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A review by bee324
From the Dust Returned by Ray Bradbury
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I really wanted to like this, but I much preferred the short stories (a few of which I'd already read). Even if I hadn't known it was the case, this book felt like it was built around short stories. By which I mean it felt fractured and slow, and at certain points it would randomly pick up and be interesting for a chapter or two. I really like the idea of the overall story (a weird, loving family full of supernatural beings and one little human), but the execution, more than anything else, just bored me. Which is not something I usually say about Bradbury's work. I wouldn't necessarily say it's bad, but it is very not for me.
One of Storygraph's questions for these reviews is "Is this book mainly plot- or character-driven?" - to which my gut instinct is to say "No." There is little in the way of a plot, but nor is there much character development to speak of.
Uncle Einar is probably my favorite part of the book (though I also really like Cecy, and Timothy was endearing with his little critters as were the parents), and I loved his chapter (titled Uncle Einar). I'm guessing it was one that was already a short story, though I hadn't read it prior.
Personally, I think it would've been much better if it had kept to its roots as a bunch of loosely connected stories with recurring side characters all set in the same universe/house/family. What there was of a plot could've even been kept under such a structure, perhaps even been made more interesting with it being weaved subtly into a bunch of the stories and paid off/tied up at the end with a final story.
One of Storygraph's questions for these reviews is "Is this book mainly plot- or character-driven?" - to which my gut instinct is to say "No." There is little in the way of a plot, but nor is there much character development to speak of.
Uncle Einar is probably my favorite part of the book (though I also really like Cecy, and Timothy was endearing with his little critters as were the parents), and I loved his chapter (titled Uncle Einar). I'm guessing it was one that was already a short story, though I hadn't read it prior.
Personally, I think it would've been much better if it had kept to its roots as a bunch of loosely connected stories with recurring side characters all set in the same universe/house/family. What there was of a plot could've even been kept under such a structure, perhaps even been made more interesting with it being weaved subtly into a bunch of the stories and paid off/tied up at the end with a final story.