Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Dandelion Wine
Book Review: Dandilion Wine
Summary: 5 Stars
Wonderful story of an era (not the actual time frame of the story)that I can still remember and which is so lost in today's world.Book Review: Discovering you are alive
Summary: 4 Stars
I have to admit, I have never read anything by Ray Bradbury as I am not a huge sci-fi fan. I found this book at my local used bookstore for a quarter and my voice said "well, great chance to check him out". Afterall, he is somewhat well-known. I am genuinely happy I found the time to read this profound tale. Mr. Bradbury's prologue was just as an enjoyable read as the rest of the book. He shares a little of his writing process and how the characters, locations and events are a somewhat biographical reflection of the memories of his boyhood.
The story is set in the summer of 1928 in Green Town, Illinois and begins with 12 year old Douglas Spaulding on a grape hunting venture with his younger brother Tom and their father. Doug discovers more than grapes during this excursion - he discovers he is alive. This realization changes the way he perceives everything around him.
I'm really alive! he thought. I never knew it before, or if I did I don't remember. He yelled it loud but silent, a dozen times. Think of it, think of it! Twelve years old and only now! Now discovering this rare timepiece, this clock goldbright and guaranteed to run threescore and ten, left under a tree and found while wrestling.
The summer is broken down into individual events with each chapter essentially it's own short story. Douglas and his brother helping in the collecting of dandelions with Grandfather to make the next year's supply of dandelion wine, the discovery of a time machine right under their noses, Leo Aufmann's futile attemps to build a happiness machine, the murders of the Lonely One, the heartache of a best friend leaving and trying to make time stand still for those few last hours, Miss Fern's and Miss Roberta's antics on the Green Machine, discovering how a new pair of tennis shoes can make you fly - and so much more!
In an attempt to keep the summer alive, Douglas and his brother keep a notebook and using the trusty Ticonderoga Number 2, note all new discoveries (such as Grandpa and Dad not knowing everything in the world) and keep track of how many times the they do the same things as every other summer (like getting slivers in your feet). The notebook and the dandelion wine are reflections of the summer. This is a quiet book written in such a way that the ordinary becomes magical.
It is difficult to summarize this book. It is so simple yet, it is impossible to sum it up neatly without doing a great disservice to the other parts of the book that would be neglected. I will say that I had a few bouts of watery eyes. Not from an actual sad element in the story. I became so nostalgic while reading this (and still am) that I missed my childhood. Then I missed my daughter's childhood. Yet, the memories are grand and make my heart happy.Dandelion Wine
Book Review: Favorite
Summary: 5 Stars
I disclose, up front, that Ray Bradbury is my lifelong favorite author. Just out of curiosity, I was reading through the customer reviews of "Dandelion Wine". To find the word "average" stopped me in my tracks. I also as taken aback by the idea that it was actually more a collection of short stories than a complete novel, not carrying the reader from beginning to end. Not only do I find the story wonderous, but the writing poetry. I re-read this book regularly. Throughout my life I have given this book as a gift to the people most important to me.Book Review: How a Happy Childhood Without Computers Might Unfold
Summary: 4 Stars
This novel is a group of short stories set inside an idyllic early 20th century small town community. It follows the halcyon days of youth of three young boys, as they are touched by events around them (the short stories). The phraseology inside this novel is amazing in the good parts.
The first half of the novel is brilliant, covering the magic of new summer sneakers, a happiness machine, what makes a time machine, and every time you say 'good night' it's a happy ending. The second half is boring, covering 'what might have beens' involving incidental characters, ghost stories, and not capturing the same nostalgia. The children are downgraded from making the book magical into introducing and following up the main stories.
Overall I enjoyed Dandelion Wine, but don't feel too bad if you skip past stories in the latter half. You weren't alone in hoping for more of childhoods lost, and less of adults wishing they had more time/different lives.
Book Review: I'd rate it higher if I was able to!
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is an absolute gem, and I cannot believe that other readers could be so harsh with it. They complain that it is hard to follow or that it seems as if there are more stories going on than just a main story theme. Well, that fits the whole "flashback" of a man remembering his boyhood many years ago. I think that the very fact that the story jumps around in a non-linear fashion is befitting a tale of one's childhood. Are we remembering right? We embellish things as we recall our childhood memories because growing up, we process differently. Circumstances and happenings take on epidemic proportions. Sometimes they really are worthy of our childish angst. I think that's what makes this story so riveting. It brings back a rush of our own childhood memories both good, bad, scary, indifferent with it's vivid recollections. I love this book dearly, and it is one of the few books that I bother to pick up again and again. As a teacher, I find going back to the "good old days" of my own youth, or another's youth to be cathartic. Furthermore, it helps me stay grounded with the students I teach. Bradbury is adept at recalling a host of memories with his beautiful storytelling.