Marraige.
Or sex.
But not both.
I find the book a bit… treacly.
I have read most of his work, and I can’t think of a one that involves an evil circus. A clown, yes, but not a circus.
Haven’t seen the film in a while.
Read the book a few years ago…
Love the “35 a good year . . . 35 gone!” scene. IIRC not in the book. I also think the breaking many mirrors ending of the film works better than the dancing and playing nonexistent harmonica of the book.
I love the image of the dust witch, the balloon rising and falling as she breathes, searching the wind as it blows though her palm.
Re- It
Nahh. Without spoiling either book, they’re very different evils. Pennywise is an ancient predator, beyond human comprehension. He torments his prey and feeds on their fear, their bodies, and their souls. Dark’s carnival is an infernal realm of granted wishes and corruption.
For those of you into rpg’s, I reccomend White Wolf’s Midnight Circus. “Who wouldn’t give their very soul for a day and a night at Anastagio’s Lunar Carnival And Midnight Circus?”
I read it every October 24, which, IIRC, is the date the book takes place. Sometimes I just can’t wait and read it as soon as the autumn nights start getting the right creepy feeling.
I was thinking of Needful Things. Not an evil circus, but an evil store that gives people what they desire.
I watched Something Wicked This Way Comes on cable about 2 weeks ago. I think it’s time to read the book.
As others said, the movie does not do the novel justice, even though Bradbury wrote the screenplay. Opening paragraph:
While I agree that the film of Something Wicked This Way Comes doesn’t do the book justice, I thought it was an honorable attempt. In so far as it falls short of the book, it’s because of the standard reasons: First, to do justice to the book, it would take a miniseries. A movie is equivalent in story structure to a short story, while a novel is equivalent to a miniseries. Second, there was a lot of description in the novel that no movie could find an equivalent for.
Some truly brilliant screenwriting and directing could perhaps produce a better movie, but I’m not certain it could ever produce a great one. Some great novels just can’t be made into great movies. I should also mention that some of the casting for the film was excellent - Jason Robards, Jonathan Pryce (a great actor who’s never received the attention he deserves), Royal Dano, Pam Grier (I didn’t even know who she was when I saw it 21 years ago, so I had forgotten she was in the film).
hazel-rah writes:
> I find the book a bit… treacly.
In some sense I understand what you mean, but that’s Bradbury’s worldview. You either like it or you don’t. I like it better than the worldview of many horror writers.
I thought on the other hand that the Peter Jackson versions of The Lord of the Rings are bad examples of adapting a book, being full of completely arbitrary changes just to prove that the screenwriters like their own words better than Tolkien’s.
What if they say Harry Potter.
(see the trailer for the newest film)