Status
Available
Local notes
PB Bra
Collection
Series
Publication
Bantam Books (1985), Edition: Reissue, 256 pages
Description
Fantasy. Fiction. Short Stories. Historical Fiction. HTML: Ray Bradbury's moving recollection of a vanished golden era remains one of his most enchanting novels. Dandelion Wine stands out in the Bradbury literary canon as the author's most deeply personal work, a semiautobiographical recollection of a magical small-town summer in 1928. Twelve-year-old Douglas Spaulding knows Green Town, Illinois, is as vast and deep as the whole wide world that lies beyond the city limits. It is a pair of brand-new tennis shoes, the first harvest of dandelions for Grandfather's renowned intoxicant, the distant clang of the trolley's bell on a hazy afternoon. It is yesteryear and tomorrow blended into an unforgettable always. But as young Douglas is about to discover, summer can be more than the repetition of established rituals whose mystical power holds time at bay. It can be a best friend moving away, a human time machine that can transport you back to the Civil War, or a sideshow automaton able to glimpse the bittersweet future..… (more)
Subjects
Awards
Society of Midland Authors Award (Winner — Adult Fiction — 1958)
Illinois Reads (2019)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1957-09
Physical description
239 p.; 4.19 inches
User reviews
LibraryThing member cameling
There is nothing so open to exciting possibilities than the summer months to a twelve year old and Douglas Spaulding starts off summer by climbing up to his cupola and starts the summer off by switching on the life of the town he lives in... or so it appears. And therein are we treated to the
Douglas and his brother Tom the summer tracking all that is wonderful, exciting and even fearful with a sense of innocent wonderment that is truly beautiful to behold. The openness with which he embraces all that summer brings, the moment he realizes what it means to be alive, truly alive, sparks the heart of the reader and we follow him eagerly as he flings himself wholeheartedly into life. But this is also a summer where joy is mixed with sadness, when the thrill of new tennis shoes brings the speed of Hermes to the wearer and an elderly lady lets go of her past souvenirs accepting that she must live in the present, when 2 boys manage to rescue Mme Tarot from her evil warden and when one has to stay goodbye playing statues with his best friend.
There is nothing but magic in this book. It provides the reader with a time machine on which to travel to a more innocent and carefree time of their own childhood.
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idyllic and magical summer of 1928 through the eyes of Douglas, boy extraordinaire.Douglas and his brother Tom the summer tracking all that is wonderful, exciting and even fearful with a sense of innocent wonderment that is truly beautiful to behold. The openness with which he embraces all that summer brings, the moment he realizes what it means to be alive, truly alive, sparks the heart of the reader and we follow him eagerly as he flings himself wholeheartedly into life. But this is also a summer where joy is mixed with sadness, when the thrill of new tennis shoes brings the speed of Hermes to the wearer and an elderly lady lets go of her past souvenirs accepting that she must live in the present, when 2 boys manage to rescue Mme Tarot from her evil warden and when one has to stay goodbye playing statues with his best friend.
There is nothing but magic in this book. It provides the reader with a time machine on which to travel to a more innocent and carefree time of their own childhood.
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LibraryThing member tymfos
It was a quiet morning, the town covered over with darkness and at ease in bed. Summer gathered in the weather, the wind had the proper touch, the breathing of the world was long and warm and slow. You had only to rise, lean from your window, and know that this indeed was the first real time of
So begins Ray Bradbury's magical tale of Green Town, in the summer of 1928, and the eventful 12th summer of Douglas Spaulding's young life.
Boy," whispered Douglas.
Boy, indeed! Bradbury painted pictures with words in a way unlike any other author. Green Town, 1928, is a wondrous place where Leo Auffman tries to build a Happiness Machine, and Mr. Tridden takes the trolley over one last ride over the abandoned track beyond town. Townsfolk brave the dark depths of The Ravine, knowing that The Lonely One may be somewhere about, stalking for his next murder victim. And as the summer progresses, the memories are bottled up, with one bottle of dandelion wine labeled and stored for each wonder-packed day of the summer.
Bradbury's prose makes the summer come alive with the patter of sneakered feet, the slam of screen doors, and the heat of the summer sun. Marvelous, marvelous writing.
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freedom and living, this was the first morning of summer.So begins Ray Bradbury's magical tale of Green Town, in the summer of 1928, and the eventful 12th summer of Douglas Spaulding's young life.
Boy," whispered Douglas.
Boy, indeed! Bradbury painted pictures with words in a way unlike any other author. Green Town, 1928, is a wondrous place where Leo Auffman tries to build a Happiness Machine, and Mr. Tridden takes the trolley over one last ride over the abandoned track beyond town. Townsfolk brave the dark depths of The Ravine, knowing that The Lonely One may be somewhere about, stalking for his next murder victim. And as the summer progresses, the memories are bottled up, with one bottle of dandelion wine labeled and stored for each wonder-packed day of the summer.
Bradbury's prose makes the summer come alive with the patter of sneakered feet, the slam of screen doors, and the heat of the summer sun. Marvelous, marvelous writing.
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LibraryThing member streamsong
About weeds in the lawn and gardening : ..they bend you over and turn you away from all the people and the town for a little while and sweat you and get you down where you remember you got a nose again. And when you're all to yourself that way, you're really yourself for a little while; you get to
Dandelion Wine is an episodic story about a remarkable 14 year old and his slightly younger brother's idyllic summer in 1928.
