Dreamtime : A Collection of Short Stories

Rating:
Summary: a storyteller with a gift for description
Review: Dreamtime is a term for the magical period of the creation of the world...it grasps the meaning of mystery and mystical wonder. The title "Dreamtime" captures the essence of Robert Steiner's short story collection and gives the correct suggestion that this too is a thing of mystery and mystical wonder.

This collection offers stories of great variety, from an odd summer job of being a decoy for muggings to the consequences of space travel. All of the stories contain some sort of oddity, lending them all an air of the "Twilight Zone." Each is a short, satisfying episode of fiction that will be sure to please its readers.

Robert Steiner is a storyteller with a gift for description. He grabs the reader's attention from the first word and offers tidbits of uniqueness to carry you through to the end of each tale. "Dreamtime" is an interesting and enjoyable read that touches on the paranormal but also demonstrates the very human qualities of its characters.

Review by Heather Froeschl of BookReview.com.

Rating:
Summary: Ironic Literary Tales from The Twilight Zone
Review: Are you old enough to remember Rod Serling's television series, The Twilight Zone? If so, Dr. Steiner's collection of stories called Dreamtime will remind you of the best shows in that series. Like Serling's work, Dr. Steiner takes you into a land of imagination inspired by both the characters and by intriguing literary and historical allusions. When you are done, you will find yourself musing about many interesting circumstances concerning about "what if?" time and space were suddenly compressed or distorted in new ways.

I particularly liked the deep ironies that Dr. Steiner employs in the book. Irony is hard to find these days. People seem to read so little that they think irony is simply a mistake. Dr. Steiner's ironies are unmistakable as being intentional, and are very thought provoking. The first story, The Decoy, is a good example in looking at what appearance really says about us and the implications of our appearance. The Hiker's Tale explores the subtle interplay between reality and imagination in a way that makes imagination seem ever so much more desirable than reality. The Student Pilot, Returning Student and Round Trip all look at people in times and places where they don't belong . . . and what that would be like for all concerned. Canine Fantasies lets imagination carry over in mysterious ways into reality. You also visit the supernatural, both from a religious (The Disappearance and The Pilgrim) and a satanic (Phoenix Street and The Seaside Witch) perspective.

Many people choose to make their short stories overly mysterious or their allusions obscure. Dr. Steiner is more like Hemingway in making the stories, words and allusions simple and straightforward.

I highly recommend this book of short stories to you.

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Summary: Poignant stories set in the misty outskirts of the mundane
Review: Dreamtime is an apt title for this collection of short stories. The author has a wonderfully natural writing style, and in all but one case the story feels as if the author is right there with you recounting personal stories beside the hearth - indeed, the majority of the stories are drawn from personal experience, as the author tells us in his Preface. The naturalistic style of the writing makes for a perfect medium in which Steiner introduces touches of the dream-like and supernatural. In story after story, the world of the mundane is gradually infused with an atmosphere of intellectual, almost dreamlike fog.

The initial story, The Decoy, is rather atypical of the eleven stories collected here, in that it does not stray into the realm of the unusual. It does, however, show how good can come of seemingly bad occurrences. The sense of dreamlike experience first manifests itself in The Hiker's Tale: At Anton's Restaurant, in my opinion the most effective story in the collection. In this tale, an older gentleman finds himself caught in a sudden snowstorm, only to find a needed respite in the form of a most unusual restaurant.

Two of the stories, The Student Pilot and The Returning Student, share a similar theme; they don't deal with reincarnation per se, but in each case a great man of the past seems to make an unexpected and relatively brief trip into a contemporary but otherwise mundane setting. Canine Fantasies was a story I particularly enjoyed; here, the main character is given an invisible canine companion by a hypnotist, and this supposedly transient spirit eventually becomes the man's best friend in ways few would believe.

