Farewell Summer (2006)
Author: Ray Bradbury | Page Count: 166
Author: Ray Bradbury | Page Count: 166
'Just then the great clock across town, an immense moon, a full moon of stunned sound and round illumination, cleared its ratchety throat and let free a midnight sound.'
Almost half a century after Dandelion Wine (1957) was published, Ray returned to his beloved creation to deliver the next phase of young Douglas Spaulding's story.
It's marketed as a sequel novel, but that wording gives a reader false expectations; it's much too short and light to hold the weight of such an honour. Personally, I choose to think of it more as a belated coda or companion piece.
It's a feeling supported by the fact that in his afterword Bradbury tells us that the "novel" is "actually an extension" of its predecessor, the original form having been held back from full publication because of his publisher insisting that the manuscript was too lengthy.
It's a feeling supported by the fact that in his afterword Bradbury tells us that the "novel" is "actually an extension" of its predecessor, the original form having been held back from full publication because of his publisher insisting that the manuscript was too lengthy.
The first chapter is pure Bradbury, effortlessly putting the reader back into the time and space that Douglas inhabits. Unfortunately, it doesn't build upon those foundations as much as I'd hoped it would. It's not a bad book, but by Ray's standards it is one of the weaker ones.
Doug and his friends become acutely aware that summer's end is always followed by school's beginning. Not yet ready to give up their freedom, they declare war upon everything that reminds them of the encroaching change. If the faculty members had 'accidents,' wouldn't that halt the start of the academic year? And that in turn might cause autumn to retreat and enable summer to last longer? With Doug as leader, the group decide it's their duty to make that situation a reality.
Death looms both upfront and in the subtext; e,g., in the graveyard setting, in summer's ending and even in how the youths look upon the world. As time ticks onward, pushing them into maturity, their awareness of what has past is weighed against what is yet to come.
Like Ray did in Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962), even the names of the older generation are things to be feared, Mr Bleak and Mr Gray being the best examples.
If it's not already apparent, you really ought to read Dandelion Wine before Farewell Summer, otherwise you might not fully understand the reasons for Doug's feelings or have the knowledge to fully appreciate the underlying basis upon which his current motivations are laid.
Doug and his friends become acutely aware that summer's end is always followed by school's beginning. Not yet ready to give up their freedom, they declare war upon everything that reminds them of the encroaching change. If the faculty members had 'accidents,' wouldn't that halt the start of the academic year? And that in turn might cause autumn to retreat and enable summer to last longer? With Doug as leader, the group decide it's their duty to make that situation a reality.
Death looms both upfront and in the subtext; e,g., in the graveyard setting, in summer's ending and even in how the youths look upon the world. As time ticks onward, pushing them into maturity, their awareness of what has past is weighed against what is yet to come.
Like Ray did in Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962), even the names of the older generation are things to be feared, Mr Bleak and Mr Gray being the best examples.
If it's not already apparent, you really ought to read Dandelion Wine before Farewell Summer, otherwise you might not fully understand the reasons for Doug's feelings or have the knowledge to fully appreciate the underlying basis upon which his current motivations are laid.
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