Dandelion Wine "Synopsis"

To Mr. Bradbury
Author of Dandelion Wine

Dear Mr. Bradbury,
I have recently read your book titled “Dandelion Wine”. I loved the way I could connect to the book, being a teenager of 14. I think that the feeling shared about family, and about summer are extremely common in young adults. Though this book was written sometime ago I could see the similarities between society in our current time and in this book’s society.

Yet another way I could connect to this book is in the way that the character Douglas Spaulding felt the sentimental “twinges” that he did. I too feel these “twinges” every time that something of the past goes away and something more convenient for modern society takes its place. During the reading of this book it made me realize how many different things occur at the same time. Even though they occur throughout different parts of the town and with different people I could see it the way that they all had a common point.

I like in which the way this society isn’t afraid to express themselves. I could tell that all the people in the town seemed pretty closely knit and intertwined. Many times during the book people would bring items or matters to the attention of others that I found most interesting, saying that in our modern society we are no longer able to do so. Doesn’t it almost make you wish that you could still do those things that the children did as kids, or the adults participated in; in the modern day society?

A major difference I noticed in contrasting then from now was sports. Now days it is extremely uncommon to see a kid that is not involved in sports or has no plan to. Most kids now are in something like football or soccer. It seems to me that in the older society represented in the book that was not a common thing to see kids missing days during the week to go to swimming practice or football practice or some other organized activity. Though this didn’t keep the children from staying fit, for it seemed to me that they enjoyed very much to go play and hang out with friends. And this normally included playing tag or some other physical activity.

I personally enjoyed this book, and would definitely count it on my favorites list. This book really helped me to realize that even though society has really changed noticeably there are many common factors that still exist. All through out the book I kind of just wished that I could go back and just live in the care free world that some of the characters had even if it were just for a day go back and see what it would be like to live as a care free child in the early 1900’s. I also kind of wished that I would have just as many wonderful people in my life as they commonly did back then.