A review by stwriter92
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is technically a reread, but I never wrote a proper review when I first read this book. I picked it up on a trip to New Orleans in 2018 at the Arcadian Book Shop (which is one of the best and most interesting bookshops I've had the privilege to visit). The blurb in the back was what truly drew me in:

"Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine. Uncork it slowly and inhale the heady aroma. Take a small sip. Suddenly you will find yourself transported into the strange and wonderful world of a most extraordinary twelve-year-old boy named Douglas Spaulding--a world where miracles are just everyday occurrences and even the most ordinary things are pervaded by eerie glimmerings of the supernatural and the unknown."

If the only Ray Bradbury book you have read is Fahrenheit 451, then I'd definitely recommend this book as a change of pace. Dandelion Wine centers on the small town of Green Town, Illinois during the late 1920s. The majority of it is told through the eyes of Douglas Spaulding, a young boy who has only just fully come to terms with the fact that he is alive and existing in this world. This book takes his awakening and bottles it up in a collection of memories, mysteries, and adventures. Just I did the first time I read the book, I followed the instructions in the blurb to the tee. I uncorked it and let myself bask in the ambiance of a fresh new summer. I took small sips throughout the month of June when I felt my love of summer starting to slip. And I, indeed, found myself transported to this fictional town of time machines, arcades, and serial killers. 

More than anything else, I adored the importance placed on memories and their transience. Dandelion wine, itself, is a symbol of the importance of memory. Doug and his family would preserve the dandelions from their yard by turning them into dandelion wine, allowing them to experience the goodness and freshness of summer during the dark, cold winter nights. Memories have no real use if they are stored away out of sight in an attic somewhere. They need to be shared. Their value lies in their impermanence. The memories we share might fade from our minds eventually, but that does not take away from their value now. When Doug's younger brother, Tom, comments on how wonderful it is to save June, July, and August through dandelion wine, their grandfather responds, "Better than putting things in the attic you never use again. This way, you get to live the summer over for a minute or two here or there along the way through the winter, and when the bottles are empty the summer's gone for good and no regrets and no sentimental trash lying about for you to stumble over forty years from now" (p. 182). I don't think the purpose of memory is to last forever. The purpose of memory is to share and enjoy until it is used up. If a memory sits for too long, I feel like it becomes a sad shell of remembrance rather than a celebration. 

Along with Doug's enlightenment to his own existence and alive-ness comes the equal and important understanding of his own impermanence. Throughout the book, he is faced with loss and must come to terms with the fact that one day, he too will be someone else's loss. He realizes that nothing is truly permanent. People he believes will live forever will eventually die and return to the earth. In the same moment, more babies will be born, fresh and new and completely ignorant to the beauty of existence. Like the seasons, we all exist in a series of cycles built on cycles. 

All in all, this reading experience felt like imbibing the beauty, freedom, and evanescence of summer packed and preserved in the form of a beat up old book. It has encouraged me to also look for magic and beauty in the mundane and to fully experience the world rather than just sit back and observe it. 

If my existence is to be brief, let it be joyous.
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