Mr. Dark,

I was struck by the same irony of these two stories. Regarding the past, Bradbury seems to be having it both ways and, of course, his artistry is so finely developed that he gets away with it. After all, take a look at his stated purpose of writing this book in the first place: to preserve his past like the bottles of Dandelion Wine kept in the basement.

I was always puzzled by the placement of The Season of Disbelief in Dandelion Wine. Bradbury seems to be telling us to live in the future, that the past is dead, yet here is his past preserved for all of us in these pages.

A rich source of essay ideas indeed.

Pete Terranova

Did anyone else Love the story, "Clara Goodwater Becomes a Witch"? (Made up title)

This one just cracked me up. The clash between the flexible Clara Goodwater and the inflexible and self-righteous Elmira Brown. I loved how the clash between then appeared to be about good and evil, but was really about being president of the Honeysuckle Ladies Lodge.

Elmira's bitterness about being the only to vote for herself overflows when her husband, the mail carrier, discovers that Clara is gathering books on witchcraft. Elmira sees this as an explanation on all that has gone wrong in her life (sicknesses, illnesses, lost and broken items and the presidency of the Ladies club). These things can now all be blamed on witchcraft. Witchcraft can be fought through a simplistic notion of good. The bible, a gold cross, the virtue of a child, now all become weapons to combat all that is wrong with her life.

One of the ironies, of course, as it turns out -- Clara does have a little wax "voodoo" doll in her purse and implicitly admits she's been doing black magic by saying she'll now only do white magic. This was a pretty funny twist to me.

I also loved the dialog. I laughed out loud several times while reading it and my son kept asking me what was so funny.

I really had a good time with this story. Anyone else?

Mr. Dark,

I'm afraid this was one of those sections where I lacked patience. Can't disagree with any of your points, though, so the problem is obviously me. The parts I like best have more to do with the boys and their rememberances so this sections just didn't work for me. Then again, this is my umpteenth pass through the book so I'm sure I didn't have this problem the first time around.

Pete

I see your point.

I did enjoy Tom's reactions to having to dress up in white clothes and then being forced to sit through this debacle. His reactions seemed pretty true-to-life for a boy his age being forced into a situation where he's in a room with 150 or so older women.

When I read DW back in HS, I'm sure this was one of the sections where I just didn't connect, either. (I'm not implying you are reading it at a HS level . . . How the heck do I get out of this one!?!)

(I didn't really mean "older" women, either. Hmmmm. Maybe this explains my rather limited circle of friends!)



[This message has been edited by Mr. Dark (edited 07-29-2003).]

Mr. Dark,

Hey, we're all friend here, right? No offense taken because I know what you meant.

Just thought I'd admit up front this was one of those sections that didn't work for me. I think, over time, as one re-reads and re-visits favorite works, one tends towards the efficient mode: DW is one of my favorite books but do I still have to be enamored by the ENTIRE work? I'm willing to say, No, not all. So I find myself enjoying the parts I enjoy and not bothering with the parts I don't.

There's much of Bradbury that I don't like but the positives far outweigh the negatives.
The same goes for DW.

Pete

P.S. I'll be willing to be those of us on this site would be glad to count themselves in your close circle of friends. Then again, the relationship, for most of us, is online, isn't it, which could account for things.

I think this group is a very strong one, and I do count many here as friends. When I was in the hospital, I received a lot of support from people here that I really appreciated.

The part of Bradbury I used to dislike was his poetry. I thought it was pretty sappy. But as I've studied it more lately, I find I'm having to repent.

While I'm thoroughly enjoying DW this time through, I still feel more bound to F451, SWTWC, MC, and several of the short story collections. I am enjoying this much more this time through, though.

Having met him, and seeing what a great person he is, I resent myself when I read something of his that I don't like 100%. Pretty pathetic way to judge an author, huh? Thing is, though; I loved his work before I met him, so I guess it's okay.

I enjoyed the chapter you mentioned, Mr. Dark. Elmira was quite a character, and the scene at the meeting where she drank her concoction was very funny to me. I was able to picture her vividly, with all of her klutziness, and she even reminds me a bit of someone in the small town where I grew up. That was one of my favorite chapters in the book. Another one of my favorite chapters is where Grandma is this tremendous cook until Aunt Rose shows up and tries to organize the kitchen and Grandma, as well. Then her cooking suffers and they finally ship Aunt Rose off. I liked how they just packed her bags and made her leave. I loved that chapter because of the food descriptions and the descriptions of how Grandma worked before Aunt Rose interfered. Aunt Rose meant well, but almost ruined an institution. I guess I like different chapters for different reasons. Sometimes it's the humor, sometimes it's the descriptions, sometimes it's the nostalgia, etc. It sure has been fun rereading the book.

Mr. Dark,

Not a pathetic way to be at all. I can't imagine me meeting Bradbury and telling him, you know, most of your stuff is pretty good, but that chapter in DW just didn't engage me. Of course, I'd likely be struck dumb in that circumstance.

I'm with you on the poetry though I'm not as well-versed as you in that area, no pun intended. Sappy? Not necessarily. Just sub-par writing. Funny, because I find his prose to be quite poetic. Doesn't seem to work when he's writing poems. A perfect example is his Byzantium poem quoted in the introduction. (Which is just about my favorite part of the book, come to think of it.) It seems you can hear the creaking as he's stretching for the rhymes, the rythms. Compare the poem to the rest of the essay and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Imskipper,

You've touched on one of my favorite parts of the book. That struck me as one of the funniest and best uses of language. The descriptions of the meals are beyond belief yet Bradbury pulls it off.