Each summer their grandparents made dandelion wine to be doled in small glasses during the cold and illnesses of bleak Januaries when times were hard; a bit of summer memories to take you through the darker times. That's exactly what these stories feel like to me - glowing bright bits read during stressful summer of 2020.
Hooray for how that first pair of tennis shoes could make you feel that summer had truly arrived; or the knowledge that you are really, truly alive, or that your elders could be time machines to the past.
Several of the later chapters, though, took rather darker turns. It made me think that that although I would love to share some of the earlier chapters with a child, some of the later chapters, such as the one about women being strangled in the town would be tough going and need to be kept for a slightly older audience.
This one is definitely a keeper.
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thinking things through, alone. Gardening is the handiest excuse for being a philosopher. Nobody guesses, nobody accuses, nobody knows, but there you are. Plato in the peonies, Socrates force growing his own hemlock. " p 51Dandelion Wine is an episodic story about a remarkable 14 year old and his slightly younger brother's idyllic summer in 1928.
Each summer their grandparents made dandelion wine to be doled in small glasses during the cold and illnesses of bleak Januaries when times were hard; a bit of summer memories to take you through the darker times. That's exactly what these stories feel like to me - glowing bright bits read during stressful summer of 2020.
Hooray for how that first pair of tennis shoes could make you feel that summer had truly arrived; or the knowledge that you are really, truly alive, or that your elders could be time machines to the past.
Several of the later chapters, though, took rather darker turns. It made me think that that although I would love to share some of the earlier chapters with a child, some of the later chapters, such as the one about women being strangled in the town would be tough going and need to be kept for a slightly older audience.
This one is definitely a keeper.
Show Less
LibraryThing member SandDune
When I started [Dandelion Wine] I was expecting something quite different: a semi-fictionalised account of Bradbury's own childhood, perhaps something along the lines of [Cider with Rosie]. What I found was a much more fictional series of inter-connected short stories set in the fictitious
At times this does seem to be the standard nostalgic view of a boyhood summer when the sun was always shining, a safer and simpler age where children play outdoors from dawn until dusk. But there are darker elements at work: mothers warn their children to beware of the 'Lonely One', discovered to be not just a name to frighten children but a real serial killer at large. And some elements seem almost fantastical, in particular the story where one of the town's residents attempts to make a 'happiness machine'. Overall, I found that it was not the picture of childhood that resonated with me most, it was the picture drawn of old age. A favourite was the story of the old Colonel Freeleigh, who brings the past back to life for the boys with his tales of seeing the gigantic herds of buffalo roaming the prairie, and who longs to escape from the stultifying care with which his family has surrounded him in his last days.
And equally good was the story of Ellen Loomis and Bill Forester, who find a true meeting of minds despite there being sixty years difference in their age.
Overall, despite liking some of the individual stories a lot, I found the overall effect a little too determinedly heart-warming for my taste. While people die and things change, there always seems to be some positive lesson that is being learnt by the boys, and I found it ever so slightly cloying after a while. The nostalgia of small town America isn't my nostalgia, so I'm probably not as susceptible as some. A good read, but not great.
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Greentown (based on Bradbury's own home town). And although the main focus of the book is on the two boys, Douglas and Tom Spaulding, many of the stories focus on other characters, and it is frequently the adult point of view that is seen.At times this does seem to be the standard nostalgic view of a boyhood summer when the sun was always shining, a safer and simpler age where children play outdoors from dawn until dusk. But there are darker elements at work: mothers warn their children to beware of the 'Lonely One', discovered to be not just a name to frighten children but a real serial killer at large. And some elements seem almost fantastical, in particular the story where one of the town's residents attempts to make a 'happiness machine'. Overall, I found that it was not the picture of childhood that resonated with me most, it was the picture drawn of old age. A favourite was the story of the old Colonel Freeleigh, who brings the past back to life for the boys with his tales of seeing the gigantic herds of buffalo roaming the prairie, and who longs to escape from the stultifying care with which his family has surrounded him in his last days.
And equally good was the story of Ellen Loomis and Bill Forester, who find a true meeting of minds despite there being sixty years difference in their age.
Overall, despite liking some of the individual stories a lot, I found the overall effect a little too determinedly heart-warming for my taste. While people die and things change, there always seems to be some positive lesson that is being learnt by the boys, and I found it ever so slightly cloying after a while. The nostalgia of small town America isn't my nostalgia, so I'm probably not as susceptible as some. A good read, but not great.
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LibraryThing member Smiler69
What can I possibly add about this wonderful little book which manages to capture all the best parts of summer along with timeless life lessons about the impermanence of all things, in wonderfully evocative, poetic prose? At first I was a bit doubtful as to whether I could give this little gem the
My initial reaction was one of slight disappointment. This book seems to have resonated so deeply with many readers who described it in loving terms in recent months, but I can't say I fell in love with it the way many of you did. Perhaps because I couldn't at all relate to the kind of life and surroundings the Spaulding boys, who are at the heart of it all, enjoyed, having never had a family unit, or stayed in any one place long enough for it to get all that familiar, or get to really know my neighbours, having mostly lived in the city since I was born, so that it all seemed to me like an idealized fantasy and reminded me of all the things I had missed out on. That part wasn't too great. But one of the advantages of taking a week or two after finishing a book before writing about it is that one can let it linger and let various impressions settle and others come to the surface. And what emerges now is that this book isn't so very different from The Martian Chronicles. Whether in Green Town or in Mars, we are shown how very strange life is, the whole cycle of life is explored, along with so many of the oddities it can encompass. And no matter where one comes from, or what kind of childhood one has had, we are all daily witnesses of how strange and wonderful and fun and scary life can be.
