“Farewell Summer” by Ray Bradbury – The Victory of Time
In it, we continue to follow the story of thirteen-year-old Douglas Spaulding and his younger brother Tom, as they try their best to resist the inevitable tides of change, going as far as declaring war on old age itself.
Youth is the kind of thing to slip quietly away into the night, never to be seen again. Most of us don't realize how or when it goes, and by the time we notice it's absence it's already long-gone. In Ray Bradbury's Greentown Series, Douglas Spaulding and his friends have the benefit (or curse) of seeing it happen, and in the last book of the series, Farewell Summer, they're finally forced to face the music. The plot begins on October first, the official end of summer.
Ray Bradbury Ends the Fairy Tale
However, for Douglas Spaulding, his younger brother Tom, and their friends, official declarations mean very little. They're still quite intent on taking advantage of the last warm days of the year, enacting their innocent rampages as young kids tend to.
However, they know the time of their precious youth is slowly coming to an end, and the old men in town seem to be hell-bent on pushing them onward towards adulthood, towards settling down and growing up like they inevitably have to one day. The boys, of course, aren't the type to give in without a fight, even if it is against all-powerful life concepts.
Douglas and his merry band have a last-ditch but foolproof plan to put into action: taking control of the clock atop the courthouse building, and hopefully stopping the passage of time in the process. What they don't realize though, is Quartermain and his friends were also once young, and have tricks of their own up their sleeves. So continues the eternal war against aging.
Nostalgia is a concept I think we're all acquainted with at least to some extent, fondly remembering at least some bygone days free of worries and filled with innocent happiness. However, we all must learn and accept life moves on with or without us; whether we like it or not, responsibilities start getting piled onto us and we must simply learn to deal with them.
At the same time, Bradbury also takes the opportunity to look at things from Colonel Quartermain's perspective, who could also stand to learn a few life lessons of his own. Though there is certainly less of a focus placed on him and his entourage, we also seem him struggling in vain with the idea of time moving on past him, and the importance of letting go.
Despite the novel touching on perhaps some of the most frightening and all-encompassing topics in life (uncontrollable aging), I found it still managed to retain some very welcome heartwarming characteristics, the principal one being the somewhat tame quality of the plot and nature of the Greentown Series as a whole.
In somewhat vain attempts to capture our attention, more and more modern authors turn to shock value, unnecessary action, and gratuitous displays of senseless cruelty. While I certainly haven't read all books in existence, I feel I can say this trend is becoming increasingly normalized, and as a result, decreases the need for authors to dig deep into their imaginations to retain the reader's attention.
Why did I suddenly rant about this? Because Farewell Summer is, I believe, a perfect example of the interest a novel and its story can generate without any of the elements I mentioned above. As a matter of fact, many of the actual actions taken by the characters in this book are fairly tame and I'm sure most of us are guilty of them too, at least in one form or another.
It was honestly a real pleasure to spend my time with a novel which, for once, didn't try to drench me in gallons of blood or recruit me to a needlessly-complicated conspiracy. The small scale and realistic approach simply give this novel a very relaxing feeling, akin to a nice walk in the park. Sometimes, it's just really comforting to know there won't be any nonsense jumping at you out of the pages.
Farewell Summer by Ray Bradbury is a fantastic conclusion to the Greentown Series, marking the whole thing as a true work of classic literature in coming of age fiction.
However, they know the time of their precious youth is slowly coming to an end, and the old men in town seem to be hell-bent on pushing them onward towards adulthood, towards settling down and growing up like they inevitably have to one day. The boys, of course, aren't the type to give in without a fight, even if it is against all-powerful life concepts.
On the other side of the hill, facing off against the youth of the town is Colonel Quartermain with his own set of cohorts supporting him. They think the boys have gone on long enough with their silly games and charades, and it's time for them to move forward along with time and grow up to fulfill their responsibilities.
Douglas and his merry band have a last-ditch but foolproof plan to put into action: taking control of the clock atop the courthouse building, and hopefully stopping the passage of time in the process. What they don't realize though, is Quartermain and his friends were also once young, and have tricks of their own up their sleeves. So continues the eternal war against aging.
The Inevitability of Life in Farewell Summer
In my opinion, Ray Bradbury captured this precarious transition between the two periods in life not only in Farewell Summer, but the entirety of his Greentown Series. As I watch Douglas and his friends struggle against the current of time flow, I can't help but feel a strong familiarity in his concerns and actions, as I'm sure many others do as well.
The bulk of the story is, of course, centred on the kids and their increasingly futile attempts at holding on their childhood just a little bit longer. There are definitely some strong bittersweet tones to the whole thing, and I found Bradbury balanced quite well the purity and innocence of Douglas' goals with the all-too-familiar and predictable failure to accomplish them.
At the same time, Bradbury also takes the opportunity to look at things from Colonel Quartermain's perspective, who could also stand to learn a few life lessons of his own. Though there is certainly less of a focus placed on him and his entourage, we also seem him struggling in vain with the idea of time moving on past him, and the importance of letting go.
This isn't the kind of story which holds big dramatic revelations or blood-pumping action scenes in hopes of retaining our attention. Much of it is centred on people coming to terms with themselves, their own lives, and facing important truths they have no choice but to accept, no matter how unsavoury they might be.
The Tame Nature of Existence
In somewhat vain attempts to capture our attention, more and more modern authors turn to shock value, unnecessary action, and gratuitous displays of senseless cruelty. While I certainly haven't read all books in existence, I feel I can say this trend is becoming increasingly normalized, and as a result, decreases the need for authors to dig deep into their imaginations to retain the reader's attention.
Why did I suddenly rant about this? Because Farewell Summer is, I believe, a perfect example of the interest a novel and its story can generate without any of the elements I mentioned above. As a matter of fact, many of the actual actions taken by the characters in this book are fairly tame and I'm sure most of us are guilty of them too, at least in one form or another.
It was honestly a real pleasure to spend my time with a novel which, for once, didn't try to drench me in gallons of blood or recruit me to a needlessly-complicated conspiracy. The small scale and realistic approach simply give this novel a very relaxing feeling, akin to a nice walk in the park. Sometimes, it's just really comforting to know there won't be any nonsense jumping at you out of the pages.
To wrap it all up, Bradbury's excellent prose makes a triumphant return, and I think we can say he belongs to the exclusive club of elite writers whose every word seems to be carefully chosen, and every sentence constructed with true meaning. He has a gift for transporting the readers deep into his realm, and he does so once again here.
The Final Verdict
If you've read and enjoyed the previous two books, or if you simply want to see a relatable teenage boy's last stand against the tides of age, then I highly recommend you give this book a chance.
 | Ray Douglas Bradbury(August 22, 1920 – June 5, 2012)Personal site Author of the internationally-acclaimed Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury is one of the most distinguished science-fiction writers on this planet, known for his dystopian and partly-horrific sci-fi stories. His influence on American culture cannot be understated, with some claiming him to be responsible for turning science-fiction into a mainstream genre. |
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