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Monday, January 16, 2023

1st Impression on Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury




My third read this year is Dandelion Wine, a novel which was developed from a short story of the same title. It appeared in the June 1953 issue of Gourmet magazine, and based upon Bradbury's childhood home of Waukegan, Illinois.

I seldom read the Introduction at the beginning, but I made an exception this time, because Bradbury wrote it so beautifully poetic, and with an interesting title too! Here's a glimpse:

Just This Side of Byzantium: An Introduction (what a title, eh?)

"No one said anything.
We all just looked up at the sky and we breathed out and in and we all thought the same things, but nobody said.
Someone finally had to say, though, didn’t they? And that one is me.
The wine still waits in the cellars below.
My beloved family still sits on the porch in the dark.
The fire balloon still drifts and burns in the night sky of an as yet unburied summer.
Why and how?
Because I say it is so."

And with that, I knew I'd love this story, which is a reminiscent of his childhood happy memories. Of summer, of being alive - "I'm really alive!" - and, of course, of Dandelion wines he's helped his grandfather in the making. What a lively imagination the twelve years old Douglas Spaulding (or Ray Bradbury) had! - Douglas is Ray Bradbury's middle name, while Spaulding is his father's.

Some excerpts from the book:

On Dandelion:


"A common flower, a weed that is one sees, yes. But for us, a noble thing, the Dandelion."


On Dandelion wine:

[source of the picture]

"The words were summer on the tongue. Hold summer in your hand, pour summer in a glass, a tiny glass of course, the smallest tingling sip for children; change the season in your veins by raising glass to lip and tilting summer in."


What is Dandelion Wine, anyway?


Dandelion wine is a medicinal drink that also helps you feel buzzed. Dandelions are excellent for digestive health since they help detoxify the lungs and heart because the dandelion petals are rich in potassium, vitamins A, B, C, and D. Perhaps this was the very first wine that was genuinely beneficial to your liver. The taste of dandelion wine is slightly bitter with a dash of honey-like sweetness. [source]


It'd surely be a refreshing change after a gloomy Hardy, and so far I've been slowly savouring Bradbury's poetic narration in a bliss!

 


10 comments:

  1. I didn't know that Ray Bradbury came from Waukegan. That's quite close to where I grew up and my dad went there once a week for work when I was a kid.

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    Replies
    1. It's amazing the way books can connect with our lives, isn't it?

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  2. Replies
    1. With that beautiful narrative, it's hard not too!

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  3. I first read this book in high school and have loved it ever since. It really captures the essence of summer imo.

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    1. It really does! I feel like experiencing the summer Douglas Spaulding is enjoying. So powerful is Bradbury's narration!

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  4. I'm hoping to read more of RB's short stories this year - sounds like this is one to add to my wishlist.

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    1. Please do, Brona! It'll bring summer to your life whenever you read it! ;)

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  5. Feels like a great summer read. It's so funny how we think of the dandelion as an annoying weed, and it has such great properties.

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    1. It is, isn't it? I wouldn't have thought dandelion could be processed into wine. I wonder how it tastes..

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What do you think?