I liked a lot, and will definitely revisit Green Town in future.
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attention it deserved, because it asks the reader to slow right down and drink in the words while paying attention to every nuance and simile. But then with the chapter about the joy of buying new sneakers that so many other reviewers mentioned, I was pulled right in; the irresistible attraction of new sneakers that seem to have the power of making you run faster, jump higher, be almost like a godlike thing for at least a brief period of time before the power of marketing and the smell of newness are replaced with the fact that they're just another pair of shoes... Wonderful. I didn't expect the novel to be broken up into a series of sketches, each exploring different themes, presenting us with different characters and slices of life around Green Town, a quiet midwestern town where tradition sidles along with eccentrics and fantasy and even a touch of depravity and horror. My initial reaction was one of slight disappointment. This book seems to have resonated so deeply with many readers who described it in loving terms in recent months, but I can't say I fell in love with it the way many of you did. Perhaps because I couldn't at all relate to the kind of life and surroundings the Spaulding boys, who are at the heart of it all, enjoyed, having never had a family unit, or stayed in any one place long enough for it to get all that familiar, or get to really know my neighbours, having mostly lived in the city since I was born, so that it all seemed to me like an idealized fantasy and reminded me of all the things I had missed out on. That part wasn't too great. But one of the advantages of taking a week or two after finishing a book before writing about it is that one can let it linger and let various impressions settle and others come to the surface. And what emerges now is that this book isn't so very different from The Martian Chronicles. Whether in Green Town or in Mars, we are shown how very strange life is, the whole cycle of life is explored, along with so many of the oddities it can encompass. And no matter where one comes from, or what kind of childhood one has had, we are all daily witnesses of how strange and wonderful and fun and scary life can be.
I liked a lot, and will definitely revisit Green Town in future.
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LibraryThing member bxwretlind
As writers--actually as people--we sometimes have to step back a moment and examine the what and why of our craft. I just finished reading DANDELION WINE by Ray Bradbury and found myself once again envious of the man's ability to spin yarns, to pour images into the crevices of my brain so they flow
I've always been a fan of Bradbury ever since I stole a copy of my brother's MARTIAN CHRONICLES from his bedroom and started reading about the "Rocket Summer." There are no words really to describe my complete fascination with that first opening chapter, but I found myself feeling the same once again this past week. Perhaps it was the description of the "Happiness Machine" I read about or the oration given about living the life we have now and not a life we can't have. Perhaps it was the feeling of being on a street in summer in Green Town, listening to the bees buzz, the apples fall, the susurrus of the wind through brilliant leaves.
Whatever it is that gave me that feeling, I know it's important to retain. It is that feeling, in fact, that drives some of us forward, to look at the words on a page and want to put them in just the right order to pull our readers into our story and drop them inside our own fantasy world, where gods do battle, princes and princesses run amok through ancient castles, monsters lurk in the woods at the very periphery of our vision.
I haven't felt whatever it is Mr. Bradbury put in me in quite some time. There are few books that really welcome me inside, and fewer still that keep me between the covers without the smallest desire to return to whatever world my flesh is stuck in. It's only when I can get my hands on those books--when I can travel through time or across the universe to bask under another sun--that I really feel like one can make a difference with words.
Because if one author can make a difference with words, can not another and another and another?
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like streams down a mountainside.I've always been a fan of Bradbury ever since I stole a copy of my brother's MARTIAN CHRONICLES from his bedroom and started reading about the "Rocket Summer." There are no words really to describe my complete fascination with that first opening chapter, but I found myself feeling the same once again this past week. Perhaps it was the description of the "Happiness Machine" I read about or the oration given about living the life we have now and not a life we can't have. Perhaps it was the feeling of being on a street in summer in Green Town, listening to the bees buzz, the apples fall, the susurrus of the wind through brilliant leaves.
Whatever it is that gave me that feeling, I know it's important to retain. It is that feeling, in fact, that drives some of us forward, to look at the words on a page and want to put them in just the right order to pull our readers into our story and drop them inside our own fantasy world, where gods do battle, princes and princesses run amok through ancient castles, monsters lurk in the woods at the very periphery of our vision.
I haven't felt whatever it is Mr. Bradbury put in me in quite some time. There are few books that really welcome me inside, and fewer still that keep me between the covers without the smallest desire to return to whatever world my flesh is stuck in. It's only when I can get my hands on those books--when I can travel through time or across the universe to bask under another sun--that I really feel like one can make a difference with words.
Because if one author can make a difference with words, can not another and another and another?
