Dandelion Wine
Dandelion Wine is a book steeped in nostalgia. On the surface it's about being twelve years old in the summer time. But it's also about remembering being twelve years old in the summer time. It's about growing up and growing old, remembering your past and letting it go.
This book is more a series of connected short stories. They all take place in the same town, and they're all observed and commented on by Douglas and his brother, Tom. They're the main players in a few of the stories, but in others they're just on the fringes.
As will happen in a short story collection, even an informal one like this, I liked some stories better than others. I really liked the commentary of the two boys as they struggled to make sense of an adult world. And I liked the overall feel of the book. Bradbury's language is very poetic, well-suited to describing childhood summers.
There were some elements of science-fiction (a happiness machine) and magic (the cure for a fever), but overall the book is more straightforward. People talk about reincarnation, but the "time machine" a couple of boys become obsessed with is nothing more than an old man with a good memory and excellent story-telling skills. There is, however, a surprising amount of death. I found it almost shocking how much death there was surrounding this town, from children dying of pneumonia to young women murdered to old people winding down their last few days. But it all plays in to Doug's coming of age, so it starts to make sense by the end.
The language of this book definitely pulled me in, made me think of my own summers spent running around at camp. It's rich and immersive and pretty short. I almost wish I'd waited to read it on a hot summer afternoon.
This book is more a series of connected short stories. They all take place in the same town, and they're all observed and commented on by Douglas and his brother, Tom. They're the main players in a few of the stories, but in others they're just on the fringes.
As will happen in a short story collection, even an informal one like this, I liked some stories better than others. I really liked the commentary of the two boys as they struggled to make sense of an adult world. And I liked the overall feel of the book. Bradbury's language is very poetic, well-suited to describing childhood summers.
There were some elements of science-fiction (a happiness machine) and magic (the cure for a fever), but overall the book is more straightforward. People talk about reincarnation, but the "time machine" a couple of boys become obsessed with is nothing more than an old man with a good memory and excellent story-telling skills. There is, however, a surprising amount of death. I found it almost shocking how much death there was surrounding this town, from children dying of pneumonia to young women murdered to old people winding down their last few days. But it all plays in to Doug's coming of age, so it starts to make sense by the end.
The language of this book definitely pulled me in, made me think of my own summers spent running around at camp. It's rich and immersive and pretty short. I almost wish I'd waited to read it on a hot summer afternoon.
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