Several of the stories are open-ended explorations of extreme possibilities. The Disappearance, for instance, puts forth one possible scenario of The Rapture in the form of a man with whom the protagonist has, he realizes after the fact, a brief but personal connection. Events and personalities coming back together for a seemingly preordained purpose is also the formula for the story The Sea Witch. Phoenix Street is the only story with a real feeling of creepiness embedded within it - in the form of a malevolent old lady who affects a young Harvard graduate student's life, despite the fact the two individuals have never truly met.

A palpable sense of unreality or perhaps hyper-reality is evinced in the story The Uninvited Guest. Here, a stranded traveler wanders into an upscale party of strange characters espousing radical ideas. There would seem to be a context of political philosophy built into this story, but it is hard to say more without giving anything away.

The Pilgrim proves to be the most unusual story in the collection; it offers an allegorically striking and most unusual take on the subject of dying. I would have liked to have seen this story close out the book rather than the much less effective tale Round Trip. This final tale differs from the others in that it is told from the perspective of a third person, and its somewhat depressing account of an astronaut returning to a world forty years in his future (thanks to the conundrum of relativity) casts a dark reflection on the reader's consciousness.

Needless to say, I found Dreamtime a most impressive short story collection. While the author devoted his life to science, he obviously developed at the same time a deep sense of the human condition, with all its fears, desires, and mysteries. His writing style, far from the cold and sterile manner you might associate with a man of science, is in fact vibrant and exceedingly smooth and natural. Steiner chose the title Dreamtime because the word reflects a time of creativity and dreamlike magic, and as such it seems to fit this collection of stories perfectly.

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Summary: A Stroll Along The Filmy Line Between Fact and Fiction
Review: Robert Steiner has gathered some of his finest short stories in DREAMLINE: A Collection of Short Stories and in doing so gives evidence of a very exciting new writer! Although Steiner has spent his long and productive life in the sciences, he has apparently been observing the animas of the subjects of his investigation. In this wholly enjoyable group of varied and inventive stories Steiner proves that his retirement years may just be the beginning of a separate and equally successful career!

Each of these creative stories is written with simplicity of style, most being narrated in the first person format. No puff or fluff of literary pretense here - just sound story weaving. And as if that weren't sufficient to mark him as a writer to watch, each of these tales comes across as intimate sharings of the author's own experiences!

Grouping these tales under the title DREAMLINE is wise, as these stories wander through realistic settings, opening doors into fantasy or science fiction, nightmares or dreams, and Steiner wisely leaves most of the conclusions to us. He has the ability to spark controversy about politics, about prejudices, about the narrow thread that holds in balance in scales of sanity and insanity. Twice his stories deal with 'reincarnation' or deja vu (we're never quite certain) when a character finds himself in a classroom with the appearance of such disparate characters as Rembrandt and Edgar Allen Poe.

Perhaps the beauty of this work is enhanced by Steiner's years as a researcher and teacher in the fields of medical investigation. Perhaps his imagination has been enriched by his travels in Europe, Asia and Latin America or his involvement with Amnesty International. Whatever the source of his florid resources, he has used them well in an area of writing that this short book makes us eager for more. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, November 2004.

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Summary: Stories of the world within, beyond and out of reach
Review: Robert Steiner named his collection of short stories from the Australian Aborigine "Dreamtime"--that world of the past, present and future that is a spiritual mystery. The title is apt--each story, whether set in this world or some other takes place in that nebulous region between life and death, between real and imagined.

The stories reminded me a bit of Edgar Allen Poe, but without being so bitterly dark. In a way, reading these was a bit like listening to "Hotel California" (but I mean that in a good way!)

There is a story of an unremarkable-looking young man who signs up for a stint patrolling the tourist areas of Rome. The work is not exactly without dangers, and he finds that even the darkest situation can yield some unexpected benefits. There is a story of a man who finds an abandoned mansion in Pennsylvania. The guests are captains of industry and society dames, but the uninvited guest finds out that they are far more dangerous than their conversation. A student in Cambridge, Massachusetts learns about the residue that pure evil can leave behind. And a professor in a third-rate college has a star pupil who is as elusive as he is brilliant. Who is the old guy that sits in on the classes, aces the exams but won't sign up for a campus ID and eludes security with the ease of a cat burglar?

