At the end of last semester, Dandelion Wine was voted as the book for the 2025 winter break. After the winter break, "The Beauty of Life" a book club of Dandelion Wine, organized by the library and the Reading Society, was successfully held in the library's Multifunctional Room on the afternoon of February 22, 2025. Through in-depth text interpretation and cross-temporal dialogue, the readers explored the eternal beauty of memory and life.
Figure 1: Scene of the Book Club
Dandelion Wine is a "love letter to life" written by the legendary science fiction writer Ray Bradbury. It is like a painting where "memory and childhood intertwine poetically." The story is told from the perspective of a 12-year-old boy named Douglas, recounting the magical summer he spent with his family, friends, and the residents of his small town. Through delicate depictions of childhood memories, the book explores profound themes of life, time, and growth.
Figure 2: Ray Bradbury (Image Source: Internet)
During the book club, Hu Yi, a student from the Reading Society who served as the host, used classic excerpts from the book to invite readers to share their insights on the plot. Questions such as "What are the differences in childhood memories between individuals?", "Is there an insurmountable gap between the innocence of childhood and the complexity of adulthood?", and "Are childhood fears real or self-imagined?" sparked deep discussions among the readers.
Figure 3: Enthusiastic Discussion
Readers at the event expressed that Dandelion Wine is not just a novel about childhood but a philosophical reflection on life. They resonated strongly with Douglas's growth experiences in the book. The childlike, fragmented descriptions are observations of life, filled with the sounds of cicadas in the backyard and the summer breeze, also imbued with the melancholy of time passing. Although childhood gradually fades with growth, the beautiful memories and feelings in life continue to provide us with strength and comfort.
Figure 4: Readers Taking a Group Photo
After the book club, Hu Yi summarized: "Because the book club was relatively small, readers quickly became familiar with each other. As the host, I was able to participate in the discussions rather than just lecturing, which made me feel that the atmosphere of Dandelion Wine was also present among us. The book club is a great environment for exchange, and for a reading enthusiast, it's like returning home after a long journey. The scale and format of the Haining International Campus reminds one of the peaceful and focused life in Green Town described in the book. The breath of life, technology, perception, and self, transmitted from Bradbury's hometown, reached us through the air of the university."
Every memory in life is like a dandelion seed, drifting with the wind, yet quietly taking root and sprouting at some point. On this nostalgic afternoon, a group of readers walked together into Ray Bradbury's world together. As the author of the book said, they felt that "the meaning of life is not in how many years you live, but in how many moments you perceive."