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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Perhaps these stories were shocking and surprising when they first were published. Many ideas of women, little people, and of children were odd or problematic. Some stories, like The Homecoming, I enjoyed; however, I did not like majority of them.
first 4 stories only 3 stars. 5th story talked of purposely drowning kittens. I'm out.
This book was a rollercoaster and it brought mixed feelings for me. I loved it but at the same time, my expectations failed me and made me not like it a lot at the same time. Bear with me.
I read this book because I wanted to read something halloween themed in October. Matthew Gray Gubler posted this on his instagram stories, and being a halloween fan like he is, I thought this book was going to be VERY halloween-y and spooky. It was not. I set my expectations too high because of who recommended it.
The first half of the book is slow. It has some of my favorite stories, such as "The Next in Line," "Skeleton," "The Lake," and "The Emissary." But, in general, the stories are not all that strong, spooky, or Halloween-y. Maybe they are fall, or perhaps, October themed. But I felt they were a bit weak. Personally, the worst two stories in this part of the book were "Touched by Fire" and "The Jar." I felt like the theme of the stories didn't match the overall theme of the book. They felt disconnected from the rest of the book.
However, once I read "The Crowd," my opinion of the book changed. Although not all of the stories in the second half of the book were mu favorites, they all felt stronger and better written than the stories in the first half. They all felt more connected in theme and style. "The Crowd" and "Jack-in-the-box" are two other favorites. "The Scythe" and "The Wonderful Death of Dudley Stone" are the best stories in the book, in my opinion. So well written and portrayed, they hold a special place in my heart now.
Overall, reading this book was highs-and-lows. Like I said, I wasn't a big fan of the first half of the book, and perhaps I only have my own expectations to blame. However, the second half saved the book, and earned it 4 stars.
I read this book because I wanted to read something halloween themed in October. Matthew Gray Gubler posted this on his instagram stories, and being a halloween fan like he is, I thought this book was going to be VERY halloween-y and spooky. It was not. I set my expectations too high because of who recommended it.
The first half of the book is slow. It has some of my favorite stories, such as "The Next in Line," "Skeleton," "The Lake," and "The Emissary." But, in general, the stories are not all that strong, spooky, or Halloween-y. Maybe they are fall, or perhaps, October themed. But I felt they were a bit weak. Personally, the worst two stories in this part of the book were "Touched by Fire" and "The Jar." I felt like the theme of the stories didn't match the overall theme of the book. They felt disconnected from the rest of the book.
However, once I read "The Crowd," my opinion of the book changed. Although not all of the stories in the second half of the book were mu favorites, they all felt stronger and better written than the stories in the first half. They all felt more connected in theme and style. "The Crowd" and "Jack-in-the-box" are two other favorites. "The Scythe" and "The Wonderful Death of Dudley Stone" are the best stories in the book, in my opinion. So well written and portrayed, they hold a special place in my heart now.
Overall, reading this book was highs-and-lows. Like I said, I wasn't a big fan of the first half of the book, and perhaps I only have my own expectations to blame. However, the second half saved the book, and earned it 4 stars.
Creepy? Definitely. Macabre? Absolutely. Sweet? Oh yes there's a lot of sweetness in The October Country, take The Lake for an example, that story has heart. I wasn't expecting that, a nice surprise. Poetically disturbing, Bradbury earned his place in history with some high quality literature work. In this compilation of short stories you'll get a bit of everything, the kind-of-gross one, the heartbreaking one, the phsycological-issue one, the ghost one, and more. There's something here for everyone. We, the autumn people with autumn thoughts need this kind of short stories.
"...autumn people, thinking only autumn thoughts."
Lo que mas me gusto de esta compilación, The October Country, es la gran sensación de sentimiento agridulce que dejan la mayoria de las historias, sin sacrificar el ambiente perturbador o macabro que claramente quiere tener en primera fila el autor. Dandole mas construcción y apego emocional al libro en general.
Es una excelente lectura, muy ad hoc con el mes y esta extraña energia con la que entramos a el. Bradbury sabe como meter incertidumbre al lector con una narrativa de lo mas especial o como ya muchos catalogan, poetica.
Ya sea mediante algo muy emocional, the lake, homecoming, altamente alarmante, the next in line, the small assassin, o bastante paranoico, the skeleton, the jar, el autor te atrapa por completo y su narrativa no te dejara ir. Lo recomiendo bastante, es lo suficientemente variado para que la mayoria encuentre algo de su agrado.
Mis favoritos:
1. The Skeleton
2. The Small Asaasin
3. The Lake
Pero en verdad, todos son muy buenos.
"...autumn people, thinking only autumn thoughts."
Lo que mas me gusto de esta compilación, The October Country, es la gran sensación de sentimiento agridulce que dejan la mayoria de las historias, sin sacrificar el ambiente perturbador o macabro que claramente quiere tener en primera fila el autor. Dandole mas construcción y apego emocional al libro en general.
Es una excelente lectura, muy ad hoc con el mes y esta extraña energia con la que entramos a el. Bradbury sabe como meter incertidumbre al lector con una narrativa de lo mas especial o como ya muchos catalogan, poetica.
Ya sea mediante algo muy emocional, the lake, homecoming, altamente alarmante, the next in line, the small assassin, o bastante paranoico, the skeleton, the jar, el autor te atrapa por completo y su narrativa no te dejara ir. Lo recomiendo bastante, es lo suficientemente variado para que la mayoria encuentre algo de su agrado.
Mis favoritos:
1. The Skeleton
2. The Small Asaasin
3. The Lake
Pero en verdad, todos son muy buenos.
More Repeats A lot of repeats with one or two I hadn't read before took away from my enjoyment of this. The couple I hadn't read were okay, though.
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Hated how he wrote women characters and was weird about Mexicans
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated