Do you know how hard it is to find a book set in autumn? Okay, maybe not that difficult if you’re reading something about Halloween, but I feel like I’ve read all the expected choices, so trying to find a book for the summer reading club bingo set in my favourite season turned out to be one of the most challenging tasks! Thankfully, we have Ray Bradbury to the rescue, with a sequel to his ode to summer (Dandelion Wine) that takes its protagonists into the heady first days of school that slowly creep towards the Halloween season. The end of the summer always comes as a relief for me, as with its going it brings an end to sweaty nights and overheated afternoons and trades them in for extended golden hour evenings and crisp morning breezes, so I was excited to go along on Bradbury’s last romp through a late summer eve in Green Town. In the story we get a faux war between the young boys of the town and their senior grandparents, which Bradbury uses as an extended metaphor to comment on the aging process, the loss of one’s innocence, and the inevitability of time marching slowly forward. I found the themes a bit heavy handed for him, and a touch less whimsical than usual, as if we could tell that this sequel to the lovely constructed Dandelion mouldered on his slush pile for a season too long and had to be tempted back to life. Yet, there were small moments of his beautifully sparse signature language that made the reading worthwhile, as we ran helter skelter towards the midnight of Halloween through Green Town’s graveyard. Though, if I’m honest, this is by far his least inspiring of his Autumn novels, and I doubt I’ll bother to read it again - it may be farewell summer, but in this case it is also farewell autumn and back to the carnival, dust bowls, and attics that made his October Country so enchanting. ( )

This book would be a perfect little gem without the explanatory dialogue between the two old men in the middle of the action, right after the boy Douglas's Joycean epiphany. There is this moment of pure interior beauty, something that reminded me of To Kill a Mockinbird in its more enlighting and poetic shades, a plot twist so deep in its meaning that it feels like a blow in the stomach, a sweet and relieving one; and immediately after this, there is the explanation in form of dialogue. Not needed, not welcome, cumbersome, awkward. It's a pity, but you can skip it and go on reading and, believe me, the novel is worth it.
The novel itself is the last part of [b:Dandelion Wine|50033|Dandelion Wine (Green Town, #1)|Ray Bradbury|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1374049845s/50033.jpg|1627774], published 55 years before, but it stands alone without problems (I haven't read the first novel yet, and I had no clue there was a "prequel" while reading, nor I had any problem understanding the plot).
What follows is not actually a dramatic spoiler, but I'll hide it anyway.
In the first chapters, children's war against the elderly mummies who want to make them too bored and old is ok, but the elderly schoolboard chairman who ACTUALLY wants to make children into bored and sad adults, and who accepts the children gang's challenge, is darkly, worringly hilarious.

"Wake up, Cal. We are a minority, like the dark African and the lost Hittite. We live in a country of the young. All we can do is wait until some of these sadists hit nineteen, then truck them off to war."

Everything, in this mock war, is serious and is not at the same time, and the characters find themselves making each other lives better without even being conscious of it, until empathy makes the magic against their will.
Then the epiphany, and the coming of age of the child with its sweet-sour flavour, mirrored by the acceptance of the fading away of life on the part of the older man.
The giant figures of grandparents, wise, loving, patient, guiding, are the glue that keeps the narrative together since the start. They prevent any hint of cynicism from sneaking in the description of the cranky old men who love hating youth when they are not too busy dying; their presence and significance also prevent it all to look too much like A Christmas Carol with sexual awakening.
Oh, and the sweetest gift in the end of any story: an afterword by the author, with love. ( )

