Dandelion Wine (Greentown Book 1) by Ray Bradbury (EPUB)

Description

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 semi-autobiographical 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 who can transport you back to the Civil War, or a sideshow automaton able to glimpse the bittersweet future.Come and savor Ray Bradbury’s priceless distillation of all that is eternal about boyhood and summer.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐As part of my growing adolescent fascination with the work of Ray Bradbury, of course I read ‘Dandelion Wine’. However, it was one I have not revisited in almost 50 years so my recollection of it is less detailed than many of his other classic books. It’s a collection of interconnected short stories, some previously published, again set in Green Town, Illinois, the fictional counterpart for Waukegan, Illinois where Bradbury spent his first years up until the beginning of his adolescence.Many of his stories, whether they’re set in Green Town or some other anonymous Midwest town in the 20’s and 30’s resonated with me from the beginning. My father was born just a few months after Bradbury and grew up during that same time in another small town in Missouri, which I recall visiting a few times in my childhood and seeing a neighborhood not much different from Bradbury’s, and a house almost literally unchanged from the time when my father was a boy.That nostalgia, that yearning for the freshness and intensity of a child’s perception, when a boy will find magic in a birdbath and an earth-scented basement, definitely spoke to my soul and still does, 50 years later.The main character is a Ray surrogate, a twelve-year old boy named Douglas Spaulding (Bradbury’s middle name is ‘Douglas’) who has a ten-year old brother named Tom. They live with their parents, grandparents, and great-grandmother in an old house that is sturdy and roomy enough to accommodate a few boarders. One of the ‘beginning of summer’ rituals is the bottling of dandelion wine that will last the entire summer and beyond, at which point it will be a way of preserving what was memorable about the summer that just passed.‘Hold summer in your hand, pour summer in a glass, a tiny glass of course, the smallest tingling sip for children; change the season in your veins by raising glass to lip and tilting summer in.’During this particular summer, Doug fully realizes, for the first time, that he is alive and, conversely, that he will die. He holds mortality at bay as much as he can, with special sneakers in which he can run from one end of the town to the other and working out a clever bartering trade with the shoe salesman as a way to “buy” the sneakers. Doug could be a future salesman himself, persuading the salesman to try on a pair himself so he will know what he’s selling and how it actually feels to wear a pair. The future writer Doug also wants to document every significant event that happens to him this summer of 1928.His younger brother Tom, on the other hand, is more logical and reasonable. While Doug chronicles the events of the summer, Tom records data such as the first rainfall and other meteorological data. Tom also seems to me to be the wiser of the two, reasoning with and calming down the melodramatic Doug on more than one occasion.Everything in the town acquires new meaning to the otherwise carefree and playful Doug. There are discernible boundaries between civilization and wilderness in this little hamlet, the most notable example being the ravine:‘The ravine was indeed the place where you came to look at the two things of life, the ways of man and the ways of the natural world. The town was, after all, only a large ship filled with constantly moving survivors, bailing out the grass, chipping away the rust.’The death of his great grandma also occurs this summer. After a lifetime of activity and housekeeping and family keeping, she decides that she has lived long enough. She has no discernible ailment, just a “mild but ever-deepening tiredness”. She has to assure Doug and Tom that the time for doing all this activity has come to an end and that they must learn to accept it.Just as disturbing for Doug is when his best friend John Huff tells him that his father is being transferred to Milwaukee .His family is leaving on the train that evening. John is a budding young superman. He is a master pathfinder, swimmer, climber and jumper. He is also not a bully. He is kind as well as smart. As far as Doug is concerned, he is a god. For their last play activity, they play a game of hide-and-seek. Doug volunteers to be ‘it’, hoping by controlling the pace of the game to prolong John’s departure. John wraps that one up and agrees to play one more game, with him as ‘it’. With Doug and the other boys frozen into ‘statues’, John punches him on the arm gently, saying “So long” and then runs.There is even a serial killer in Green Town, referred to as The Lonely One. Young spinster Lavinia Nebbs and some of her friends are worried about the disappearance of another of their friends. Rumors of the Lonely One being on the loose abound with the deaths of two young women occurring within the past two months. With the disappearance of their friend they have ample reason to be concerned. Then they find her, lying dead on the ground. They find the police and, after he finishes questioning them, they are free to leave. Lavinia, putting on a brave front, suggests they go to a Charlie Chaplin movie to stave off their fear. This works pretty well until the film ends, the last feature of the night, and they all have to walk home in the dark. Lavinia, still trying to hide her fear behind a brave front, agrees to walk her friends home first, meaning that she’ll have to walk the rest of the way to her house by herself. Bradbury’s mastery of suspense is particularly evident in this chilling and terrifying episode. I won’t reveal the outcome.There is one episode in which Doug and Tom, primarily Doug, come to believe that a wax, fortune-telling “Tarot Witch” automaton is actually a mummified queen from ancient Egypt. In reality it is a slot machine in which you put in a penny and out comes a card with your fortune written on it. The alcoholic owner is disgusted with it and his failing slot and pinball machine business and ready to throw it in the trash heap. Doug and Tom attempt to rescue it. This sequence is long and tedious and has the effect of Tom and Huck rescuing Jim near the end of ‘Huckleberry Finn’. In both cases it’s an unwelcome diversion that detracts from the power of the novel.Overall, ‘Dandelion Wine’ works. It is not as disjointed as it seemed to me 50 years ago when I could detect the short story origins of much of it. Depicting the course of a summer is by its nature episodic. There are moments where it seems that everybody talks like Bradbury writes, even the semi-literate characters, and with a zeal and enthusiasm that gradually took over most of his later fiction. At its core, however, it captures, through a poetic filter, the magic and intensity of a child’s perception and his awareness that all this beauty surrounding us is fleeting so we may as well appreciate it as much as we can while we can.

