Dandelion Wine

Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ray Bradbury is an emperor among wordsmiths. This book provides so much evidence for his place on my pedestal of writers I love and admire and I know I can never match his inestimable talents. As I read Dandelion Wine, I tried to note the particular places where Bradbury's use of language impressed me the most - but I had to stop when I realized I'd be noting something on every single page of this deceptively slim volume.

Dandelion Wine is a contradictory book. It seems to be about a summer in Green Town, Illinois experienced by twelve year old Doug Spaulding. Really, it's about life and death and everything found in between. Two scenes bookend everything else that happens. At the beginning of the summer of 1928, Doug has a sudden realization that he is alive. And as summer dies, so too does Doug realize that he will someday die as well. Doug sets out to record his discoveries that summer with the aid of his younger brother Tom, as well as the many residents of Green Town.

The book unfolds slowly in a series of vignettes all painted with Bradbury's best language. My favorites were: the heartbreakingly sad story of soul mates separated by time, the inevitable death of the old colonel who just wanted to hear the sounds of his past lives one more time, and the departure from Green Town of Doug's friend John Huff. But every story told was familiar to me, like memories of my own life I'd somehow forgotten. The book relates the sort of American childhood spent roaming the town's neighborhoods and playing fast and loose with one's imagination that I experienced.

To sum up, this book felt like the perfect glass of lemonade, tart and sweet and sometimes so cold I could feel literal chills running down my spine. And in the end, I remember it as pure deliciousness. A feast for the senses. Five clear stars from me for this beautiful book.

View all my reviews