Mr. Dark,

Oops. I've detected an error in your post above. The good Colonel can't possibly remember World War II since DW takes place in 1927. (Not having my volume in front of me, perhaps the error is with Bradbury instead. Or else you meant The Civil War?)

Otherwise, as always, your criticism is spot on. And you point out yet again how the story of The Time Machine echoes the very thing that Bradbury is doing with DW: preserving his past, keeping it alive.

Pete

Oops! Humbled again. Dang!

Um, another "oops" here--actually, the novel is set during the summer of 1928....

D'oh! And I'd argue my error is greater than Mr. Dark's in that I could have easily fact-checked my statement with a simple glance at the last word of the last sentence of the book!

I stand corrected. (That'll teach me to point out the splinter in other's eyes when there's a log in my own!)

The statements "Dandelion Wine. Dandelion Wine. Dandelion Wine," at the end of the day in the brewing and labelling chapter with Grandfather Spaulding say MUCH if one is very familiar with the novel. They prepare the reader for all that has been captured in the bottles, the words, the images, the loves, the losses, the friends, the relatives, the fun, the fear, the hopes, and, of course, the deaths. It's all there - LIFE!

Someone's post remarked that July has come to an end, and I recall the warning Mr. Bradbury presents to the boys of the "arrival of August." The days are still dog-hot, yet the nights somehow have a different cool air that can barely be perceived if you are paying close attention. Even the coloration of the trees has somehow begun to appear different!?

The gathering of the dandelions may have been completed. However, the stories are still unfolding. Much is to be experienced before the summer of 1928 comes to its end. And so too for us in 2003.....!

If you grew up in a place like Green Town, where everyone was an original character, and elm or maple trees canopied the streets like dark, cool tunnels, and rivers ran cold all summer while a million bees nipped at apple and plum harvests yet to be, then there is nothing to find fault in with Dandelion Wine as a "novel" or as a related string of short tales!!

So, Ought Not, you "Ought TO" just open the bottle and enjoy - Dandelion Wine, Dandelion Wine, Dandelion Wine!!




[This message has been edited by fjpalumbo (edited 08-01-2003).]

Ha ha! Let me tell you, I tried. Perhaps it was my mood which often influences my judgement. Some things are just not for everyone. Though I must say that Something Wicked, being one of those great novels, had a great effect on me after reading. Maybe I just do not like dandelions? I have a proclivity of spraying them.

I also posted this in the religious thread, but thought I'd copy it here, as it came out of my Dandelion Wine reading:

In Dandelion Wine, there was a great, short quote that probably gives Ray's view of churches. This is part of the description of Mr. Jonas:

"Couldn't stand churches, though he appreciated their ideas . . ."

It reminded me of an Emerson quote from the essay, "Self Reliance":

"I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching".

I really enjoyed my reading of Dandelion Wine this time through. I think when I read it back in HS, I just wasn't ready for its nuances.

A passage I really enjoyed was after Douglas has been very sick, the doctors had basically given up on him, and Mr. Jonas gives him some "bottled life". Douglas is restored back to health. Douglas is trying to figure out how to thank him and comes up with this:

"How do I thank Mr. Jonas, he wondered, for what he's done? How do I thank him, how pay him back? No way, no way at all. You just can't pay. What then? What? Pass it on somehow, he thought, pass it on to someone else. Keep the chain moving. Look around, find someone, and pass it on. That was the only way. . ."

This came out in 1946, and some 50 years later someone makes a movie called, "Pay it Forward" with that exact idea. A movement is formed where you pass along good deeds to others in your life as a way of thanking people for their kindnesses to you.

Way to go, Ray. Ahead of the game again!!!!