This book would be a perfect little gem without the explanatory dialogue between the two old men in the middle of the action, right after the boy Douglas's Joycean epiphany. There is this moment of pure interior beauty, something that reminded me of To Kill a Mockinbird in its more enlighting and poetic shades, a plot twist so deep in its meaning that it feels like a blow in the stomach, a sweet and relieving one; and immediately after this, there is the explanation in form of dialogue. Not needed, not welcome, cumbersome, awkward. It's a pity, but you can skip it and go on reading and, believe me, the novel is worth it.
The novel itself is the last part of [b:Dandelion Wine|50033|Dandelion Wine (Green Town, #1)|Ray Bradbury|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1374049845s/50033.jpg|1627774], published 55 years before, but it stands alone without problems (I haven't read the first novel yet, and I had no clue there was a "prequel" while reading, nor I had any problem understanding the plot).
What follows is not actually a dramatic spoiler, but I'll hide it anyway.
In the first chapters, children's war against the elderly mummies who want to make them too bored and old is ok, but the elderly schoolboard chairman who ACTUALLY wants to make children into bored and sad adults, and who accepts the children gang's challenge, is darkly, worringly hilarious.

"Wake up, Cal. We are a minority, like the dark African and the lost Hittite. We live in a country of the young. All we can do is wait until some of these sadists hit nineteen, then truck them off to war."

Everything, in this mock war, is serious and is not at the same time, and the characters find themselves making each other lives better without even being conscious of it, until empathy makes the magic against their will.
Then the epiphany, and the coming of age of the child with its sweet-sour flavour, mirrored by the acceptance of the fading away of life on the part of the older man.
The giant figures of grandparents, wise, loving, patient, guiding, are the glue that keeps the narrative together since the start. They prevent any hint of cynicism from sneaking in the description of the cranky old men who love hating youth when they are not too busy dying; their presence and significance also prevent it all to look too much like A Christmas Carol with sexual awakening.
Oh, and the sweetest gift in the end of any story: an afterword by the author, with love. ( )

Bradbury is simply a master wordsmith. Every time is a pleasure. At times I do get lost, but then a sentence or phrase will capture me with its eloquence. Thank you Mr Bradbury for your writing all these years. ( )

The 3rd in the Green Town series, but really just a sequel to Dandelion wine...an exciting re-encounter with the well loved characters from the first book.

While this was a good book...it wasn't as Bradbury as I was expecting. With a totally different feel and vibe than Dandelion wine, it was easy to forget at times this was a sequel.....it felt a bit too modern. I still enjoyed it...but, I do feel it paled a bit in comparison to the first 2 books in this series.....to Bradbury's work in general. The 50+yr gap in the writing of this sequel is apparent. ( )

This book, published in 2006, was a sequel to “Dandelion Wine.” Bradbury says that he brought a complete book titled “Summer Morning, Summer Night” and his publisher recommended they publish the first 90k words (which became “Dandelion Wine”) and save the rest for a future novel.
“All you had to do was pull a book from the shelf and open it and suddenly the darkness was not so dark anymore.”
I read this story in my mid-forties and I went I sat down to read it again; I could recall the mood it created more than the plot. I felt transported to a simpler time, both in terms of youth, as well as a period that was pre-broadcast news, pre-cold war, and certainly pre-internet/social media. There’s a slender plot, it’s not much to base a novel on -- some young boys rebelling against some old men in a small town. The real strength is nostalgia, the melancholy, and the feelings that his style of writing evokes. The prose is dialog heavy and sits somewhere between poetry and traditional language. With many of Bradbury’s similar works, such as “October Country,” “Something Wicked this Way Comes,” or “From the Dust Returned” I often fall out of the story, appreciating his metaphors, or turn of phrase, or even just word choice. It’s a tradeoff between losing the ‘mind-movie’ in my head, but fully enjoying the crafty prose.
“It rose above town like a great dark burial mound, drawn to the skies by the summoning of the moon, calling out in a grieved voice of days long gone, and days that would come no more, whispering of other autumns when the town was young and all was beginning and there was no end.”
I will say the ending caught me off guard, I had no recollection of it from my first read. Perhaps I’m too immature to appreciate it, but it made me smirk and chuckle. I won’t spoil it, but it wraps up the theme of the sequence of coming of age and coming of death, or the passing of the ‘torch’ in a most unusual way.
Four colorful stars, transitioning from lemon yellow to burnt orange, for this final Bradbury novel that connects the turn of the seasons to cycle of human life. ( )

I love Bradbury so I'm not going to say TOO much... Not a bad ending to a book that just tries too hard. I had the feeling throughout the novel that Bradbury was trying to be Bradbury and this kept distracting me. And all you Kindle Paperwhite and Fire HDX users can blow me! Stick with [b:Dandelion Wine|50033|Dandelion Wine|Ray Bradbury|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1374049845s/50033.jpg|1627774].

