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A review by cro777
From the Dust Returned by Ray Bradbury
5.0
This book is like a collection of stories that are tied together very well. I say this because it easily reads as one book but you could also read a chapter or two as a singular story. This would be perfect to read during the spooky season and Halloween because it is dividable. All the stories, and the book as a whole focus on one spooky and weird family, the Elliot family who live in Illinois. Bradbury has a thing for setting his stories in the midwest and this book does not disappoint that front. This family is like the Munsters or the Adams Family; they aren't normal humans. All Hallows Eve is coming and so, the family is having a huge reunion at their large house. Each chapter goes through the reunion and the travels and some backgrounds of specific family members, and then what happens after the family is betrayed by one of their own.
I loved this book so much! I can't even describe why, but it just made me feel so warm and cozy and happy while reading it. I adored the portrayal of the family and especially the family members that it really focused on. It reminds you that all families are not picture perfect and we all have the weird uncle and annoying cousin. It really speaks to both the power and the importance of the family unit and how fundamental that is for our development as people (or whatever you are). This is really honed with the character Timothy who seems to be a normal human. This family reunion serves a series of lessons to him about what family is and what it means to be a family, what it means to be yourself and true to that, and how each person or being is important. I loved how throughout the book Timothy is just kind of pushed aside and brushed over because he is a normal human, but in the end it becomes clear that that was not the case at all. Rather, he was given space to observe and later take his place in his kooky family and carry out his purpose. The ending was so good and I genuinely loved read this story.
Bradbury's creative genus is really on display here since he works to incorporate some many important and fundamental ideas into a story or series of short stories that are a bit unconventional. Growing up, I watched The Munsters and the Adams family regularly and I think that as a kid I got the messages underlying those television shows but didn't know how to express it or make that reflect in my own life. Thinking back, I totally did make it reflect and still do. Reading this book allowed me to tap back into those fundamental ideas and lessons about acceptance and love while giving me back a little of the fuzzy warmth surrounding my own memories of my family and the Halloween season. I also adore how Bradbury is able to write about things that are quite heavy in ways that would be okay for children and that aren't gore-infested or just for shock. His stories make you do a double read and consider what has happened or what was being said. I love the brilliance in that and the power the written word exudes in those examples.
Without saying, this is definitely a book that I will read again, probably next Halloween or maybe even this one! As soon as I finished it, I looked online to order a used copy for my shelves. It just reminds me of good times and what used to be my favorite holiday.
I loved this book so much! I can't even describe why, but it just made me feel so warm and cozy and happy while reading it. I adored the portrayal of the family and especially the family members that it really focused on. It reminds you that all families are not picture perfect and we all have the weird uncle and annoying cousin. It really speaks to both the power and the importance of the family unit and how fundamental that is for our development as people (or whatever you are). This is really honed with the character Timothy who seems to be a normal human. This family reunion serves a series of lessons to him about what family is and what it means to be a family, what it means to be yourself and true to that, and how each person or being is important. I loved how throughout the book Timothy is just kind of pushed aside and brushed over because he is a normal human, but in the end it becomes clear that that was not the case at all. Rather, he was given space to observe and later take his place in his kooky family and carry out his purpose. The ending was so good and I genuinely loved read this story.
Bradbury's creative genus is really on display here since he works to incorporate some many important and fundamental ideas into a story or series of short stories that are a bit unconventional. Growing up, I watched The Munsters and the Adams family regularly and I think that as a kid I got the messages underlying those television shows but didn't know how to express it or make that reflect in my own life. Thinking back, I totally did make it reflect and still do. Reading this book allowed me to tap back into those fundamental ideas and lessons about acceptance and love while giving me back a little of the fuzzy warmth surrounding my own memories of my family and the Halloween season. I also adore how Bradbury is able to write about things that are quite heavy in ways that would be okay for children and that aren't gore-infested or just for shock. His stories make you do a double read and consider what has happened or what was being said. I love the brilliance in that and the power the written word exudes in those examples.
Without saying, this is definitely a book that I will read again, probably next Halloween or maybe even this one! As soon as I finished it, I looked online to order a used copy for my shelves. It just reminds me of good times and what used to be my favorite holiday.