Dandelion Wine

by Ray Bradbury, Stephen Hoye

audio cd

Published Dec. 2, 2010 by Tantor Audio.

ISBN:: 978-1-4001-1823-6

(10 reviews)

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 summer of sorrows and marvels and gold-fuzzed bees. A magical, timeless summer in the life of a twelve-year-old boy named Douglas Spaulding—remembered forever by the incomparable Ray Bradbury.

Dandelion Wine is unique amongst the works of the popular author Ray Bradbury, in that it provides us with perhaps the clearest insight into the thoughts and feelings of the author. The book was published in 1957, perhaps over twenty years after the era which it is about, thus providing an inevitable theme of nostalgia throughout the book. The principal character, Douglas Spalding, and his brother Tom, encounter a series of adventures which are described in a crafted and distinguished manner to provide a philosophical tone throughout the book. The narrative is enriched by the experiences of individuals such as Leo Auffman, who attempts (unsuccessfully) to construct a 'Happiness machine'. Overall, the book provides a nostalgic sense of childhood and an understanding of the beauty of the world and all its features; in this way, it appears to be Bradbury himself reminiscing on his past. Douglas has similar traits to those Bradbury has later in life identified in himself, strengthening this interpretation.

40 editions

Youssef | يوسف reviewed Dandelion Wine (Earthlight) by Ray Bradbury

Preserving the summer

5 stars

Dandelion Wine is a coming of age story, infused with the magic of childhood. It's about that first discovery and sharp awareness of being alive, and the attempt to relish every day of the summer. But that sense of life always comes with its twin shadow: the realization of mortality, the experience of loss, friends leaving, and the death of someone you love. What's at stake is to always reaffirm that first sensation of life. For this a new kind of magic is needed: the ethics of passing over the help your received onto others. Summer will be gone but we can preserve the wine of summer in bottles to help us through the winters to come. This is our mundane act of creation that sustains life in all its mystery.

4thace reviewed Dandelion Wine (Earthlight) by Ray Bradbury

Review of 'Dandelion Wine (Earthlight)' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

On February 12, 2011, I rated this book based on decades-old memories then. This is a review of the Audible version ten years later, a very long time after the first time I read this.

This book attempts to portray what it felt like to live in small town Illinois in the summer of 1928. At the center is the character of Douglas Spaulding who stands in for the author as a young boy during that time. His family members and other members of the community recur in the different short stories.

In these stories themes of history and discovery and loss turn up repeatedly. The stories are reflective of the time in which they were written and the time and were written to appeal readers of those times. The book's title refers to the home-bottled refreshment harvested in late spring and fermented over summer which the characters associate with the memories of those seasons. Bradbury is known as a speculative fiction author but there's really only one story that's what I would consider fantasy in this group. Some are comic, even slapstick, and some are just faintly nostalgic. That is not to say that these are light stories. There's a fair amount of death that goes on in this little town that happens just as it did in real life. These deaths and the near brushes with death weigh upon the main character's mind as he tries to understand what's in store for him.

The wording he uses is quaintly old fashioned and the character in it are utterly conventional so this is not a place to look for diverse, unconventional representation. At times the writing did veer toward the sentimental and perhaps the preachy. But for me these were outweighed by the many passages of luminous prose style, purple, but not off-putting in my opinion. Listening to this description of Green Town, Illinois of nearly a hundred years ago was an enjoyable refuge for me. And I found there were enough interesting ideas there to maintain my interest. The tales made me remember those stories by Ray Bradbury which happen to conjure up that sweet, sad wistfulness, such as the ones I found the most memorable in The Martian Chronicles. But just as bottles of dandelion wine do not pretend to be wine from vintage grapes, these deftly crafted tales can be appreciated for what they are, without pretensions. I was interested to see that he'd written a couple of sequels taking the description of Douglas Spaulding's life beyond his childhood which I might want to pick up some time too.