Dandelion Wine

Ray Bradbury is best known for writing Fahrenheit 451 and other science-fiction novels. It should come as no surprise then that I was completely caught off guard by this simple, beautiful, heartfelt novel about a young boy’s experiences over the course of a single summer. I enjoyed reading this book immensely. Sometimes novels just tell you a story, and sometimes novels invite you into a world where even the most mundane and ordinary things become special. Dandelion Wine is one such book. Although the book doesn’t relate any events that are particularly amazing, the language used to describe the events makes everything seem magical and rare. A trolley ride or a summer afternoon in the woods becomes transmuted before the reader’s eyes into a fleeting moment of pure beauty caught on the page, preserving the very essence of what it is to be a child, and what it is to be alive. This novel reads more like a series of loosely connected short stories than one strongly cohesive narrative, but every story paints a vivid scene as if the words on the page were brushstrokes on canvas.  Much like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, this book reveals the beauty and wonder to be found in life, pure and simple. If you want a book that enchants you with the beauty of its imagery, the profundity of it’s ideas, and the simple clarity and joy with which the narrative unfolds, you would be well served by picking up Dandelion Wine.

Score: 10/10

Read this book: If you love beautiful language and stunningly vivid imagery, if you want to see the world with the wonder of childhood, or if you want to be reminded what a gift it is to be alive.

Don’t read this book: If you rely on a strong central plotline to maintain interest in a book. Although every story presented is delightful, they can sometimes seem of little relevance to the rest of the book. They do relate, but often only loosely.