Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A fair tale, just be aware that its a fix-up..., 1 Oct 2002
Ray Bradbury's first full-length book in a number of years concerns the coming together, and subsequent dissolution, of the Elliott family. As you'd expect from Bradbury this is no ordinary family, but a motley collection of grotesques, ranging from Nefertiti's long dead mother to ghosts, vampires, mind readers, and others most bizarre. We are introduced to this weird family through the eyes of Timothy - an adopted child of non-supernatural parentage, whose desire to be a part of this family drives the book to its conclusion. It is a celebration of the weird, and ultimately a lesson on the necessity of death.Much has been made of the mis-advertising of From the Dust Returned as an entirely new novel - it is in fact a "fix-up" - a collection of previously published short stories with new linking material. With said reprints, alongside a page count expanded by numerous pictures, there is probably only around 100 pages of 'new' material here. While this may have dismayed those who bought the more expensively priced hardback, the linking of old material and new is seamlessly done, and for those unfamiliar with the re-used material this reads like a full novel rather than a collection of vaguely linked ideas. While not amongst Bradbury's best, and hampered somewhat by some very overlong and overwritten sentences (especially in the material from the 40's), this is still an enjoyable addition to any fantastic fiction fans library.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A manifesto for keeping life's mysteries alive., 10 Nov 2002
Hidden within this fantastical tale of spirits, ghosts, and surreal happenings, is a message that speaks directly to the soul--a message so timely, so heartfelt, and so broad in its applications that it feels like the culmination of everything Bradbury has learned and wanted to say during his lifetime. With a lyricism and warmth which never become precious, he issues a manifesto for keeping life's mysteries alive, for celebrating the world of the spirit, for reaching and stretching and never taking anything for granted, and most of all for understanding and staying connected, lovingly, with the past and its wisdom--not just the recent past, but a past going back beyond the ancient Egyptians to the beginning of time. "Would you not admit," he asks, "that forty billion deaths [represent] a great wisdom, and those forty billion who shelve under the earth are a great gift to the living so that they might live?"Centering the action around the House, a huge dwelling created from "tumults of weather and excursions of Time" in Green Town, Illinois, Bradbury creates a fanciful population from the spirit world, and one young, human boy, who loves them and whose job it is to record this Family's history. With Cecy, a goddess of wisdom who is "all the senses of all the creatures in the world," acting as his mentor, Tim, the young boy, shares the spirit world and their history, and searches for insights into the future. Both innocent and enthusiastic, Tim's life with the spirits is full of wonder and hope--sometimes funny, sometimes frightening, sometimes touching, and always enlightening. Bradbury's urgent tone, his chant-like repetitions of sentence patterns and phrases, his lively descriptions, and his compelling narrative make this a fast read, and the ironic "humanity" of his spirits engages the reader emotionally. Without being didactic, Bradbury manages to convey a strong message. I began the book as a reader/critic. I ended as a disciple. Mary Whipple
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Welcome Return, 9 Oct 2003
My Samhain treat this year is discovering a new book from one of my favorite authors, Ray Bradbury. This book was fifty years in the writing and those years have produced a wonderful vintage Bradbury. From the Dust Returned contains interwoven stories told in the many different voices of the October people. Some are old friends. Some are new friends. All are wonderful, magical, wise, and totally Bradbury. A deeply moving remembrance of the ancestors, Bradbury has written a book for all Samhains. This book could only have been written by a master storyteller into the fullness of his maturity. From the Dust Returned is strange and startlingly beautiful fruit fallen from an ancient tree. Well worth the read.
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