Farewell Summer

I was standing at Powell's the other day, saw this book, and actually shrieked right there in the aisle. I had no idea this was in the works. You'd think the Bradbury machine could have sent me an email, no? This one picks up a summer or two after Dandelion Wine, at the tail end of the summer. The old man has the old men nailed this time. As one might expect. However, he's still fully aware of what it's like to be a youth, teetering on the brink. There's a kiss in this book, and some silliness that will make you smile. There are bits of it that feel a little contrived, but not so's you'd notice much. It's a delightful addition to the Spaulding canon. ( )

In his afterword to Farewell Summer, "The Importance of Being Startled", Ray Bradbury writes: "Surprise is everything with me. When I go to bed at night I give myself instructions to startle myself when I wake in the morning. That was one of the great adventures in letting this novel evolve: my instructions at night and my being startled in the morning by revelations."

He certainly opens and closes the novel with a couple of startling revelations, and there are plenty of other surprises along the way. He had me laughing out loud in pure delight. I know a lot of fans of Dandelion Wine found this followup disappointing, but personally, I think I enjoyed it even more (and I loved Dandelion Wine too, you can read my review of it here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1NBOJWF984KYH). It's shorter and not as wide-ranging, but in a way that's it's strength: it's more of an integrated whole than just a collection of interconnected short stories, more narrowly focused, more sort of concentrated, and can thereby have a more powerful impact. As in Dandelion Wine, Bradbury deftly uses summer and its coming to an end as a metaphor for this time of life on the cusp of young adulthood, but he does not idealize childhood in the sense of naively enshrining youthful innocence and bemoaning the necessity of growing up. This is especially clear here in Farewell Summer, in which he writes explicitly that "The worst thing is to never grow up," and shows us in depth, even while reminding us of the wonders of childhood, what we'd be missing if we never experienced adulthood.

And of course, the "war" between the kids and the old people, which provides sort of the main storyline, is not only thematically interesting but also very amusing. It's nice to see Mr. Quartermain fleshed out after his brief but hilarious appearance in Dandelion Wine...poor Cal never gets a break! ( )

I loved this book. Last month I joined the group read of Dandelion Wine in honor of Ray Bradbury's passing, and fell in love with both the story and the writing. Farewell Summer is a continuation of that story. In the afterword of the book, Bradbury states that he originally intended for this book to be part of Dandelion Wine, but that his publishers felt that it made the book too long and that it would be better to polish it some more and release it as a sequel. So, it basically picks up where DW leaves off. It is very well done, and I fell in love with Douglass' grandpa in this one. Highly recommended.

"Grandpa's library was a fine dark place bricked with books, so anything could happen there and always did. All you had to do was pull a book from the shelf and open it and suddenly the darkness was not so dark anymore. Here it was that Grandpa sat in place with now this book and now that in his lap and his gold specs on his nose, welcoming visitors who came to stay for a moment and lingered for an hour." ( )

When I saw Ray Bradbury had written a sequel to "Dandelion Wine", one of my all-time favorite books, this went straight to the top of my reading list. Taking place just over a year after Dandelion Wine, it follows the exploits of Douglas (now "Doug") Spaulding and his family and friends. Unlike the various stories and digressions and sub-plots of the first book, this one focuses on one big story: how Doug's terror of growing up provokes a "civil war" between the children of Green Town and its senior citizens.

This book is significantly darker than the first (especially the ending), and I didn't like the focus on a single plot as much, as it felt like this plotline was a little stretched out at times. Even so, I really enjoyed this book. Bradbury writes as well as ever, and I'm very glad he wrote another book about Green Town, even if it took him almost 50 years to do it. ( )

In Green Town, Illinois, signs appear that summer is almost officially over. A change in the air. A blooming of a particular flower. A last, final grip of the summer heat slowly giving way to cooler winds. Doug feels the pull of autumn, but unlike the other boys in town, he senses something else. Something trying to control him and the other boys. Something the old folks in town, lead by the head of the school board Calvin C. Quartermain. In a final effort to keep autumn at bay, he gathers together his friends for a final battle against the Quartermain and his cronies.

"Farewell Summer" is a fantastic tale of youth fighting against growing up. The one thing I love about Bradbury and why I can't seem to get enough of his books is the language he uses. The phrases seem alive, full of movement, and have a way of recalling the excitement and wonder of childhood adventures.

And yet, the last two chapters threw me for a loop, mostly due to the imagery -- the idea of Quartermain bidding his sexual drive goodbye and passing it on, in a bizarre way, to Doug. The idea fits with the story of young vs. old, but its presentation was a bit abrupt and odd.

That, however, doesn't detract from me recommending the book as a great look into the eternal struggle to keep from growing older. ( )