The stories are enjoyable--reading this is like telling ghost stories around a campfire, but as if you had very literary camping friends, indeed. I enjoyed "Dreamtime" --once picked up, it's hard to put it down. If you like fantasy-horror on the light and fanciful side, this will appeal to you.

Rating:
Summary: Original, engrossing, and strangely real
Review: The eleven stories in this collection have in common a dream-like, supernatural quality of the sinister somewhat reminiscent of the work of Edgar Allan Poe (who actually appears in one of the stories) or perhaps Lord Dunsany (in particular I am reminded of his chilling story, "The Ghosts") or H.P. Lovecraft (who is mentioned in another story). The tales are carefully crafted and polished to a fine sheen so that every word is exactly where it should be. The narratives (all in the first person except for "The Pilgrim" and "Round Trip") are distinguished by an urbane, educated voice that is careful to be clear and realistic while giving just enough detail and background to make the story accessible. A nice tension is established and one is drawn into the mystery and reads eagerly toward the resolution. Unlike some ultra fancy short stories much in vogue these many years, Steiner's stories clearly do find a resolution.

Typically the narrator recalls some strange event. Perhaps he was caught in a snowstorm (this occurs in two of the stories). The storm becomes worse and then he finds shelter at a fantastic establishment. In one of the stories it is at an extraordinarily fancy restaurant, in the other he finds himself at an aristocrat's party in a large and ornate mansion. In either case it is clear that the first person narrator has entered the dreamtime, perhaps that stage of life before one freezes to death. But he recovers and looks back, and then some years later, returns to the scene to find some lingering reminiscence of his adventure. In some cases a historic personage figures in the story--Poe in one story, Leonardo Di Vinci (I believe) in another--or someone the narrator had met before returns in a new guise, as was the case with the 500-pound man on the beach.

Steiner draws a fuzzy line between the supernatural and the ordinary, between the fantastic world of our dreams and the mundane reality of our daily lives. He steers a moderate course between the nervous dreams redolent of childhood reveries and the horror tales of perversion and murder supplied by the commercial establishment, so that, while we are always on the edge of the frightful, we never fall into the abyss of the horrific.

In most collections there is some drop off in quality, or there is a clash of style that makes some stories seem out of place (or actually makes some appear as "fillers"). But Steiner's eleven are all very well rendered, consistently engrossing, and all of a feather. I particularly enjoyed "The Uninvited Guest" in which Steiner combines a Kafkaesque disorientation with prescient politics as his narrator learns of the fascist desires of the aristocratic party guests after Reagan's victory in 1980, desires that foreshadow to some extent those of the current Republican administration. I also very much enjoyed "Canine Fantasies" in which the narrator finds himself always in the company of a dog he cannot see. Indeed, I enjoyed all the stories, and was struck with the originality of Steiner's vision.

Bottom line: a superior collection, artfully and artistically done, reminding me of the work of some of the great masters of the genre.

Rating:
Summary: very Compelling Book
Review: this is the kind of book that takes you into so many areas.the fact&fiction the Bridge&the road. you never know quite what to expect next&that is the power of a strogn writer keeping you guessing&wondering what shall go down next.the Book isn't long&Is very direct&to the Point which another strong point.it works&keeps you turning page after page&you still want to go back&read because it has that strength.a must read&full of Adventure.

