Ray Bradbury

IN THE ATTIC WHERE THE RAIN TOUCHED THE ROOF SOFTLY ON SPRING DAYS AND WHERE YOU COULD FEEL THE MANTLE OF SNOW OUTSIDE, A FEW INCHES AWAY, ON DECEMBER NIGHTS, A THOUSAND-TIME GREAT GRANDMERE EXISTED. SHE DID NOT LIVE, NOR WAS SHE ETERNALLY DEAD, SHE...EXISTED. She is the grandmother of the Elliott family, which includes mind-readers, vampires and many others...maybe. In a strange old house, they gradually come together, mixing their arcane skills and life-styles, falling in and out of love and changing the world around them forever. You have never seen their like before.

A Family Remembrance

From the Dust Returned

Dave | Storyphoria

Enjoyable story, though some of it did slow down to a crawl for me at times. But there were also some beautifully written passages that I've earmarked to revisit. 

Well worth a read and surprisingly the story has a bit of a sad twist that I didn't really see coming at first.

Ray Bradbury, America's most beloved storyteller, has spent a lifetime carrying readers to exhilarating and dangerous places, from dark street comers in unfamiliar cities and towns to the edge of the universe. Now, in an extraordinary flight of the imagination a half-century in the making, he takes us to a most wondrous destination: into the heart of an Eternal Family They have lived for centuries in a house of legend and mystery in upper Illinois -- and they are not like other midwesterners. Rarely encountered in daylight hours, their children are curious and wild; their old ones have survived since before the Sphinx first sank its paws deep in Egyptian sands. And some sleep in beds with lids. Now the house is being readied in anticipation of the gala homecoming that will gather together the farflung branches of this odd and remarkable family. In the past-midnight stillness can be detected the soft fluttering of Uncle Einars wings. From her realm of sleep, Cecy, the fairest and most special daughter, can feel the approach of many a welcome being -- shapeshifter, telepath, somnambulist, vampire -- as she flies high in the consciousness of bird and bat. But in the midst of eager anticipation, a sense of doom pervades. For the world is changing. And death, no stranger, will always shadow this most singular family: Father, arisen from the Earth; Mother, who never sleeps but dreams; A Thousand Times Great Grandmére; Grandfather, who keeps the wildness of youth between his ears. And the boy who, more than anyone, carries the burden of time on his shoulders: Timothy, the sad and different foundling son who must share it all, remember, and tell...and who, alone out of all of them, must one day age and wither and die. By turns lyrical, wistful, poignant, and chilling, From the Dust Returned is the long-awaited new novel by the peerless Ray Bradbury -- a book that will surely be numbered among his most enduring masterworks.

A Novel

Daryl Houston

This really just did not land at all for me. It's clearly meant to be read aloud in spooky, floating, quavering tones, and I suppose the way it's written, with elliptical spookiness and mystical non sequiturs and a weird mix of vagueness and specificity, is supposed to contribute to that Halloweeny mood, but I found it mostly annoying and just badly done. Read The Graveyard Book instead.

Ray Bradbury, America's most beloved storyteller, has spent a lifetime carrying readers to exhilarating and dangerous places, from dark street comers in unfamiliar cities and towns to the edge of the universe. Now, in an extraordinary flight of the imagination a half-century in the making, he takes us to a most wondrous destination: into the heart of an Eternal Family. They have lived for centuries in a house of legend and mystery in upper Illinois -- and they are not like other midwesterners. Rarely encountered in daylight hours, their children are curious and wild; their old ones have survived since before the Sphinx first sank its paws deep in Egyptian sands. And some sleep in beds with lids. Now the house is being readied in anticipation of the gala homecoming that will gather together the farflung branches of this odd and remarkable family. In the past-midnight stillness can be detected the soft fluttering of Uncle Einars wings. From her realm of sleep, Cecy, the fairest and most special daughter, can feel the approach of many a welcome being -- shapeshifter, telepath, somnambulist, vampire -- as she flies high in the consciousness of bird and bat. But in the midst of eager anticipation, a sense of doom pervades. For the world is changing. And death, no stranger, will always shadow this most singular family: Father, arisen from the Earth; Mother, who never sleeps but dreams; A Thousand Times Great GrandmÉre; Grandfather, who keeps the wildness of youth between his ears. And the boy who, more than anyone, carries the burden of time on his shoulders: Timothy, the sad and different foundling son who must share it all, remember, and tell...and who, alone out of all of them, must one day age and wither and die. By turns lyrical, wistful, poignant, and chilling, From the Dust Returned is the long-awaited new novel by the peerless Ray Bradbury -- a book that will surely be numbered among his most enduring masterworks.

Tania Joana da Silva Monteiro

This is not the easiest read for people who don't have english as their first language. But at the same time, the way this was written is what makes this book so wonderful and spooky and weird and unique in every good way. The characters are memorable and lovely, the ideas are original and brilliant! And it is also a very cozy read. It's quite perfect for the Autumn/Halloween season but it will stay with me for a while.

From the Dust Returned A Family Remembrance

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