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LibraryThing member EmScape
Ray Bradbury proves he is the king of simile, metaphor and imagery in this lightly autobiographical rambling about the summer of 1928 in Green Town, Illinois. The young boys Doug and Tom come to many deep realizations during the summer, not the least of which regard the great mysteries of life,
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death, happiness, and fear. There is no cohesive plot, but one is hardly missed with such poetic vignettes to take its place. WARNING: This is NOT Science Fiction. Show Less
LibraryThing member AshRyan
In his introduction to the 1975 edition, Ray Bradbury explained much better than I can the essence of Dandelion Wine: "I was amused and somewhat astonished at a critic a few years back who wrote an article analyzing Dandelion Wine plus the more realistic work of Sinclair Lewis, wondering how I
"But, of course, I had noticed them and, genetic enchanter that I was, was fascinated by their beauty. Trains and boxcars and the smell of coal and fire are not ugly to children. Ugliness is a concept that we happen on later and become self-conscious about. Counting boxcars is a prime activity of boys. Their elders fret and fume and jeer at the train that holds them up, but boys happily count and cry the names of the cars as they pass from far places. ...
"In other words, if your boy is a poet, horse manure can only mean flowers to him; which is, of course, what horse manure has always been about."
I quote this as a huge fan of Sinclair Lewis...but I like Bradbury's approach here oh, so much more.
It's interesting that Bradbury cites as an influence (at least on its structure) another American naturalist (and rough contemporary of Lewis's), John Steinbeck (who was even more focused on ugliness than Lewis ever was). He specifically mentions The Grapes of Wrath as on influence on his other collection of interconnected stories posing as a novel, The Martian Chronicles, but the more obvious comparison here would be to The Red Pony. They are both coming-of-age stories, and Bradbury also deals with death and loss and their role in growing up (and even with old men telling stories of their past), but he puts them in their proper place (and the interconnectedness of the stories to form a coherent narrative is much better done). So while the skeleton of Dandelion Wine may owe some debt of provenance to Steinbeck, its spirit seems more closely related to Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer...but this is even better than that. This is childhood as it might have been and ought to be, with all its joys and sorrows, hard lessons and innocent wonder.
Bradbury deftly uses summer and its coming to an end as a metaphor for this time of life on the cusp of young adulthood, but he does not idealize childhood in the sense of naively enshrining youthful innocence and bemoaning the necessity of growing up. This is especially clear in the sequel, Farewell Summer, in which he writes explicitly that "The worst thing is to never grow up," and shows us in depth, even while reminding us of the wonders of childhood, what we'd be missing if we never experienced adulthood. But he gives us many glimpses of that here as well, as in chapter 28 (originally published as the story "The Swan"), about a young man who falls in love with a photograph of a beautiful woman only to discover that it was taken many years before and she is now old, and the friendship that develops between them anyway when they meet by chance. Then there is the metaphor of the dandelion wine itself, which Bradbury revisits throughout the book...without going on at length, Dandelion Wine has a richness of detail and depth of meaning that few other writers can match.
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could have been born and raised in Waukegan, which I renamed Green Town for my novel, and not noticed how ugly the harbor was and how depressing the coal docks and railyards down below the town."But, of course, I had noticed them and, genetic enchanter that I was, was fascinated by their beauty. Trains and boxcars and the smell of coal and fire are not ugly to children. Ugliness is a concept that we happen on later and become self-conscious about. Counting boxcars is a prime activity of boys. Their elders fret and fume and jeer at the train that holds them up, but boys happily count and cry the names of the cars as they pass from far places. ...
"In other words, if your boy is a poet, horse manure can only mean flowers to him; which is, of course, what horse manure has always been about."
I quote this as a huge fan of Sinclair Lewis...but I like Bradbury's approach here oh, so much more.
It's interesting that Bradbury cites as an influence (at least on its structure) another American naturalist (and rough contemporary of Lewis's), John Steinbeck (who was even more focused on ugliness than Lewis ever was). He specifically mentions The Grapes of Wrath as on influence on his other collection of interconnected stories posing as a novel, The Martian Chronicles, but the more obvious comparison here would be to The Red Pony. They are both coming-of-age stories, and Bradbury also deals with death and loss and their role in growing up (and even with old men telling stories of their past), but he puts them in their proper place (and the interconnectedness of the stories to form a coherent narrative is much better done). So while the skeleton of Dandelion Wine may owe some debt of provenance to Steinbeck, its spirit seems more closely related to Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer...but this is even better than that. This is childhood as it might have been and ought to be, with all its joys and sorrows, hard lessons and innocent wonder.
Bradbury deftly uses summer and its coming to an end as a metaphor for this time of life on the cusp of young adulthood, but he does not idealize childhood in the sense of naively enshrining youthful innocence and bemoaning the necessity of growing up. This is especially clear in the sequel, Farewell Summer, in which he writes explicitly that "The worst thing is to never grow up," and shows us in depth, even while reminding us of the wonders of childhood, what we'd be missing if we never experienced adulthood. But he gives us many glimpses of that here as well, as in chapter 28 (originally published as the story "The Swan"), about a young man who falls in love with a photograph of a beautiful woman only to discover that it was taken many years before and she is now old, and the friendship that develops between them anyway when they meet by chance. Then there is the metaphor of the dandelion wine itself, which Bradbury revisits throughout the book...without going on at length, Dandelion Wine has a richness of detail and depth of meaning that few other writers can match.
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LibraryThing member Dorritt
I first read Ray Bradbury's miracle of a book, Dandelion Wine, when I was 16, and I have read it every year since. Over time I continue to gain a deeper appreciation for these lovely, strange, often magical vignettes (more properly parables, each one with a little implied moral) that explore the
* Being alive means maintaining a balance between Discoveries & Revelations and Ceremonies & Rites. Though the latter are important, binding us to our family & our community, our future & our past, it is Discoveries & Revelations that make us think, experience, change, and grow.
