Extollager
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2010
- Messages
- 9,205
I think one of the things which is being overlooked here is his comment about the train, and the effect he feels during that ride (either way). It is as if she has been waiting for him to come within a "sphere of influence" in order to reawaken the little boy who was so in love with her. At that point, all the emotional connections he has developed in the intervening years simply cease to be; it is as if they never were on an emotional level, which makes this a most unusual form of haunting, as well as one with, to me, a high degree of poignancy blended with the horrific situation I just mentioned.
It feels to me like I sense what Bradbury was aiming for, a sense of loss and grief and horror. But I'm not prepared to take the intention for the actual accomplishment, in reading it this time.
I suspect that Lovecraft benefits from the same kind of reader attitude, by the way. He is often credited with accomplishing what he only aimed at. But I've said that before!