( )

Wistful and understated, especially in comparison to Dandelion Wine and Something Wicked This Way Comes. Those two books celebrate the exuberance of youth as seen through the eyes of a young boy in Bradbury's fictional Green Town, Illinois. This one combines a coming of age story with the reflections of a village elder looking back over a long life near its end. It's touching in a bittersweet sort of way when you consider it was Bradbury’s last published novel. ( )

This text revolves around Douglas Spaulding, his brother Tom and his friends raging war (rebellion) against the passing of time ruling over our lives and, therefore; clocks, adulthood, growing up, and everything which represents leaving boyhood behind. In a way, it deals with topics that are already in Dandelion such as Mrs. Bentley and the "time machines". In my own opinion, the first section, "Almost Antietam", named after the bloodiest battle in the American Civil War, fails to get in tune with Dandelion wine. It is in "Shiloh", the body of the novel, and in the closing, "Appomattox", also names of battles in the American Civil War (the main battle and the one in which Confederate General Lee surrenders to Unionist General Grant), where Bradbury manages to make of this novel a worthy sequel to Dandelion wine. ( )

A coming-of-age story filled with Bradbury’s beautiful language, but missing some of the heart of its predecessor Dandelion Wine.

“He got up and went to the mirror to see what sadness looked like and there it was.”

“Every time you take a step, even when you don't want to... When it hurts, when it means you rub chins with death, or even if it means dying, that's good. Anything that moves ahead, wins. No chess game was ever won by the player who sat for a lifetime thinking over his next move.” ( )

This is a sequel to Dandelion Wine. In an afterword, Bradbury says that originally Dandelion Wine was longer but the material that went beyond the end of the book as printed was cut in response to his editor. He carried on working on the novel...for fifty years! Is it worth the wait? Oh yes...yes it most definitely is. Tree-men-dous. (Not bush-woman-doesn't.)

THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN CURTAILED IN PROTEST AT GOODREADS' CENSORSHIP POLICY

See the complete review here:

http://arbieroo.booklikes.com/post/334832/post

really this was supposed to be a part of Dandelion Wine, rather than a sequel, but the publishers thought the book was too long, and the Farewell summer part was held back until Bradbury thought it was ready.

It was a looooong wait, but worth it.

The writing is as beautiful as that in Dandelion Wine, and it follows the same Douglas Spaulding on his adventures with his friends. It is interesting to see that Bradbury started this book as a young man, and finished it as an old one, in that it mirrors the theme of the war between the young and the old (taken very literally in the book), and the eventual realisation that both have something to learn from one another.

A very enjoyable continuation of the summer in Dandelion Wine, and one that has a great deal to say, despite it's diminutive size. ( )

I love RB but his later stories seem airy, full of prose, metaphor, and philosophy but lacking a dense story behind it like his earlier works. The middle of the book saved it. The conversation between one old man and a boy who is becoming one, one leaving this live and one entering in the middle of the book made it worth reading. ( )

I'm still on the fence about this book. While I liked it overall, I didn't feel that it was truly a worthy follow up to [b:Dandelion Wine|50033|Dandelion Wine|Ray Bradbury|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170366282s/50033.jpg|1627774]. The appeal of [b:Dandelion Wine|50033|Dandelion Wine|Ray Bradbury|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170366282s/50033.jpg|1627774] was the innocence conveyed in the book, the very strange feeling of being a child in an uncertain world and the terror that one can only feel during that time. [b:Farewell Summer|9620|Farewell Summer|Ray Bradbury|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166031208s/9620.jpg|2707963] was harsher, more jarring, and I could have used a bit more of a transition between the two... I'm glad the editor cut it out of the original manuscript.