* Being alive means living in the present. Even if this means giving away the tokens of a beloved past, as happens in one particularly poignant tale.
* Being alive means being connected with the world - with family, neighbors, your community, the earth. It's no coincidence that the mysterious murderer haunting Douglas Spaulding's Childhood is called The Lonely One.
* Being alive means being able to experience happiness ... not only understanding the nature of happiness, but possessing the wisdom not to let yourself be tricked into pursuing something that can't/won't make you happy.
* Being alive means recognizing the presence of magic in our everyday lives. Because magic is out there ... in the spring of a new pair of tennis shoes, in the mysteries of love, in the essence of Dandelion Wine.
Contrary to popular opinion, I do not believe Bradbury intended this to be a book about childhood. In fact, his 12yr old narrator, Douglas Spaulding, does not appear in many of the parables. I do think that Bradbury intentionally chose a child as his narrator, however, because children are inherently alive -- always discovering, always filled with wonder, connected to their family and the world and the present in ways that we begin gradually to forget as adults. Dandelion Wine is both nostalgia and a cautionary tale, challenging us to remember what it felt like to be alive and reminding us adults that - unless we take care - we may become so consumed by life that we forget to be alive.
As far as I am concerned, this book is a little bit of magic in and of itself: part essence of childhood, part elixir of wisdom. Believe and partake!
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nature of happiness, the magic of love and, above all, what it means to be alive. To me, the overarching intent of the book is to remind all us adults that:* Being alive means maintaining a balance between Discoveries & Revelations and Ceremonies & Rites. Though the latter are important, binding us to our family & our community, our future & our past, it is Discoveries & Revelations that make us think, experience, change, and grow.
* Being alive means living in the present. Even if this means giving away the tokens of a beloved past, as happens in one particularly poignant tale.
* Being alive means being connected with the world - with family, neighbors, your community, the earth. It's no coincidence that the mysterious murderer haunting Douglas Spaulding's Childhood is called The Lonely One.
* Being alive means being able to experience happiness ... not only understanding the nature of happiness, but possessing the wisdom not to let yourself be tricked into pursuing something that can't/won't make you happy.
* Being alive means recognizing the presence of magic in our everyday lives. Because magic is out there ... in the spring of a new pair of tennis shoes, in the mysteries of love, in the essence of Dandelion Wine.
Contrary to popular opinion, I do not believe Bradbury intended this to be a book about childhood. In fact, his 12yr old narrator, Douglas Spaulding, does not appear in many of the parables. I do think that Bradbury intentionally chose a child as his narrator, however, because children are inherently alive -- always discovering, always filled with wonder, connected to their family and the world and the present in ways that we begin gradually to forget as adults. Dandelion Wine is both nostalgia and a cautionary tale, challenging us to remember what it felt like to be alive and reminding us adults that - unless we take care - we may become so consumed by life that we forget to be alive.
As far as I am concerned, this book is a little bit of magic in and of itself: part essence of childhood, part elixir of wisdom. Believe and partake!
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LibraryThing member msf59
The summer of 1928. Bradbury takes us back to his childhood, growing up in a small town in northern Illinois. And what a glorious time. This fictionalized account is centered around twelve year old Douglas Spaulding, as he runs through this warm magical season, encountering a wonderful array of
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colorful characters and places. There is Mr. Jonas, the junkman, the Tarot Witch, unfurling the future, the murderous Lonely One, stalking the night. There is the Happy Machine and the Green Machine, the scary Ravine and of course, the delightful, intoxicating, dandelion wine. Wonderful. Show Less
LibraryThing member Jannes
For some reason I've been thinking of this books as one with a bit of a reputation, the ugly duckling of the Bradbury library, if you will. And yes, the unflinching, starry-eyed nostalgia for small-town america och days gone yonder and the mythologisation of childhood that this book is so ripe with
But no, not this time. Because it's Bradbury, goddammit! He's just too good. It's all there: the nostalgia; the sentimentalism; the impossibly perfect families and childhood games and all that. But it's all intermixed with the the trademark weirdness and darkness of Bradbury: there's also muder, sadness, strife, pettiness, and human failures. All blended together in this perfect magical realism that makes you accept anything and everything (small-town wtiches! bottled air! happienss machines!) while still retaining the sense of wonder.
The main selling point, however, was the poetry of the language. Me metaphor of wine is apt, for this is rich, complex, intoxicating stuff. Brabyry is known as a master of the fantastical, but his treatment of the mundane is just as evocative, filling the page with tight, yet lavish prose.
In all, this was a very pleasant surprise. I taught me to be more careful about dismissing books based on second-hand opinions and vague impressions, and that even tenuous subject matter can sparkle with brilliance in the hands of a master.
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should by my experiense have triggered the mother of all knee-jerk responses, since I have very little patience with sentimentalist nonsense - especially if it's a thinly veiled celebration of the superiority of the author's upbringing. It is one of the many reasons I detest Stephen King's It (a novel which owes more to Dandelion Wine than, I suspect, King would like to admit), for example.But no, not this time. Because it's Bradbury, goddammit! He's just too good. It's all there: the nostalgia; the sentimentalism; the impossibly perfect families and childhood games and all that. But it's all intermixed with the the trademark weirdness and darkness of Bradbury: there's also muder, sadness, strife, pettiness, and human failures. All blended together in this perfect magical realism that makes you accept anything and everything (small-town wtiches! bottled air! happienss machines!) while still retaining the sense of wonder.
