Memory and Dream

Rating:
Summary: A tale well told...
Review: ...with characters that de Lint makes you care about (or hate, as the case may be) and a plot that jumps back and forth in time, continually unfolding. Good stuff here.

Rating:
Summary: A tale well told...
Review: ...with characters that de Lint makes you care about (or hate, as the case may be) and a plot that jumps back and forth in time, continually unfolding. Good stuff here.

Rating:
Summary: Shows us the world is a magical place
Review: After I read _Memory and Dream_, I stumbled around for about a week just thinking, "Wow..." De Lint's work often affects me that way, but this book did it to me even more than usual. I think it's because the characters who populate De Lint's stories are so much like people I know. Most people don't tend to write about people I know, or people who think the way I do.

The story is a deceptively simple one of an artist who is going through a change in her life being forced to own her past and her power. But although the theme is one that is seen often, De Lint makes it real in a way that no one else can. He has a very good heart knowledge of the true pain of life and he presents it in a way that neither minimizes it nor romanticizes it. He does the same with his urban settings; this is not a clean or perfect world, and stories are just as likely to happen in an alley as in a mansion.

Because the settings and the characters are so real, it is easy to believe in the fantasy elements. De Lint's work often deals with the lives and experiences of artists, musicians, and storytellers. Their work is a kind of magic anyway; all De Lint does is make the magic more vivid. He really shows us how the world is a magical place, and when everyone else is saying real magic is dead that's a message I want to hear over and over again.

Rating:
Summary: Shows us the world is a magical place
Review: After I read _Memory and Dream_, I stumbled around for about a week just thinking, "Wow..." De Lint's work often affects me that way, but this book did it to me even more than usual. I think it's because the characters who populate De Lint's stories are so much like people I know. Most people don't tend to write about people I know, or people who think the way I do.

The story is a deceptively simple one of an artist who is going through a change in her life being forced to own her past and her power. But although the theme is one that is seen often, De Lint makes it real in a way that no one else can. He has a very good heart knowledge of the true pain of life and he presents it in a way that neither minimizes it nor romanticizes it. He does the same with his urban settings; this is not a clean or perfect world, and stories are just as likely to happen in an alley as in a mansion.

Because the settings and the characters are so real, it is easy to believe in the fantasy elements. De Lint's work often deals with the lives and experiences of artists, musicians, and storytellers. Their work is a kind of magic anyway; all De Lint does is make the magic more vivid. He really shows us how the world is a magical place, and when everyone else is saying real magic is dead that's a message I want to hear over and over again.

Rating:
Summary: For all who search for magic and recreate enchanted reality.
Review: As a book is read and moved from shelf to bedside and back again, it always gathers signs of how much it is loved. My own copy of Memory and Dream, a creamy hardcover, has now obtained a large watermark, countless bent and rippled pages, and worn edges that speak ofhow much love it. Memory and Dream is a book for anyone who wishes for a little magic in a world which can be such a cruel and bitter place. The story follows an artist, Isabelle Copley, who is brought back suddenly into her own past, jolted by a letter from a long- dead friend. As Isabelle went through her life, she unconciously developed the self-protective habit of rewriting her memory, creating a story of her past that is what she wants it to be rather than what it was. As she is slowly forced to confront the truths of the past and her own part in the events which drove her to her solitude, her past comes back to haunt her in many ways. The tale is also told by a variety of characters, from Isabelle to her friends and loves both past and present. The narrative travels back and forth between present and past, each timeline following its own progression until they collide in a revealing and extraordinary finish. The book is full of the excitement and danger of magic, the joy of creating, and characters who become people you know and care about. The emotional trip through the story is not a kind one, the desriptions of the beginning slowly building into a spiral of emotion and action that is haunting by the end. As with all of Charles de Lint1s novels, it ends as so often stories end in real life, bitter-sweet, something to be remembered and pondered over.

Rating:
Summary: How real is art?
Review: Charles de Lint is a popular writer in the genre known as urban fantasy -stories that place traditional magical elements into a contemporary setting. In Memory & Dream, de Lint takes a fascinating look at the creative process and explores the possibility of artists who can literally create reality. The novel jumps between the present (the early 90s) and the past twenty years leading up to it. Isabelle is an artist who falls under the spell of an enigmatic mentor named Rushkin, a famous reclusive artist. Rushkin teaches Isabelle about painting, and she learns far more from him than from the art classes she takes at college. Yet Rushkin has a very dark side as well, which turns out to be much deeper than she realizes.

Through Rushkin, Isabelle learns that she has the ability to "bring across" creatures that she paints. These entities become actual flesh and blood beings with lives of their own. She falls in love with one of her own creations, an American Indian named John. This ability poses many complications for Isabelle and the people around her. She cannot quite believe that these creatures are real in the human sense. Rushkin, meanwhile, reveals ulterior motives for teaching Isabelle and is soon creating "numena" (the name given these creatures) of his own, which turn out to be evil counterparts to the ones Isabelle creates.
I think the real theme of Memory & Dream is the relationship between art and reality. Isabelle's best friend Katherine is a troubled writer, and she plays an important role in inspiring some of Isabelle's painting. So, the question arises, if a writer puts a character in a story, and an artists paints it, who is the creator? Or, is the answer, "neither," because these creations actually have an existence of their own in a kind of Platonic universe, waiting to be brought into our world by artists?

