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A review by sausome
From the Dust Returned by Ray Bradbury
2.0
I'm not entirely sure what to think of this book ... I mean, it was interesting -- always enjoy the 'otherworldly creatures of the night' kind of thing -- but I guess it read more like a series of connected short stories than an entire novel. Which isn't BAD, just not expected, I suppose.
Although, reading the author's afterword, the book began as various short stories published in different magazines, so I think Bradbury essentially did some creative weaving. I like that this edition has the artwork done by Charles Addams (yup, that Addams -- of Addams Family fame!) and that Bradbury and Addams had communicated about this set of stories before they saw light, because it totally reminded me of the Addams Family in a way. Also, in a vague sort of way (probably to do with the main character, Timothy, being a 10-year-old mortal boy amongst other creatures) it reminded me of Gaiman's Graveyard Book (which is awesome, by the way).
Anyhow. I feel sort of bad for not liking it more as it won a National Book Award. But I like this blurb about it (it's what hooked me in the first place, I think):
"High on a hill by a forked tree, the House beckons its family homeward, and they come--travelers from the lyrical, lush imagination of Ray Bradbury. From the Dust Returned chronicles a community of eternal beings: a mummified matriarch who speaks in dust; a sleeping daughter who lives through the eyes and ears of the creatures she visits in her dreams; an uncle with wings like sea-green sails. And there is also the mortal child Timothy, the foundling son who yearns to be like those he loves: to fly, to sleep in daytime, and to live forever. Instead, his task is to witness the family's struggle with the startling possibility of its own end."
Although, reading the author's afterword, the book began as various short stories published in different magazines, so I think Bradbury essentially did some creative weaving. I like that this edition has the artwork done by Charles Addams (yup, that Addams -- of Addams Family fame!) and that Bradbury and Addams had communicated about this set of stories before they saw light, because it totally reminded me of the Addams Family in a way. Also, in a vague sort of way (probably to do with the main character, Timothy, being a 10-year-old mortal boy amongst other creatures) it reminded me of Gaiman's Graveyard Book (which is awesome, by the way).
Anyhow. I feel sort of bad for not liking it more as it won a National Book Award. But I like this blurb about it (it's what hooked me in the first place, I think):
"High on a hill by a forked tree, the House beckons its family homeward, and they come--travelers from the lyrical, lush imagination of Ray Bradbury. From the Dust Returned chronicles a community of eternal beings: a mummified matriarch who speaks in dust; a sleeping daughter who lives through the eyes and ears of the creatures she visits in her dreams; an uncle with wings like sea-green sails. And there is also the mortal child Timothy, the foundling son who yearns to be like those he loves: to fly, to sleep in daytime, and to live forever. Instead, his task is to witness the family's struggle with the startling possibility of its own end."