The main selling point, however, was the poetry of the language. Me metaphor of wine is apt, for this is rich, complex, intoxicating stuff. Brabyry is known as a master of the fantastical, but his treatment of the mundane is just as evocative, filling the page with tight, yet lavish prose.
In all, this was a very pleasant surprise. I taught me to be more careful about dismissing books based on second-hand opinions and vague impressions, and that even tenuous subject matter can sparkle with brilliance in the hands of a master.
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LibraryThing member kpolhuis
Summertime in novel format. He aced it!
LibraryThing member Crowyhead
Not really science fiction, but it does have speculative elements. This is sort of a paean to lost childhood, but while it is nostalgic, it is never maudlin or nauseating; Bradbury recalls that childhood is also a time of terror and uncertainty, as well as fun.
LibraryThing member akigibbons
I read this book when I was 13, and it was the book that made me want to become a writer. Bradbury's evocative language changed the way I looked at stories and the use of words. It's been too many years, I need to go back and read it again.
LibraryThing member ahef1963
Dandelion Wine, by Ray Bradbury, made a deep and lasting impression on me. It is already, after one reading, on my ever-mutating list of favourite books. It was powerful. I smiled cheerily at most of it, cried twice, and laughed out loud once. That's a lot of feeling from a woman with a locked-up
Dandelion Wine takes place in the summer of 1928, in Greentown, Illinois, and focuses on the lives of two brothers, Doug and Tom. These boys really know how to spend every moment of summer, and in the years before helicopter parenting, they had a summer like I used to have, outdoorsy, unsupervised, and mainly happy. The tales of new sneakers and matinees provide a lovely backdrop to the real power of this story, which points out that you can't get time back. In between cavorting and planning, the town where Doug and Tom live undergoes deaths, old romances, a serial killer (that was a surprise!), secrets, fears, and the bottling of dandelion wine, which is the very essence of childhood summers.
I could smell grass and Coppertone sun lotion and heat while I read. I could hear cicadas droning, noisy children, and crickets, to whose music I fell asleep almost every night of my childhood summers. I don't know when I've read a book so evocative of my youth.
I expected science fiction. It is what Bradbury's known for. It wasn't. It veered briefly into horror when a serial killer comes to town, an event so tautly writtien that at one point I screamed out loud, but it is not science fiction in any discernable way. I find myself comparing it, even while reading it, to my beloved A Death in the Family by James Agee, a masterpiece of American fiction, perhaps the finest of the twentieth century. Dandelion Wine stands next to it, proudly.
The narrator was excellent. He had a fine voice and dramatized with excellence. His name is David Aaron Baker.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
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heart, and a mind closed to love forever. I think this book may have changed the way I plan to live the rest of my days. At the very least, it has given me the impetus to think about leaving this sofa where I've weathered heartbreak and hid from a global pandemic, and mourned the death of both of my parents, and suffered more heartbreak and unemployment. It's become a hermit's cave, this old brown sofa. I'm so glad I encountered this book.Dandelion Wine takes place in the summer of 1928, in Greentown, Illinois, and focuses on the lives of two brothers, Doug and Tom. These boys really know how to spend every moment of summer, and in the years before helicopter parenting, they had a summer like I used to have, outdoorsy, unsupervised, and mainly happy. The tales of new sneakers and matinees provide a lovely backdrop to the real power of this story, which points out that you can't get time back. In between cavorting and planning, the town where Doug and Tom live undergoes deaths, old romances, a serial killer (that was a surprise!), secrets, fears, and the bottling of dandelion wine, which is the very essence of childhood summers.
I could smell grass and Coppertone sun lotion and heat while I read. I could hear cicadas droning, noisy children, and crickets, to whose music I fell asleep almost every night of my childhood summers. I don't know when I've read a book so evocative of my youth.
I expected science fiction. It is what Bradbury's known for. It wasn't. It veered briefly into horror when a serial killer comes to town, an event so tautly writtien that at one point I screamed out loud, but it is not science fiction in any discernable way. I find myself comparing it, even while reading it, to my beloved A Death in the Family by James Agee, a masterpiece of American fiction, perhaps the finest of the twentieth century. Dandelion Wine stands next to it, proudly.
The narrator was excellent. He had a fine voice and dramatized with excellence. His name is David Aaron Baker.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
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LibraryThing member irossi
Waukegan There I Come From: "Waukegan There I come from" wrote Ray Bradbury, and this book, Dandelion Wine, describes my hometown. I read this book first when I was 17 years old on an airplane to Sweden, leaving Waukegan forever. I reread it when I was 26 and moving to Seattle, and again at 39.
