Ray Bradbury

The summer of '28 was a vintage season for a growing boy. A summer of green apple trees, mowed lawns and new sneakers. Of half-burnt firecrackers, of gathering dandelions, of Grandma's belly-busting dinner. It was a magical and timeless summer in the life of a twelve-year-old boy...

Dandelion Wine

Sarah Sammis

"Dandelion wine will make you remember
The first days of spring in the middle of December" ("Dandelion Wine" by Tommy Makem w/ Liam Clancy). I start this review with the first two lines of the chorus because it sums up the Ray Bradbury novel so perfectly.

I was about twelve when I first learned the song and read the book so the two are forever linked in my memory of being ten. Bradbury's novel is like so many of his books semi-autobiographical It is an account of the summer of 1928 as experienced in a small Illinois town by twelve year old Douglas Spaulding.

Douglas fears the passage of time. He feels it more deeply than his friends. Tom revels in it, keeping a list of everything he does: how many times he does things or eats things and the firsts of every season.

Meanwhile, the adults of Green Town are trying to recreate their youth through Happiness Machines, Green Machines (an electric car), Time Machines and just hoarding the collected kipple of a life lived.

Time is fickle. It goes by too quickly and is impossible to capture. Time maybe permanent but everyone only has a limited amount of it.

If you like Dandelion Wine, you will also like Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Halloween Tree and The Illustrated Man.

In the unusual world of Green Town, Illinois, a twelve-year-old discovers the wonders of reality and the power of imagination during the summer of 1928

Lara Engle

In the summer of 1928, twelve-year-old Douglas Spaulding discovers that he's alive, really alive. Then, he slowly realizes that means he must die one day. The magical, nostalgic vignettes captured and affected me. I was especially moved by the story of Colonel Freeleigh and the friendship of Bill Forrester and Helen Loomis. The book was a slow-starter for me, but as I allowed myself to sink into the warm and familiar world of Green Town I yearned to stay. However, books, like summer and life, must end. Thankfully, this one was satisfying and well-done.

Michael Springer

This book was very different from the others I've read by Bradbury, in that it was dull as hell. The whole thing was a reverie for a lost childhood. I'm not a nostalgic person in the least, despite the number of children's books I read. So, maybe I just didn't see the point of all this. 

What I did like, though, is the eerie section somewhere near the middle that is unconnected with the rest of the book. I won't give you details in case you read it, but there's a creepy short story buried in here.

“The first thing you learn in life is you’re a fool. The last thing you learn in life is you’re the same fool.”

It took me too long to figure out that this wasn’t going to have a strong singular plot but rather was a series of vignettes loosely connected and strung together across a summer of 1928 while a couple young brothers came of age. Once I figured that out, I was able to sink my teeth into it a bit easier and enjoy.

Kat Albanese

“The first thing you learn in life is you’re a fool. The last thing you learn in life is you’re the same fool.”

It took me too long to figure out that this wasn’t going to have a strong singular plot but rather was a series of vignettes loosely connected and strung together across a summer of 1928 while a couple young brothers came of age. Once I figured that out, I was able to sink my teeth into it a bit easier and enjoy.

Fernando Andrade

Está mono, me dejó con ganas de leer más sobre este autor.

Monica

I have read mixed reviews about this book: people who love it, people who do not get it... I personally thought this book to be very beautiful. Before reading a book I always familiarize myself a bit with the plot, so I was not expecting any "main story" but just a collection events that happened during summer in a small town in Illinois, with Douglas as the intertwining point between them. Also, the introduction written by Bradbury - which I thought was brilliant - gave me an insight to the reception it had when it was first published and how the author addressed those critics. In short, I knew what I was about to read and was ready for it.

As I said before, this is a collection of different events that occur during the summer in a small town in Illinois. Douglas is a twelve year-old boy whose family makes Dandelion Wine (there you got the title). I thought that there was character development - I've read reviews that claim to the contrary - and it deals with a lot of topics: death and getting old, the importance and beauty of little things and events in life, the future and destiny...

I did not enjoy Fahrenheit 451 that much (dystopia is not my thing), but I must say - and I just confirmed it after reading this little book - that Ray Bradbury is an excellent writer. You might not like it but, having found it a little delight to read, I can't but recommend it. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Melanie Therrien

Will Butt

Dandelion wine

Colton Ray

Martha F.

Peanne

Andrew

Andrea Guadalupe

An endearing classic of childhood memories of an idyllic midwestern summer from the celebrated author of 'Farenheit 451'. "He stood at the open window in the dark, took a deep breath and exhaled. The street lights, like candles on a black cake, went out. He exhaled again and again and the stars began to vanish. Douglas smiled. He pointed a finger. There, and there. Now over here, and here... Yellow squares were cut in the dim morning earth as house lights winked slowly on. A sprinkle of windows came suddenly alight miles off in dawn country. 'Everyone yawn. Everyone up.'" In the backwaters of Illinois, Douglas Spaulding's grandfather makes an intoxicating brew from harvested dandelions. 'Dandelion Wine' is a quirky, breathtaking coming-of-age story from one of science fiction's greatest writers. Distilling his experiences into "Rites & Ceremonies" and "Discoveries & Revelations", the young Spaulding wistfully ponders over magical tennis shoes, and machines for every purpose from time travel to happiness and silent travel. Based upon Bradbury's own experiences growing up in Waukegan in the 1920s, 'Dandelion Wine' is a heady mixture of fond memory, forgiveness, magic, the imagination and above all, of summers that seemed to go on forever.

Dandelion Wine

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