⭐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 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

⭐In the character of Douglas, Bradbury manages to catch that fleeting moment in time when we are still connected to the child’s sense of wonder at the mystery and beauty of the universe and the sheer joy of being alive, but also have acquired the adult ability to reflect and bring a coherent narrative structure to our existence. A moment when the soul is still wide open and the mind is aware of it.All too soon the universe shrinks down to the mundane: school, exams, jobs, careers, mortgages, bills. The mind busies itself in facts and logic. The joy of life shrivels into the search for entertainment. The soul shrivels.This book is unlikely to be enjoyed or fully appreciated by young people. But those who have a perspective both on childhood and adulthood and who see how much we and others have lost along the way, these people cannot help but be moved, heart and soul.I for one regard this as one of the finest novels ever written.

⭐I travelled to the fictional Green Town thanks to the 12-year-old protagonist Douglas. This young boy is happy to be still alive and he doesn’t forget to remind us.*These vignettes are set in 20th century and are based upon Bradbury’s childhood memories of Waukegan. Reading Dandelion Wine means to get prepared to go on a nostalgia trip and also to travel by boarding some machines. But be careful young girls because the Lonely One is lurking around.*This summer with Douglas made me travel back in time when I first met George Willard. He is the protagonist of Winesburgh, Ohio, a book I studied for my Master Degree in English literature. Such good memories.Indeed, Dandelion Wine shows some similarities with Winesburgh Ohio so I was obviously hooked on all these sketches.*How to not befriend Douglas as long as you turn the pages? How to not be gripped by grief and sorrow for the loss of some characters whose stories are so emotionally-charged? How to not feel sorry for Mrs Brown? How not to fall for Miss Helen Loomis and William Forrester? How not to be spellbound by the Tarot Witch? *This book is filled with some memorable characters, evokes many strong emotions and is beautifully written.Four stars out of five for me because there were some parts I less got into.⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

⭐I already have 2 copies of the book but just felt like having it available on my Kindle. If you haven’t read it, be prepared for sheer poetry. Some passages are so good they deserve multiple readings before moving on. The short chapter on the death of Great Grandma is just beautiful. The book makes you smile, laugh and cry in equal measure. Read in conjunction with “Something Wicked This Way Comes”. Bradbury is most famous for “Fahrenheit 451” but having read all his work I rate that as one of his weakest or, rather, least strong. For his short stories of which there are an abundance try “The October Country”.

⭐This book reads like a magic fairytale, but is surprisingly firmly rooted in the day to day life in a small American town. It reads through the eyes of a young boy who experiences a summer that changes his life (in a good way). It is incredible how much insight author Ray Bradbury puts into this story. Small separate stories which are completely woven into each other – in a funny way one could say that this the art of telling a story that shows that life too can be like a great art, without being aware of it. (if that makes sense).It is so compelling – full of surprises – so timeless – no plot – no artificial ingredients – just life – people – growth – and a magic summer.This is one of a kind!

⭐This didn’t enthuse me because it was too nostalgic and sentimental for my taste. It’s really a series of anecdotes strung together about the late 1920s and a childhood. Disappointed by the sluggish pace and lack of contrast. Everything seemed to be described on one level. It is like The Waltons in novel form. For some that may work but it doesn’t for me. Not at all.

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