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Each time I read this novel, magical realism more than science fiction, I find something enriching, something true to the time of life in which I found myself. And yet, this book talked to me of my own childhood, my specific hometown with its ravine, its murderers, Genessee street, the stifling hot summers, people that I knew, playing statues in my parents' front lawn and wanting to hold on to a picture of my best friend in her statue pose forever, which I captured on camera (being lucky enough to be born in an era where a ten-year-old could have a cheap camera). And then, seven years later, to read Ray via his alter-ego Douglas describing his wish to hold on to his best friend during a game of statues and I could relive that summer night, decades later than his, but so much the same. This book is pure poetry, one of the best novels I've ever read in the forty years I've been reading. Show Less
LibraryThing member Dead_Dreamer
As summer came to a close, I decided to read one of those classic summer nostalgia books, Dandelion Wine. Since it was first written in 1957 it has become somewhat of a cult classic. The book takes place in 1928 in Greentown, Il., closely based on Bradbury's childhood memories of Waukegan, Il. To
DW is easily one of the most beautiful books I've read in a really long time. One of its most unique aspects is that it's mostly told from the perspective of the very young (characters 8-10 years old) or the very elderly. This makes the readers see the same scenes with eyes both fresh and full of wonder as well as wizened; the full extremes of human observation. Various elements of the book are timeless, and even though it takes place in 1928 there are still plenty of events that I could relate to from my own childhood.
Greentown itself takes center stage as the main character in the story. In many ways it has a certain psychogeography about it that effects everyone in it. For example, the town has a deep cleft running through the center of town called simply, "The Ravine". The Ravine symbolized everything dark, mysterious, and unknown about the town, but it's also a physical scar on the town. People generally avoid it and there are plenty of dark rumors whispered about it. So in many ways the story works through symbolism on multiple levels, both the physical and the psychical.
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this day people flock to Waukegan, Dandelion Wine in hand, to visit the sites mentioned in the book. It's one of those intensely nostalgic books that make the reader yearn to experience a bygone time and place, even if it occurred well before they were born (like me). It makes one achingly pine for simpler times reminiscent of Normal Rockwell paintings. The book starts out in June and ends in September, describing the changes and stages of summer in a hauntingly poetic style.DW is easily one of the most beautiful books I've read in a really long time. One of its most unique aspects is that it's mostly told from the perspective of the very young (characters 8-10 years old) or the very elderly. This makes the readers see the same scenes with eyes both fresh and full of wonder as well as wizened; the full extremes of human observation. Various elements of the book are timeless, and even though it takes place in 1928 there are still plenty of events that I could relate to from my own childhood.
Greentown itself takes center stage as the main character in the story. In many ways it has a certain psychogeography about it that effects everyone in it. For example, the town has a deep cleft running through the center of town called simply, "The Ravine". The Ravine symbolized everything dark, mysterious, and unknown about the town, but it's also a physical scar on the town. People generally avoid it and there are plenty of dark rumors whispered about it. So in many ways the story works through symbolism on multiple levels, both the physical and the psychical.
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LibraryThing member nichalu
the most beautifutl book i have ever read!
LibraryThing member HistReader
Being a "modern classic," this book needs no review. I feel compelled to write about it at any rate. Scanning the Internet, I find it amazing to read so many comments regarding the 'lack of plot' or 'it was confusing because there was no point' or theme.
Maybe because I read it at such an important
A perfect mixture of science fiction, mystery/crime, drama, and small town biography, Bradbury invites the reader into all the events which make life interesting. Like Fahrenheit 451, this is a novel I re-read and never tire.
Maybe because I read it at such an important
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time in my life, "Dandelion Wine" made an indelible impression upon my memory as a pre-teen. Ray Bradbury is such a colorful writer, that I could feel the warm summer atmosphere even in the coldest months.A perfect mixture of science fiction, mystery/crime, drama, and small town biography, Bradbury invites the reader into all the events which make life interesting. Like Fahrenheit 451, this is a novel I re-read and never tire.
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LibraryThing member theokester
When I think of Ray Bradbury, I usually think of science-fiction or at least fantastical-fiction. Dandelion Wine captures the magic and fantastical of his other writing but it does so in a much more subtle manner.
This book is a story of the summertime adventures of Douglas Spaulding, a 12-year old
The title of the book comes from the story of Douglas' grandfather bottling dandelion wine throughout the summer and Douglas presenting it as a metaphor for bottling up the various experiences and memories of each summer day. Each golden bottle represents a different memory, tucked away to be retrieved and savored at a later date.
For the first few chapters, I kept waiting for something supernatural or literally magical to sweep onto the scene and take over the plot with its fantastical presence. Instead, each story works its way methodically through the pages and showcases the magic to be found inside the ordinary moments of life. The magic of extra speed found in a new pair of sneakers, the "time machine" to be experienced by listening to an old community member talk about their past, the sorrow of death bringing the painful realization that life will one day end.
Each of the short scenes explores concepts of human nature and our interactions with one another. The stories remind us of the imagination and freedom of youth coupled alongside the realities learned as we grow into adults. In many ways, this could be read as a nostalgia for life in small town America a century ago. And yet, the emotional truths presented still resonate today.
Our technology may have advanced and our lives may be more hectic, but the human condition remains and we should stop and consider how we interact with those around us and with the events we experience. We should bottle up our own Dandelion Wine memories so that we can savor them and learn from them and share them with others.
*****
4.5 out of 5 stars
This book is a story of the summertime adventures of Douglas Spaulding, a 12-year old
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boy in the small town of Green Town, Illinois in 1928. Douglas' experiences vary wildly in scope and nature but from a high level, they could mostly be considered fairly ordinary. And yet, Bradbury weaves them into magical tales of growth and imagination.The title of the book comes from the story of Douglas' grandfather bottling dandelion wine throughout the summer and Douglas presenting it as a metaphor for bottling up the various experiences and memories of each summer day. Each golden bottle represents a different memory, tucked away to be retrieved and savored at a later date.
