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A review by prairiephlox
The October Country by Ray Bradbury
2.0
Perhaps it was my fault- I was love-drunk with Something Wicked This Way Comes, and I wanted the same amount of emotional and seasonal precision that I experienced with that book... and I didn't get it. I wanted skittering leaves and brittle pages, I wanted what I was reading to match the feel in the air, I wanted it to be perfectly time in its writing, in my life, in the year, and that is too much to ask from any book. It can only occur by happenstance.
The first page description of the October people, though, was so great. It was titillating, and it teased and exaggerated my expectations. It was what I wanted, pages and pages of that.... and instead I found a collection of hit or miss stories that made me feel like I was doing required reading in grade school. Short stories just really aren't my thing, I've enjoyed a few collections, but not many. I like to sink into books, and its hard to sink into anything when its a pond instead of an ocean. Most of the stories felt dated, or like he was trying to hard to get the reader to quest after his short stories' depths. Meh.
Still there were a handful of stories that I really liked, "The Dwarf," "Next in Line," "Homecoming," and "Scythe." And there were ones that I really just did not care for like "Cistern" and "Jack in the Box," and the others I was completely apathetic about.
Alas. 2.5 stars.
The first page description of the October people, though, was so great. It was titillating, and it teased and exaggerated my expectations. It was what I wanted, pages and pages of that.... and instead I found a collection of hit or miss stories that made me feel like I was doing required reading in grade school. Short stories just really aren't my thing, I've enjoyed a few collections, but not many. I like to sink into books, and its hard to sink into anything when its a pond instead of an ocean. Most of the stories felt dated, or like he was trying to hard to get the reader to quest after his short stories' depths. Meh.
Still there were a handful of stories that I really liked, "The Dwarf," "Next in Line," "Homecoming," and "Scythe." And there were ones that I really just did not care for like "Cistern" and "Jack in the Box," and the others I was completely apathetic about.
Alas. 2.5 stars.