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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
A very fun collection of short stories. Scary, creepy, funny, and delightful
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Lots of fun to read. Not all of the short stories were winners but it made the good ones shine more. Always a good time when reading Bradbury.
The moods in the stories ranged from really creepy to surprisingly funny. I loved it. I liked some (The Crowd, Skeleton) much more than others (Poker Chip, Next in Line).
I really just couldn’t get into it and it was due back to the library
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I don't normally go for short story collections, but this was a wonderful read. Deeply reminiscent of Bradbury's Dandelion Wine, which i also love, these stories were haunting, melancholy, and atmospheric in exactly the ways a book called The October Country should be.
I will say i preferred the first few stories, but Bradbury is so talented at evoking small-town-California nostalgia with that signature hint of unease, that all of the stories fit that overarching aesthetic pretty well. I'm definitely going to have to buy this book.
Also, shoutout to Cory McCarthy's Man 'O War for the rec: one of the main characters is introduced reading The October Country, which was a fun way to get into it :)
I will say i preferred the first few stories, but Bradbury is so talented at evoking small-town-California nostalgia with that signature hint of unease, that all of the stories fit that overarching aesthetic pretty well. I'm definitely going to have to buy this book.
Also, shoutout to Cory McCarthy's Man 'O War for the rec: one of the main characters is introduced reading The October Country, which was a fun way to get into it :)
That country where the hills are fog and the rivers are mist; where noons go quickly, dusks and twilights linger, and midnights stay...that country whose people are autumn people, thinking only autumn thoughts. Whose people passing at night on the empty walks sound like rain…”
I can’t believe it has taken me 28 Octobers to read this classic autumnal/horror anthology by Ray Bradbury, but here we are. This was an absolutely perfect way to commemorate the start of October. All 19 tales (sans The Watchful Poker Chip of H. Matisse) completely engrossed me and delighted my brain with macabre details, surprising plot twists, and tender poignancy. I didn’t want to depart from this collection, so I’ve been enjoying The Ray Bradbury Theater series to view the short stories from The October Country that have been adapted.
If I had to choose a few favorites, I’d have to say the stories that affected me the most were The Small Assassin, The Scythe, The Crowd, and Skeleton.
My favorite quote was from The Wonderful Death of Dudley Stone stating, “Oh, listen here, no one in the world knows how to hate like a writer does.”
5 out of 5 stars.
I can’t believe it has taken me 28 Octobers to read this classic autumnal/horror anthology by Ray Bradbury, but here we are. This was an absolutely perfect way to commemorate the start of October. All 19 tales (sans The Watchful Poker Chip of H. Matisse) completely engrossed me and delighted my brain with macabre details, surprising plot twists, and tender poignancy. I didn’t want to depart from this collection, so I’ve been enjoying The Ray Bradbury Theater series to view the short stories from The October Country that have been adapted.
If I had to choose a few favorites, I’d have to say the stories that affected me the most were The Small Assassin, The Scythe, The Crowd, and Skeleton.
My favorite quote was from The Wonderful Death of Dudley Stone stating, “Oh, listen here, no one in the world knows how to hate like a writer does.”
5 out of 5 stars.
Having recently read a bunch of Bradbury, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I like his short stories *much* better than his longer fiction. When I try to take the stories as masterpieces of fiction writing with all the pomp and ceremony of high literature...I just can't. But if I look at these as pulp ground out in the 40s and 50s, it's fun stuff, easy, quick reads, felicitously and skillfully written, with a simple twist somewhere along towards the end. I could have just as easily skipped the two stories from FROM THE DUST RETURNED, but really that's a small quibble.