For the first few chapters, I kept waiting for something supernatural or literally magical to sweep onto the scene and take over the plot with its fantastical presence. Instead, each story works its way methodically through the pages and showcases the magic to be found inside the ordinary moments of life. The magic of extra speed found in a new pair of sneakers, the "time machine" to be experienced by listening to an old community member talk about their past, the sorrow of death bringing the painful realization that life will one day end.
Each of the short scenes explores concepts of human nature and our interactions with one another. The stories remind us of the imagination and freedom of youth coupled alongside the realities learned as we grow into adults. In many ways, this could be read as a nostalgia for life in small town America a century ago. And yet, the emotional truths presented still resonate today.
Our technology may have advanced and our lives may be more hectic, but the human condition remains and we should stop and consider how we interact with those around us and with the events we experience. We should bottle up our own Dandelion Wine memories so that we can savor them and learn from them and share them with others.
*****
4.5 out of 5 stars
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LibraryThing member ronincats
This was reread as part of the group read in memoriam for Bradbury's death this last week. A lyrical ode to summer and childhood, the language trips off the tongue and the anecdotal episodes sparkle like gems in your memory. One of my favorite books for ages, it was a great pleasure to read it
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along with others appreciating the writing and the author. Show Less
LibraryThing member Charrlygirl
Once I realized there wasn't going to be a plot, but instead a loosely connected set of vignettes about boys coming of age, I relaxed and enjoyed DANDELION WINE. I marked several pages that I wanted to quote in my review, but now find myself thinking that reviewing it is going to take some of the
I absolutely adored the end, (Aunt Rose got sent packing!), and there's no doubt that this book is steeped in nostalgia, but overall, it was a little too wordy for me. I would have liked fewer pages of solid text and more dialogue, but hey, this is Ray Bradbury and I love the guy, however- I think The October Country is still my favorite of all his works.
Lastly, much as I love Ray Bradbury, I still hold Robert McCammon's BOY'S LIFE as my favorite novel of all time.
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magic out of it for me. I absolutely adored the end, (Aunt Rose got sent packing!), and there's no doubt that this book is steeped in nostalgia, but overall, it was a little too wordy for me. I would have liked fewer pages of solid text and more dialogue, but hey, this is Ray Bradbury and I love the guy, however- I think The October Country is still my favorite of all his works.
Lastly, much as I love Ray Bradbury, I still hold Robert McCammon's BOY'S LIFE as my favorite novel of all time.
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LibraryThing member laytonwoman3rd
Summer begins for Douglas and his younger brother Tom, as always, with the gathering of dandelions for his grandfather's press. As summer progresses, the ketchup bottles full of golden wine line the basement shelves, and the boys do what boys do when allowed to run blissfully free all summer...they
In the beginning, I struggled a bit with Bradbury's poetic style, which seemed wrong for the subject matter. I felt I was wading through hip-deep rose petals to find the dandelions. But either he eased up or I grew accustomed, because I soon found myself totally absorbed in the summer of 1928 in Green Town, Illinois. Many of the chapters of this novel could easily stand alone as short stories, and I think I will need to find a keeper copy of the book so that I can revisit some of them from time to time.
Review written October 2015
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explore, they imagine, they learn things, some of which they'd rather not know, some of which will color their lives forever. Along with a growing sense of his own "aliveness", inevitably Douglas comes to face his own mortality as well, and in the hideous heat of late August, with the help of a caring friend, shakes it off. "June dawns, July noons, August evenings over, finished, done, and gone forever with only the sense of it all left here in his head...And if he should forget, the dandelion wine stood in the cellar, numbered huge for each and every day. He would go there often, stare straight into the sun until he could stare no more, then close his eyes and consider the burned spots, the fleeting scars left dancing on his warm eyelids; arranging, rearranging each fire and reflection until the pattern was clear..."In the beginning, I struggled a bit with Bradbury's poetic style, which seemed wrong for the subject matter. I felt I was wading through hip-deep rose petals to find the dandelions. But either he eased up or I grew accustomed, because I soon found myself totally absorbed in the summer of 1928 in Green Town, Illinois. Many of the chapters of this novel could easily stand alone as short stories, and I think I will need to find a keeper copy of the book so that I can revisit some of them from time to time.
Review written October 2015
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LibraryThing member kimkimkim
I loved it then and I love it now.
LibraryThing member Jfranklin592262
This is one of my all time favorite books and the reason I became a huge fan of Bradbury. Published in the 1950s....this story is told from the prospective of a 12 yr old boy......his experiences in the summer of 1928. The town and characters are fictitious......however, it is based of off
Although this isn't the typical horror or fantasy usually associated with Bradbury, his style is the same. His ability to write beautifully, poetically and with a deliberately florid prose, while never losing sight of the story or complicating the flow.......the talents that make his writing iconic....are very much on display here.
I recommend this book for EVERYONE who loves to read!!
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Bradbury's childhood.Although this isn't the typical horror or fantasy usually associated with Bradbury, his style is the same. His ability to write beautifully, poetically and with a deliberately florid prose, while never losing sight of the story or complicating the flow.......the talents that make his writing iconic....are very much on display here.
I recommend this book for EVERYONE who loves to read!!
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Lexile
880L
Pages
239