Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Challenges
Book Around the States - Illinois
What's in a Name - Dandelion (Plant)
Decades Challenge - 1940's
Another Bloomin' Challenge
Spring Reading Challenge
TBR Challenge
Young Adult Challenge
Wow, seven challenges in one. I'm exhausted, no, make that elated. I started this book once but couldn't get past the first chapter. Too many analogies, metaphors, and flights of fancy. But then, there were seven challenges, so I trudged back to it a month later. I don't know what my mood was the first time I picked the book up because I really enjoyed reading it this time. Douglas is twelve years old at the beginning of the summer of 1928. He has an incredible imagination which he gives free reign and creates many adventures, some real and some not so real. Bradbury has created a masterpiece of poignancy and nostalgia as he tells about Douglas, his family, friends and the other wonderful characters who inhabit Green Town, Illinois. There are so many great stories in this book, but I loved the one about Grandma's cooking and how Aunt Rose tries to get the kitchen organized and Grandma to keep recipes. Here's a few quote I marked:
Grandfather's rant when a boarder tries to plant grass that will never need to be mowed:
"Lilacs on a bush are better than orchids. And dandelions and devil grass are better! Why? Because they bend you over and turn you away from all the people and the town for a little while and sweat you and get you down where you remember you got a nose again. And when you're all to yourself that way, you're really yourself for a little; you get to thinking things through, alone."
Great-grandma on the night she dies from old-age.
"I'm not really dying today. No person ever died that had a family. I'll be around a long time. A thousand years from now a whole township of my offspring will be biting sour apples in the gumwood shade."
I loved the descriptions of sitting on the porch in the evenings, night games of kick-the-can and freeze, the trolley car's last route; and bottling up summer's memories in the dandelion wine.
Rating: 4.75
Posted by Framed at 10:07 AM

6 comments:
Nymeth said...
Bradbury is definitely an author I need to be in the mood for. I love his writing, but I find it a little demanding, and if I'm not giving it my full attention it just goes over my head.I haven't read this one yet, but it sounds beautiful.
4/26/2008 1:47 PM
Natasha @ Maw Books said...
Whoa baby, what a feat on cross-posting those challenges!I think time/setting/life situations make a big difference on how we enjoy a book. I'm certain that there are many I've enjoyed simply because of my attitude at the time. I haven't read much of Ray Bradbury except in high school (a prime example of attitude!), so I should rediscover this author.
4/26/2008 2:57 PM
Booklogged said...
I haven't read any of Bradbury. Must amend that. Loved the two quotes you shared.
4/26/2008 3:19 PM
Trish said...
Sometimes it's just timing. I know that I've reshelved some books to really enjoy them after revisiting them. I haven't read this one but I really enjoyed Fahrenheit 451. Thanks for the review!
4/27/2008 9:38 AM
Les said...
I read this back in the mid-'70s (I was in Junior High) and absolutely loved it. I tried to read it again a year or two ago and couldn't get interested. I still want to try again someday.
4/27/2008 7:25 PM
Terri B. said...
This is one of my all time favorite books along with Something Wicked This Way Comes. They are so very atmospheric. I've got his sequel to Dandelion Wine (Farewell Summer) on my book tower. I'm saving it for, of course, summer!