Someone who knows how I love Steven King recommended this book to me, and after resisting for quite some time, I finally decided that if I'm doing all this reading, I might as well read this one too.
Something Wicked This Way Comes is the tale of two young boys who are caught up in events when a mysterious and possibly malevolent carnival comes to their small town. (I can't say much more about the plot without ruining things--there's a lot going on, and I wouldn't want to ruin any surprise for anyone who wants to read this.)
I wasn't especially impressed with this book as far as creativity of plot goes...at least until I realized that it was originally written in 1962. For that time, it's pretty interesting. The thing I like about the book was the descriptions and the language. The person who compared it to Steven King was right--there was a lot of what I like to refer to as "literary gymnastics." Phrasing and syntax that are interesting as far as what they're describing, but also interesting in a purely "word nerdy" fashion. The writing is fantastic, and I'd recommend the book on that alone. The story is also creepy and suspenseful, and was definitely enough to keep me turning the pages, despite my initial misgivings (what little I know of Ray Bradbury's work has not previously been enjoyable to me, so I wasn't sure how much I'd like this.)
On the whole, it was pretty good, though I can't say I'd want to read it again anytime soon--the working, though admirably challenging, can be a little mentally exhausting in large doses.
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