In addition to this, the ending is also... questionable. I'm not truly certain how I feel about it, or if I ever will know what to make of it. I understand the point of it... but... well, I don't know. ( )

I loved Dandelion Wine, I can see how this is an extension of this. I wish Dandelion was a series, and it just continued on and on and on forever.
Upon completed, as I sit here, I just feel extremely melancholy. It is because I recognize that the world continues to exist without Bradbury in it any longer. They even tore down his home in Los Angeles in 2015, which broke my heart to pieces. There is no replacement, there is no one that comes close, there is and will only ever be ONE Bradbury. How lucky we are to have shared a world with this author and his liquid poetry.
I absolutely love this man, with all my heart. I find him brilliant, hilarious, heart tugging, beautiful etc etc. I wish he was my father, lol, so I would have grown up listening to his stories, and constantly swim in nostalgia and metaphors. I don't want to speed through all of his stories, I want to dip into Bradbury's bucket a little bit at a time for the rest of my life... because once you read through every little thing he has ever written, I am afraid some of that magic will disappear.
It is amazing how quick life passes you by, one blink and POOF, it's gone!

Oh Boy, and here comes the *gulp* to hold back tears, as I recognize he wrote this as an 80 year old man, much like Quartermain. He was smiling as he wrote fondly again of his dandelion wine world. (sob) ( )

Sequel to Dandelion Wine. I read DW a few weeks ago and couldn't wait to read Farewell Summer.This is a lovely read! FS is a coming of age story , a bit more serious that DW,but enjoyable just the same.Touching,heartwarming and one of those books you hate to see end,like losing a friend.Anyone that has ever been a teen-that is now in the "fall or winter" of your life is sure to love these 2 books. I wish there was another sequel!!!! Anyone that truly appreciated a "peculiar old time machine",like a Grandparent or neighbor,this book is for you. Anyone that remembers being a child growing to a teen,this book is for you. Great summer read.Please read them in order to get the full impact. Lots of chuckles and laughs and some tears too. I have to "live with the memory of this book" before going on to another read. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! ( )

Very different from my memory of Dandelion Wine. Admittedly, I didn't reread that before reading this... and I don't think you need to. Unless you're unfamiliar with Bradbury's style, though, as this may be difficult to grasp as a stand-alone....

Poetry. In prose form, no worries. But the plot is not relevant. The metaphors & themes & Truths are what makes this worth reading. Try to read it out loud with a lover or friend.

Very short - the pages in my edition has wide margins and spacing, and short chapters, making it out to be about half the indicated page count. (So, think of it as a 100 p. book.) I read it in one morning, while coping with interruptions from housework. ( )

I enjoyed this sequel/extension of "Dandelion Wine" by the same author. It was written 55 years after the first book and was his last published work (as told in the Afterword by the author, who passed away in 2012 at the age of 91). It is the coming of age story of Douglas Spaulding who is realizing that he growing up and doesn't know if he likes it. Things are starting to change and change can be scary. It is an interesting book and I enjoyed it more knowing that Bradbury wrote it as an old man knowing that the end was near. ( )

Doug here doesn't want to grow up. He's clearly got Peter Pan issues. And he doesn't seem to mind killing people or hurting them to forever stay a boy.

This is the direct sequel to Bradbury's classic "Dandelion Wine" which I (re)read a year and a half ago. There is a mean streak up the back of this book is the best way I can say it. I suppose we can ascribe this to the young Doug Spaulding entering puberty. I don't know. Here and there are some of Bradbury's usual quiet insights into things but the overall tone of this book and the rather strange end to it put me off. I didn't care for this. Simple as that.

Bradbury has an interesting afterword. ( )

A sequel to Dandelion Wine. Really wasn't expecting much from this, but it got me anyway. Lovely writing, short and sweet as summer itself. So glad I finally got it. ( )

It's really Bradbury. It's really not Dandelion Wine. Nothing ever is. ( )

Follow-up to Dandelion Wine. If you think of it as Jean Sheppard or Garrison Keillor with a twist you get the idea. Not as good as its predecessor, but Bradbury still reminds you why he is a master. ( )

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." ( )