While these are fascinating questions, I don't want to give the impression that Memory & Dream is a purely intellectual or philosophical novel. It is primarily a very suspenseful story with engaging characters who live in a magical universe. I have read several of de Lint's books (this one twice), and he is one of my favorite contemporary fantasy authors.

Rating:
Summary: How real is art?
Review: Charles de Lint is a popular writer in the genre known as urban fantasy -stories that place traditional magical elements into a contemporary setting. In Memory & Dream, de Lint takes a fascinating look at the creative process and explores the possibility of artists who can literally create reality. The novel jumps between the present (the early 90s) and the past twenty years leading up to it. Isabelle is an artist who falls under the spell of an enigmatic mentor named Rushkin, a famous reclusive artist. Rushkin teaches Isabelle about painting, and she learns far more from him than from the art classes she takes at college. Yet Rushkin has a very dark side as well, which turns out to be much deeper than she realizes.

Through Rushkin, Isabelle learns that she has the ability to "bring across" creatures that she paints. These entities become actual flesh and blood beings with lives of their own. She falls in love with one of her own creations, an American Indian named John. This ability poses many complications for Isabelle and the people around her. She cannot quite believe that these creatures are real in the human sense. Rushkin, meanwhile, reveals ulterior motives for teaching Isabelle and is soon creating "numena" (the name given these creatures) of his own, which turn out to be evil counterparts to the ones Isabelle creates.
I think the real theme of Memory & Dream is the relationship between art and reality. Isabelle's best friend Katherine is a troubled writer, and she plays an important role in inspiring some of Isabelle's painting. So, the question arises, if a writer puts a character in a story, and an artists paints it, who is the creator? Or, is the answer, "neither," because these creations actually have an existence of their own in a kind of Platonic universe, waiting to be brought into our world by artists?

While these are fascinating questions, I don't want to give the impression that Memory & Dream is a purely intellectual or philosophical novel. It is primarily a very suspenseful story with engaging characters who live in a magical universe. I have read several of de Lint's books (this one twice), and he is one of my favorite contemporary fantasy authors.

Rating:
Summary: Grab a cup of tea and a cozy chair!
Review: Charles De Lint's MEMORY AND DREAM is stunning in its story and style. This is the kind of book you keep in your mind forever and when it's over you feel as if your best friend's moved away! If you like your novels spiced with fantasy, heart and intellect, this one's for you. There's everything here: college and artists, the 70s and the 90s. Charles De Lint's tale is beauty at its deepest!

Rating:
Summary: MAKES YOU BELIEVE IN MAGICK
Review: I JUST FINISHED READING THIS BOOK FOR THE 5TH TIME! IT REALLY MAKES YOU BELIEVE IN MAGICK OF ANY KIND. THE MAIN CHARACTER IZZY IS EASY TO RELATE WITH AND SHE'LL REMIND YOU OF SOME-ONE YOU KNOW! DE LINT HAS A WONDERFUL WAY OF TOUCHING ON SUBJECT WE ALL DON'T LIKE TO THINK ABOUT,BUT WE NEED TO BE AWARE OF. YOU'LL NEVER LOOK AT A PAINTING THE SAME WAY AGAIN!

Rating:
Summary: A great beginning, a sagging middle and an interesting end
Review: I picked this book up namely because a discussion group I participate in decided to read this. Our reason for reading it--Mr. DeLint will be visiting a local sci-fi/fantasy con at the end of the year and we thought it might be good to have read some of his work should we go and meet him. This being my first exposure to Mr. DeLint's work, I went in not sure what to expect.

What I found was a mostly enjoyable novel. DeLint's style of writing reminds me a lot of Stephen King novels--namely you have strong protagonists that are caught up in a odd situation and you see how they react to it. In this case, it's the artist Isabelle and her relationship with her friend Kathy, her mentor and her art. There are some other subplots thrown in to keep the plotlines advancing, but the real conflict comes from the interactions of these characters. The first third of the novel is superb and flies by. It's the middle third where things bog down a bit. Izzy's power is to create beings out of her artwork and the middle third of the book is spent debating the merits of this and discussing how she's done this. It's entertaining at first but it wears thing after the first few times. Finally, the novel picks up in the final third as the events foreshadowed and referenced in the first third begin to play out.

DeLint's strength here is his female characters. They are all strong with intelligence, wit and personality. They are all distinct and Izzy and Kathy certainly hit all the right notes. DeLint's providing of a jounral from Kathy's persepctive gives us a nice insight into her character.

The weaknesses are that the temptation by the mentor to Izzy is just put out there and then dropped. (To say too much would be to ruin large portions of the novel). Simply put, the temptation is too much for how little page time is given to it. Otherwise, the conclusion is simply superb.

But while the book has faults, it's strengths intrigue me. So much so that I am looking into reading more DeLint in the future. I only hope he makes good on the promise he shows with this novel.