precede it on the wind. The block of ice is an intriguing mystery. (hide spoiler)]
Bradbury builds the intensity so well, and the characters are lovely. I cannot wait to get back to them and find out what is going to happen with their lives.
I like Will's dad. He seems really wise but childlike at the same time.

I am interested if you feel the same way about Will's dad as the story continues, Connie.

Oh, no! I hate that he may disappoint me. : ( I did wonder why Will's mom was so quiet. It seemed that their relationship was unusual, especially with Dad going out at 3:00 in the morning.

Connie, I don't think Will's dad will disappoint you. He is one of the more interesting characters in the book.

I just meant about him being childlike. Sorry. I did not mean that he will disappoint. I liked him a lot!

I must find some extra time to read tonight!

I finished this book about a week ago. I listened to an audio version that used multiple actors to voice the characters. It also had music and sound effects to go along with the story. It was a fun way to experience the story. I felt like I was listening to an old radio broadcast.

The story was interesting, but it was a little depressing. I did like Will's dad as well and how he interacted with the boys. He starts off as a very melancholy character, but seems to really find who he is by the end.

The toppler is interfering with my reading time for this book. I am desperate to get back to it. Oh well...soon.

I am listening to this audiobook and think its a really good read. Its very creepy. I was going to add a spoiler but forget what chapter Im on so Ill add it when I find out what chapter Im on. I think that the prose is just beautiful. The author is very well talented. It is very well written.

I just realized that I read this but never reported that I did so. It was an interesting read for this time of year, spooky without being full of horror film blood and gore.

I found the writing to be interesting and very lyrical. At least to me it seemed as though each sentence was followed by a contrasting sentence comparing the two boys. It reminded me of the old days when we were required to write comparison and contrast paragraphs in school. I will confess that I kept thinking "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times" as I read.

Susan wrote: "It reminded me of the old days when we were required to write comparison and contrast paragraphs in school. I will confess that I kept thinking "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times" as I read..."

Interesting analogy, Susan. I just finished his book Farewell Summer, which was a follow on to his Dandelion Wine novel, but 50 years later. It was even more of "the best and worst of times" in that it was a contrast of "the old" and "the young". I am making my way through his book of short stories called Summer Morning, Summer Night. I cannot say that I am a fan of most of them so far.

Susan wrote: "I just realized that I read this but never reported that I did so. It was an interesting read for this time of year, spooky without being full of horror film blood and gore.

I found the writing t..."
If goodreads had a like button I would add it here for your comments.

Cherie wrote: "Susan wrote: "It reminded me of the old days when we were required to write comparison and contrast paragraphs in school. I will confess that I kept thinking "it was the best of times, it was the w..."

Too bad about that Summer Morning, Summer Night. I hadn't heard of it ever before. Perhaps with good reason.

I keep waiting for something to happing with Will's dad. I was holding my breath when he stood outside Will's door and told him to be careful. But Will doesn't understand what his dad is referring to.
Chapters 23-24 Mr. Dark is so spooky, and the backward carousel is wild ride!
(view spoiler)[I expected Mr. Cooger to get older but not to the point of mummification. The electrocution would have been enough to have sent me running home! (hide spoiler)]

Connie (Ava Catherine) wrote: "I keep waiting for something to happing with Will's dad. I was holding my breath when he stood outside Will's door and told him to be careful. But Will doesn't understand what his dad is referring ..."

for added creepiness look for the link to the funeral march played backwards - you will feel the years zipping away. Anna posted it on October 8

So I'm finally delving into this story, and am loving it; I have so many thoughts and highlights, I wish I'd been able to participate in the discussion at the beginning.

The part of Waukegan - I mean Green Town - that the children live in and prowl about is the area of the town I also lived in. As the boys are wandering down October streets, I have such a clear memory of what fall feels like in that particular suburb. What the library looks like, and where the clock tower and drug store are at. It fills me with nostalgia, which I feel is the perfect mindset to be in reading Wicked.

I feel like Will's father is Bradbury, personifying his own sense of looking back. In that sense, I also feel like Bradbury and Will's father, each with our own memory of this town and how it grew us up.

I get the sense that Will's father (does he have a name?) knows what's coming...that's pure speculation. The significance of 3am, when you're as close to death as the living can get?

It starts off foreboding, "And that was the October week when they grew up overnight, and were never so young any more...", and throughout nostalgia is knee-deep in foreshadowing. A memory of the scent of cotton candy bringing tears to Mr. Crostini's eyes. Will's father watching his son and best friend, a keen sense of loss permeating his reflection, "He knew what the wind was doing to them, where it was taking them, to all the secret places that were never so secret again in life."

I always felt that nostalgia is one of the most powerful emotional responses someone can have. As a writer/creator it's also very hard to capture. I can't think of a story that succeeds better then this one.

Will and Jim are great contrasts. Jim, who has experienced loss and thus a darkness in his life, so readily embraces the adventure of the carnival, ignoring any uneasiness. Will, whose life has been unblemished, besides a generalized disappointment in his father, is uneasy even knowing something that the rest of the town does not. In a sense, because Jim has experienced disappointment he's older, more keen for adventure, yes, but it has a purpose: pushing forward to adulthood. As such, Jim is the more selfish of the two.

Then the contrasts just inundate the story: fantasy/imagination vs the banal/reality; childhood experiencing vs adulthood remembering. Then the reveal (spoiler through Chapter 26) (view spoiler)[The lure of adults through the promise of childhood. Life and Death. Wicked in the Unnatural. The dismissal of childhood certainty vs adults who only believe what they see. (hide spoiler)]

And yes, the prose, which doesn't feel too purple to me. It very much feels like Will and Jim's future selves reflecting back on their world at this time. Also, I love the repetition. It's not just really old, it's old old; it's not just very dead it's dead dead.

It's not without humor, though: "...THE ILLUSTRATED MAN...That's just an old guy with tattoos."

I am so upset because I was really getting into this and loved it so much. I was listening to the audio on YouTube and yesterday they took off the audiobook on YouTube, it is no longer there. I did reserve it at the library and four people are in line, so Ill be finishing it as soon as it comes in. Bummer! I was more than half way through it also.