Pete

I have just completed my un-teenth reading of Dandelion Wine. It took only part of a day. Since I am home today due to medical treatment, I decided this would be that day. I cried in the usual places: when Douglas first realizes he is truly alive, and when he finds that he must ultimately face his own death; when Helen, old Mrs. Bentley, realizes she can never be the child Helen again and gives in to the chidren who knew that all along; when Mr. Freeleigh makes his last call; when the Dragon who ate the Swan tells the young man not to live too long, that they might again meet in a future time for a dish of Old Fashioned Lime-Vanilla Ice; when Doug's Father understands about the Tarot Witch and why it must be saved; when Mr Jonas gives his gift of rebirth to a dying Douglas. And I laughed and remembered again the feel of those Royal Crown Cream-Sponge Para Lightfoot Tennis Shoes, and Leo Auffmann finally realizing what happiness really is; and when Elmira Brown casts her spell and nearly expires in the doing of it; and the wine in bottles waiting to be sampled in the middle of winter, to remind and warm their bodies with the joys of summer. Then, the fear of the spine-chilling terror of that walk home through the ravine.

Ah, God, Ray is a great writer, that after so many readings, I can cry all over again with such tears of pure joy at his ability to capture the reality of small town boyhood in 1928 and move with the people as they live once more in my imagination.

I'd just like to mention that the great singer Frankie Laine (who started singing in 1928, and at age 90 is still going strong!) has a great new collection of jazz recordings all written by Jack Segal. One of the songs is DANDELION WINE.I'm not sure if it was inspired by Bradbury, but it is a beautiful jazz vocal about remembering one's youth & tasting Dandelion Wine. If Bradbury's book could be transformed into song, then this is as close as it gets. Highly recomended. Just thought I would mention this because this CD (entitled OLD MAN JAZZ) is recorded on Frankie Laine's own record label so alot of people might not know of it. It really is a perfect recording to listen to after reading Bradbury's classic.

I've just read that story about the nosy mailman and his wife. I knew I remembered it from somewhere. It did not even register that it was from DW. It is in the Stories of Bradbury. Yeah, it is a pretty good story. I remember most about DW the second chapter, I think, about the wild strawberries. That was my favorite. My problem was that the book was not much of a novel in the same way Green Shadow, White Whale was not. Granted DW is much better, but the stories are individual onto themselves which is just not my cup of tea when I am in want of a novel. I guess that From The Dust Returned is in this same vein. I never did much care for tales about "The Family," or the Irish tales, or even the Mars tales for that matter. That seems to be cutting pretty short, hey? I still remain solid that SWTWC is his greatest work to this date. Also I love his Mexican stories. They are all very strong.

The original, unpublished title of this story was "Magic!" It never actually appeared in print under this title, which was assigned by Bradbury for listing purposes. When it was collected in "The Stories of Ray Bradbury," the title was "Exorcism."

dr h

Are we talking about the same Frankie Laine who recorded 'MuleTrain' in the late 1940's? That's amazing.

Also, "The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit"...was transformed into a song, a successful musical to be exact, and originally played at the Pasadena Playhouse in California....

Dandelion Wine has worked it�s magic on me, giving much food for thought.

A chapter that especially touched my heart was the one in which Colonial Freeleigh dialed his friend Jorge in Mexico City to experience the sounds and imagine the sights of life on the streets of Mexico City. Even in his final moments , he embraced the joys of man�s existence in this far away place and exited life with self-sustained contentment and perhaps a little regret over his vicarious impressions. His final audible impression, that of a green trolley car, transporting him into the sun-blazed distance, makes one aspire to hope that the passing to death could be that genteel for everyone.

This chapter also touched on the matter of our bodies being these frail shells, capable of cracking from the wear and tear of human existence, serving as a pretense for what is truly important deep inside. Although his own children and grandchildren had little patience for him, he never gave in to their unkind gestures of deprival.

And how symbolic, that our story�s hero, Douglas, is there to witness the departure of the old man, contented at last.

As July comes to a close, I realize how much insight was squeezed inside "Dandelion Wine" throughout its conception and publication. Although this has been my first reading of the book, I�m sure it won�t be my last.

I enjoyed that story also.

I enjoyed the passage where Colonal Freeleigh is being told by his caretaker to settle down and is not letting the boys come visit him anymore.

The colonel's response is:

"'They sat quietly and listened,' said the colonel. 'And I told them things they'd never heard. The buffalo. I told them the bison. It was worth it. I don't care. I was in a pure fever and I was alive. It doesn't matter if being so alive kills a man; it's better to have the quick fever every time. Now give me that phone. If you won't let the boys come up and sit politly, I can at least talk to someone outside the room."

I think this goes to two ideas in this book:

(1) Being alive, being fully present in life, is what matters to Bradbury. While the Colonel was telling these stories, he was reliving parts of his life. This kept him alive and let him fully "live" his life. If it shortened his life, it didn't matter, what mattered was living fully each moment.

(2) His (the colonel) memory is what kept these things alive and his ability to share it with others was a real benefit in the lives of those who had not lived it and could not know it. In his memory, the old ways still lived, the earlier experiences were real. WWI and WWII happened and were real because he remembered them and shared them. When he was gone, the buffalo were gone, also.

This is the kind of passage that people underestimate about Bradbury. I think when he passes away and more work gets published ABOUT his body of work, people will appreciate that he wasn't just a cool story-teller or a ground-breaking scifi/fantasy writer; but that he was a real literary figure.


[This message has been edited by Mr. Dark (edited 07-31-2003).]