Farewell Summer

I believe I remember that this book was published posthumously. This, for me, is a good thing. Because if I had read this back when I was racing through Bradbury’s works at the ages of 11-12 or so, I couldn’t have appreciated it.

This book, like others if Bradbury’s works, is more of a “tone poem” than novel. (I bet I used that phrase incorrectly.). It’s definitely not sci-fi, and I wouldn’t tag it as “young adult”, either. I’d recommend it for people in their 50’s and up. Readers who have a broad enough collection of life experiences to really appreciate it.

My mother passed away a couple of weeks ago at the age of 95. She was a Sci fi fan and probably was the one who suggested Bradbury’s books to me in the first place. It would have resonated deeply within her.

The book is located in the small town that features in many of Bradbury’s works. It’s told from the viewpoints of a preteen boy and his grandfather.

It’s beautiful and perhaps my favorite of everything he’s written.

"Farewell Summer" is the sequel to "Dandelion Wine". I ordered both in a nostalgic moment, remembering reading "Dandelion Wine" when I was the age of the story's main character. Ray Bradbury was one of my favorite authors through the latter years of my childhood and one of a small group of writers I shared a love of with my dad, who recently passed. I was able to order a new copy of "Dandelion Wine" but "Farewell Summer" was only available used. I wanted a copy to add to my library and hoped the copy I received would be in nice condition. The copy I received was in excellent condition, with deckled edges and, to my surprise, a first edition and autographed by Ray Bradbury, signed with a Sharpie. I did not believe at first this could be legitimate but decided it likely is after researching Bradbury's autographs through Google images. This book was published in 2006 and Bradbury passed in 2012. I know authors sometimes autograph significant numbers of new releases in their promotion and "Farewell Summer" may have benefitted from a good promotion. I worked in a used book store for several years when I was younger and see no reason to believe it isn't legitimate. I am extremely sad I can't share this with my dad.

I loved reading this book, it made me think of my childhood, so many places to run to, so many stories to find, I loved writing in my journal. And, I felt I knew where he came from and where he was going, always wanting to do something different to hold the gang together. Strange things I found in the woods, climbing trees, this story brought my childhood back to me. I loved this story. Buy it for anyone, the teens really need it, they are to busy doing nothing,but gawking at a phone inn their hand, as stories past them by.

I first read DANDELION WINE in the late 1960s. This sequel, which I have anxiously awaited for a long, long time, is both profound and bittersweet.

It's a quick, easy read, but the trip back to Green Town would be worth it at any length. As his final work, Bradbury's reflections on mortality and youth must have echoed his own thoughts as he neared the end of his life.

He has always been one of my favorite authors. In FAREWELL SUMMER he reminds us that "life is an ice cream cone," with a preciousness and fleeting quality to be savored.

Still, I think a lot of fans of DANDELION WINE will find this followup disappointing. I didn't like this book as well as either, but that's not being said in a negative, critical sense ... the original book was a lot to live up to.

In FAREWELL SUMMER, Bradbury writes that "The worst thing is to never grow up." While once again reminding us of the wonders of childhood, he shows us what we'd be missing if we never experienced adulthood. This book is definitely worth the read.

I bought this book because I am a Bradbury fan, have read Dandelion Wine several times, and did not even know about this continuation of the stories from Dandelion Wine.

Farewell Summer is structured very much like the earlier Dandelion Wine, working as both a short novel and a collection of short stories. The writing style is similar: descriptions that are fun word play, characters with unusual depth and wisdom, and the emotion of life passing.

This novel lacks the emotional complexity and depth of Dandelion Wine and many of Bradbury's earlier novels, and is much shorter as well, which is why I gave it four stars instead of five.

First, let me say that Ray was the reason I became a writer. He said I was one and encouraged me to do it. Who was I to say no? I've read everything he's ever written, or so I thought. Somehow, Farewell Summer had escaped me. Bradbury's style is so literary and haunting and introspective and profound and Dandelion Wine so evoked the pubescent angst I felt as a youth that he became my hero. In my travels through Bradbury's books, I've been to Mars, crossed time and space, gone back to the age of dinosaurs and experienced every form of fantasy, fright and freakishness there is. I sat and listened to the illustrated man and fought for goodness against Mr. Dark when something wicked this way came. So, when I stumbled across this book I dove into it with the same zeal as any Bradbury book. I found the same prose, yet it seemed somewhat forced. I found the characters I loved, though they seemed a bit contrived. I wanted so bad to love this book as much as every other Bradbury volume. But the story was too choppy, the dialog too cryptic and the need to draw a dramatic conclusion based on the vague and obvious comparison between age and youth left me scratching my head. As hard as it for me to say it, I admit this Bradbury tale left me flat. Considering every other thing this great author wrote left me exalted and inspired... that's not a bad record.