It’s only the first few pages of the book, but I already feel like I know the essence of the two main characters. Three if the guy peddling lightning rods makes it past the first chapter. Nothing makes a book like a wanderer in emo clothing selling metal sticks.
I’m usually a proponent of kids not talking to strangers, but in this situation, talking to the man who’s asking if your parents are home and if you’ve got money just might save your life. Especially since he has the sixth sense to know which house is going to be struck by lightning in the near future. Makes sense considering his name is Tom Fury. Apparently with that name, you can sense the fury of coming storms. I wonder if Nick Fury can sense the fury of coming alien invasions.
Ray Bradbury sure has a thing with matching characters’ names and appearances to their personhood. Fury wears storm-colored clothing and chases storms to sell storm sticks for a living.
Same goes for the kids. From the two boys’ names and hair colors to their birthdays, the legendary author connects everything back to their polar opposite personalities.
The kid born a minute before Halloween is named Will Halloway and has light hair that matches his light personality. Jim Nightshade is the kid born a minute into Halloween and has dark hair and a dark personality. So dark that he doesn’t want to heed emo storm stick man’s warning that his house is going to burn up in a lightning strike because preventing his family going up in flames would spoil the fun.
I want to read the rest of the book just for more of this kid. This kid is going places. Probably jail for sociopathic tendencies when he’s older.
Do you guys read books just because you want to know how a character ends up?
Quotable Quote
Bradbury’s all about the names.
Fury, ain’t that a fine name for one who sells lightning rods? Did I take the name? No! Did the name fire me to my occupations? Yes!
My name is Gwenever Pacifico. By this author’s naming scheme, I should either be a sailor or a beer maker.
Get Something Wicked This Way Comes
Gwen thinks that it’s as close to magic as humans can get when a blank Word document is filled with groups of letters, and those groups of letters turn into lines, and those lines turn into a whole new world.
When Gwen isn’t reading or writing, she’s drinking boba milk tea and singing along to Steven Universe. You should sing along with her.
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