5 Reasons why Ray Bradbury is crazy

As most of us have read his novel, Fahrenheit 451, we have had a taste of his writing style; the majority of readers hated his style, while I loved it. Although his writing is often complicated, his diction high and his thoughts sporadic, I think his writing style is my favorite. Crazy recognizes crazy, and I can say for certain that Ray Bradbury is crazy. The word crazy often has a negative connotation accompanying it. I reject this idea; from personal experience, being crazy is the most interesting way to live life. My labeling of Ray Bradbury as crazy is not meant as an insult or slander. I'm just calling a spade a spade.

(All examples come from his novel Something Wicked This Way Comes)

1. The creatures within the story
The story of Something Wicked This Way Comes revolves around a mysterious circus that brings forth many strange creatures from Bradbury's mind. The most prevalent character that I find interest in is the main antagonist, Mr. Dark. Mr. Dark is described  "Mr. Dark scuttled a tarantula hand up an electric brass switch."(Bradbury 111). When I read the story, I picture Mr. Dark as a towering man, with tattoos splattered across his body. He can reverse his age to take the appearance of another person. He is ultimately threatening. From what mind must this character have sprung from I do not know.

2. Incoherent description
As you read Something Wicked This Way Comes, you will find that Bradbury will describe events, characters and situations with such a weird approach. He will make the loosest connections that somehow make sense, although no sane person would ever contrive. A prime example of this is a description of the night; "The night was sweet with the dust of autumn leaves that smelled as if the fine sands of ancient Egypt were drifting to dunes beyond the town."(Bradbury 133). What? Somehow that makes sense but it doesn't. Such a strange use of senses to connect two ideas loosely.

3.Premise of the novel
Now as you read the novel, you sort of lose track of the big picture. As you travel through the novel, you observe the wacky and insane sights, you eventually forget them and lose sight of the big picture. But once you remember, you realize what a crazy and wild ride it has been. Here is a recap of my progress of the novel so far: Jim and Will, two kids in small town America, travel to a mysterious circus where they witness a man reverse his age from 27 to 12. After they freak out (which of course you would) The man gathers his crew of freaks and mutants to find the boys who know their secret. one thousand year old mummies, flying witches, fire jugglers all chase two children. When you look back on it, yeah, it's crazy.

4. Dashes of deep philosophy sprinkled with Horror and Fantasy
The novel so far is extremely good. I love going on this adventure with Bradbury, as he paints this world in front of you. However, throughout the novel, you get to see his philosophical side come out. This would be fine if it were tied with the story well. However the only purpose of chapter 28 seems to be to express Bradbury's opinion on morality.You know it's going to be a long chapter when the chapter begins with "Dad? Am I a good person?"(Bradbury 133). This passage is followed by 2 pages of a father explaining  his stance on humanity. This novel is contrived of dark horror and fantasy, but enough crazy to involve philosophy.

5.Readers perception of novel
Now I honestly could not tell you the theme of Something Wicked This Way Comes. There is an amazing story line, however every time I put it under a microscope, I can't figure out the purpose of the novel. With most novels, there is a flaw of society that is scrutinized or some deeper meaning that you can take away from it; some life lesson. This is not the case with this novel. This is simply two children being chased by ghouls and goblins. Ray Bradbury was releasing the demons within his mind with this novel.

The idea of Ray Bradbury being crazy is very important.It allows you to see the mind set of the author, and to further explore his work. I can relate to being crazy, and when I read his novels, I connect with him. When you outline every piece of evidence, you can determine someones sanity. There is nothing wrong with being insane, in fact, I wish more people were.

Blog 5: Thoughts on Non-fiction

In my mind, if a book is labeled as a memoir, every detail and experience that the writer writes about must be true. As for Non-fiction, I believe if the major story elements are true, but some minor details such as dialogue or insignificant actions are made up, the story retains some credibility . Non-fiction should be written as it occurred, and should have no significant changes to the story.

I don't believe that half-truths are ok within a good story if the story labels itself a memoir. Every part of a memoir should be true. It does matter if memoirists bent their stories to make it more interesting, because it breaks the category of memoir.

I don't believe David Shields is right. Yes, I agree that a book doesn't absolutely need to be associated with a certain genre, but basic categorization is needed. It's the difference between Fiction and non-fiction, not Magic Realism and Fantasy, that matter. This basic characterization is what draws readers to a certain novel.