Farewell Summer

By Ray Bradbury

A poignant and brilliant sequel to Dandelion Wine from the author of Fahrenheit 451

In Green Town Illinois, Douglas Spaulding is in the midst of a small civil war with the old pitted against the young in this, the second book in Bradbury’s semi-fictionalised account of his childhood. As the school board’s figure of authority Mr Calvin C. Quartermain attempts to outwit the boys at every turn, their antics increase and become ever more daring and mischevious. Once the shadow of winter draws across Green Town, the boys quickly realise that their enemy is not so much the senior members of their own community, but rather time itself which is ever ebbing away, just beyond the reach of their most daring trick yet: a bold attempt to sabotage the town’s clock.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Jun 25, 2012
• ISBN: 9780007497652

Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury (22 August 1920 – 5 June 2012) published some 500 short stories, novels, plays and poems since his first story appeared in Weird Tales when he was twenty years old. Among his many famous works are 'Fahrenheit 451,' 'The Illustrated Man,' and 'The Martian Chronicles.'

Reviews for Farewell Summer

[wordcrafter_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Utterly delightful!

[jbreedlove_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love RB but his later stories seem airy, full of prose, metamphor, and philosophy but lacking a dense story behind it like his earlier works. The missle of the book save it. The conversation between one old man and a boy who is becoming one, one leaving this live and one entering in the middleo of the book saved it.

[laugal-2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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!

[pghdragonman · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[cheryl_in_cc_nv · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[rbeffa_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[terris-7 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[unclebob53703 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[mobill76 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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

[jamten_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I loved Dandelion Wine, but this sequel felt like a waste of time. The story never got interesting.

[satyridae · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[crazymamie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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."

[drewandlori · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When I saw Ray Bradbury had written a sequel to "Dandelion Wine", one of my all-time favorite books, this went straight to the top of my reading list. Taking place just over a year after Dandelion Wine, it follows the exploits of Douglas (now "Doug") Spaulding and his family and friends. Unlike the various stories and digressions and sub-plots of the first book, this one focuses on one big story: how Doug's terror of growing up provokes a "civil war" between the children of Green Town and its senior citizens. This book is significantly darker than the first (especially the ending), and I didn't like the focus on a single plot as much, as it felt like this plotline was a little stretched out at times. Even so, I really enjoyed this book. Bradbury writes as well as ever, and I'm very glad he wrote another book about Green Town, even if it took him almost 50 years to do it.

[ocgreg34 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In Green Town, Illinois, signs appear that summer is almost officially over. A change in the air. A blooming of a particular flower. A last, final grip of the summer heat slowly giving way to cooler winds. Doug feels the pull of autumn, but unlike the other boys in town, he senses something else. Something trying to control him and the other boys. Something the old folks in town, lead by the head of the school board Calvin C. Quartermain. In a final effort to keep autumn at bay, he gathers together his friends for a final battle against the Quartermain and his cronies."Farewell Summer" is a fantastic tale of youth fighting against growing up. The one thing I love about Bradbury and why I can't seem to get enough of his books is the language he uses. The phrases seem alive, full of movement, and have a way of recalling the excitement and wonder of childhood adventures.And yet, the last two chapters threw me for a loop, mostly due to the imagery -- the idea of Quartermain bidding his sexual drive goodbye and passing it on, in a bizarre way, to Doug. The idea fits with the story of young vs. old, but its presentation was a bit abrupt and odd.That, however, doesn't detract from me recommending the book as a great look into the eternal struggle to keep from growing older.

[bohemiangirl35 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I absolutely loved Dandelion Wine, but could not get into this sequel. I was glad it was short. The boys' actions to declare war on the elders didn't make much sense to me. Or maybe they would have if the boys talked more like preteen boys. When Doug made the speech about the chess pieces, the story lost me and never did get me back. I finished it because I kept waiting for it to grab me and because it was Ray Bradbury.

[johngorski · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was very apprehensive when I purchased this book last year and again when I picked it up over labor day weekend. After all, Ray Bradbury is one of my favorite authors and certainly the favorite author of my youth. "Dandelion Wine", the novel to which this is the sequel, remains one of the most powerful evocations of an American boyhood summer in a small country town. "Farewell Summer" is about the end of that boyhood but not in an empty, post-modern way. It is more about the natural flow of life and how if you keep your inner eye open, the magic does not have to end with the coming of manhood. It is about the continuity of generations and what we give to each other as human beings. It is also about forgiveness and redemption about how we are never separated from community. At the close of this story, I was overcome emotionally in a way I haven't been since I finished "The Lord of the Rings" for the first time. If you are a Bradbury fan, read this book. If you have become cyinical about the human race, read this book. If you just want to feel better about things in general, read this book.

[daedalus18 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I think people are generally a little too hard on this book. I liked it a lot, and will read it again. I'm a long time fan of Dandelion Wine - and to me the characterization seemed right on, and the themes felt like a natural and evocative continuation. There are priceless moments that stand among the strongest highlights in Bradbury's writing career. That said, the psychology among the old men interests me more than Doug's in this book. I don't think the reader can help but see Mr. Bradbury casting himself as the oldtimer protagonist facing down his youthful self now than he is a living bookend to his romantic adventures in writing about this mortal coil.Beautiful, important, and special.As a stand alone work - I can't rate it as much as a 4, but strictly as a fan of the writer and the first part of the story, I could have pushed it to a 5.The book is probably best read in less than 4 sittings - and comes across as more of a short story than a novel. Perfect reading for a late August vacation, like the one I just read it on.

[charlie68_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I thought this was a superbly written book, Mr. Bradbury certainly knows how to write, in a few pages, dense moving prose, take the time to read this book. A master at work, and you can finish it in a day.

[josephj_530382 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This sequel to Bradbury's Dandelion Wine is not as masterful as its predecessor, but it adds well to the tale of the young boys youth. You'll want to read it if you read Dandelion Wine. It is a much shorter and even easier read, but fits well with the first book.

[conformer_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The sequel to Bradbury's own Dandelion Wine pits the boys of summer against the old men of Green Town, Illinois. According to the afterword, the ideas laid down here were also in the first draft of the first book. It only took him 50 years to catch up.

[foomy_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It's supposed to be a great book, and I get the point, but I could not quite relate to the boy.

[karlstar_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a short but wonderful book about life and growing up, told in a very different, unusual way. Definitely worth reading over and over again.

[elbakerone · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Fifty years after Dandelion Wine, this sequel puts a new twist on the themes of the original. Ray Bradbury is amazingly poetic in his storytelling, weaving an interesting tale of maturity and responsibility. Bradbury reintroduces readers to Douglas Spaulding and his young friends who proceed to wage a war against the old men of the town, convinced that they can find a way to keep from growing up. As the story progresses the reader comes to an understanding of the different seasons of life the characters are in as the young men and old come to an understanding of themselves and each other.