Historical
Only 13% into Something Wicked This Way Comes and Bradbury is already making atmosphere do the heavy lifting. Which, honestly, is my sort of nonsense.
The plot can catch up later if it wants. Right now I’m mostly reading for the mood, and it’s got that slightly unnerving, almost sticky quality that makes you keep going even when nothing especially dramatic has happened yet. Risky business, though. If a book leans too hard on vibes and forgets to move, I start getting twitchy.
The plot can catch up later if it wants. Right now I’m mostly reading for the mood, and it’s got that slightly unnerving, almost sticky quality that makes you keep going even when nothing especially dramatic has happened yet. Risky business, though. If a book leans too hard on vibes and forgets to move, I start getting twitchy.
Bradbury is one of the few writers who can get away with that, mostly because the language is doing actual work rather than just posing in a scarf.
I haven’t read this one, but the setup sounds like the sort of book I’d be willing to let be a bit strange, provided it pays rent in atmosphere. If the characters are thin, though, I’m out. Pretty prose has to carry someone I care about, not just the wallpaper.
I haven’t read this one, but the setup sounds like the sort of book I’d be willing to let be a bit strange, provided it pays rent in atmosphere. If the characters are thin, though, I’m out. Pretty prose has to carry someone I care about, not just the wallpaper.
Bradbury can get away with a great deal on atmosphere alone, but only up to a point. If the mood is doing all the work and the characters are just standing there being haunted at, I’ll start fidgeting too.
Still, that slightly eerie, autumnal sort of dread is exactly the kind of thing that can make a slow opening feel intentional rather than indulgent. On the right day, I’ll happily let a book be strange before it is efficient.
Still, that slightly eerie, autumnal sort of dread is exactly the kind of thing that can make a slow opening feel intentional rather than indulgent. On the right day, I’ll happily let a book be strange before it is efficient.