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Summary: Unsettling, bizarre, and wonderful
Review: What is a dream? Is it merely that state achieved during sleep when fleeting images only half remembered later trace their way through your mind? Or are there other dream states? How about an alternate reality? Could one stumble into something so extraordinary and so beyond the common frame of reference that it constitutes a sort of waking dream? Author Robert Steiner seems to think so. He compiled eleven short stories outlining his belief under the title "Dreamtime." The author, a Harvard graduate who worked as a research scientist at the Naval Medical Research Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, has written a series of tales that evoke memories of such writers of the supernatural as William Hope Hodgson and even, in a certain narrative way, Clark Ashton Smith. Not all of the stories delve into the paranormal, but all of the stories do give the reader a decidedly eerie sensation of "not quite rightness" that only the masters of supernatural fiction manage to achieve. You won't find a lot of monsters from beyond time and space or fabled lands on other planets in "Dreamtime." What we do get is something far more sinister and far more personal. This is one creepy set of stories.

The first story in the collection, "The Decoy," doesn't exactly set the tone for the rest of the book. Don't get me wrong; it's a great story. But it doesn't expose us to the bizarre like the rest of the tales do. In this one, a young man ready to head off to graduate school decides to take a most unusual summer job in Italy helping the authorities there crack down on street criminals. Why he would be perfect for the job only emerges in degrees: it seems that his physical appearance is so repugnant that the Italian cops think he looks like a dupe of the type criminals love to victimize. He's actually quite intelligent, of course, which is another trait the police are looking for. Needless to say, he works wonders busting up packs of pickpockets until an encounter with a particularly ruthless gang of Russian thugs changes our young hero forever.

The next story, "The Hiker's Tale: At Anton's Restaurant," is more conventionally weird, if that makes any sense. A man decides to take a long hike to a dinner party only to run headlong into a dangerous snowstorm. He sits down on a stump to rest--never a good thing to do when it's cold and snowing outside--only to resume his trip a few minutes later. He stumbles over a brightly lit gentleman's club/restaurant in a place he never noticed on previous excursions. Invited inside by the friendly personnel, he sits down to partake of the inn's fantastic menu only to wake up suddenly in the hospital, a victim of frostbite and extreme exhaustion. Was it real or only a dream of a warm, welcoming place conjured up by an injured mind and body in order to sustain itself?

The next four tales share a similar trait in that we are seeing people or animals emerging from some other place or time to affect characters in the present day. "The Student Pilot" introduces us to a mysterious man who shows up for flight lessons even though he seems to know everything about flying airplanes. His identity, strongly hinted at toward the end of the story, makes us wonder whether what we are seeing is a case of reincarnation or something more eerie. The same can be said for "Canine Fantasies," a truly odd tale of a man hypnotized into thinking a phantom dog follows him everywhere he goes. Is it the recalled spirit of his childhood pet or a merely a hallucination? Problem is, this spirit helps the main character out in a big way on several occasions. "The Returning Student" eschews pilots and dogs in favor of a university teacher's encounter with an enigmatic student resembling one of our most famous authors. In "The Disappearance" the author treats us to yet another reappearing historical figure, this time a figure straight out of the Bible.

For something darker and scarier, turn to "Phoenix Street," "The Seaside Witch," and "The Uninvited Guest." The first involves a Harvard graduate student stressing out over finishing his thesis who disintegrates into a nervous wreck after glimpsing the visage of an evil looking woman glaring at him from the window of a house. "The Seaside Witch" involves a strange case of two individuals meeting again years after a chance encounter. The witch appears only briefly and in a way that doesn't set off alarm bells until the end of the story. My favorite story, and one that will definitely stay with me for some time, is "The Uninvited Guest." Some poor wretch caught in the fog pulls up to a house filled with chattering people throwing out very grim political opinions. This story made me think of Jack London's "The Iron Heel." The last tales include a science fiction story, "Round Trip," about an astronaut returning to earth after a forty-year excursion among the stars, and a delightfully optimistic look at the afterlife called "The Pilgrim."

Steiner has written some real gems here. He definitely has a knack for creating delightfully bizarre environments in the space of a few pages. His writing style works well too: you get the sense rather quickly that this is an author who ponders over each and every sentence to make sure he gets everything just right. He might have worked in science as a career, but his talents extend far beyond the laboratory and the microscope.