Ray Bradbury “Dandelion Wine”

All people come from childhood. But sometimes, we forget about it, adult life sucks us into its quagmire, and we stop making discoveries and enjoy the little things. Today we will dive into the world of a 12-year-old boy who discovers something new every day and try to start enjoying the little things again with the help of the book Dandelion Wine, which you can listen to on our website.

Ray Bradbury
Born in August 1920 in the small town of Waukegan, Illinois. The writer has only a secondary education. Dreamed of becoming an actor. He worked as a paperboy in his youth, and closer to the year 42 he began working as a writer. At 47 he married Marguerite Susan, the love of his life.

In the 1950s, the first fame came to the writer, after the publication of The Martian Chronicles. And at 53, the most famous novel was published, which made his name known to the whole world – “451 degrees Fahrenheit”. Interestingly, the name of Ray Bradbury is immortalized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. An asteroid is named after him, and there is a crater on the Moon, the name of which is due to the novel about which this article is. The writer died in 2012 at the age of 91.

Bradbury is the author who can rightfully be considered universal. The list of his literary creations is truly enormous. By the end of his life, there were about 600 stories, more than 30 books, many scripts, plays and poems. During his biography, he wrote many works of different genres. But it is worth noting that Ray is considered a classic of science fiction, and it was he who at one time aroused considerable reader interest in the genre of science fiction. But today we will talk about an autobiographical story.About the story

Briefly about the plot, this is a book about one year of a twelve-year-old boy, Douglas, who introduces us to his family, friends and neighbors. Sounds too easy. But I would like to pay attention to individual quotes, the words of the boy, behind whom, without any doubt, the author stood.
Here are some quotes from the book that will make you think:

• “What are the main upheavals and turns of life? You are born, you grow, you grow old, you die. Birth does not depend on you. But maturity, old age, death – maybe something can be done about this?
• “If you don’t try something for a long time, you will inevitably forget how it happens”;
• “Digging the earth, dig in your soul”;
• “Now the little things seem boring to you, but maybe you just don’t know their price, don’t know how to find a taste in them?”;
• “And he understood: this is what unexpectedly came to him, and now will remain with him, and will never leave him. “I’M ALIVE””.

Dandelion wine
It is interesting to learn about the origin of the name, which is very symbolic. The protagonist’s grandfather makes wine from dandelions every summer. Douglas reflects that wine should preserve time, the current summer and its events. He says: “Dandelion wine is summer caught and bottled.” Listen to Ray

Bradbury’s book online for free on our website.
Do not forget that Bradbury is still fantastic. In the story, the fantasy element takes on an unusual format. In the work, the author did not create a new universe or a new society, but just a small town that is so similar to the one where Ray himself spent his summers as a child.It is noteworthy that this ordinary world is fantastic for the protagonist. Under the influence of events, he grows, changes his thinking and perception. The boy is surprised and discovers things that would seem trifling to the layman. But for the hero, these discoveries are equal to the exploration of new galaxies. The world familiar to us for a child is a huge, unidentified universe.

In the end, I would like to emphasize the importance of perception of the environment. Indeed, you can look at the world through the veil of problems of adult life, but why, if you can be joyfully surprised and make new discoveries every day, like Douglas.