The Law of Dreams: A Novel (Hardback)
7 journalers for this copy...
So far this has been a great book! I'm about 3/4 of the way through it. Going to offer it as a bookring.
Wonderful review from
Wordsnark!
"Winner of the 2006 Governor General's Award for fiction (Canada).
This is an intermittently powerful book: vivid and fully realized, yet veering into cinematic sentimentality on occasion. There is a kind of compression in the storytelling that can make the weight of experience presented here overwhelming. Everything is at a high pitch: the poverty, hunger, physical and emotional hardship, violence, blood, and body. At times this book seems poetic and epic, at times like over-inflated Blarney.
The novel travels with fifteen-year-old Fergus O'Brien, ejected from the land in Ireland in the midst of the Irish Potato Famine. In the course of less than one year (from November 1846 - May 1847) Fergus becomes a child bandit and murderer, fever-and-poor house survivor, apprentice prostitute in London, horse wrangler/railroad labourer in Wales, and husband/passenger/emigrant headed to "America" (landing in Quebec, then Montreal, and last seen moving towards the Boston states).
Fergus is a modern sensibility hammered into a historical setting. The book seems carefully and authentically detailed. Absorbing the sense of place and time is one of its pleasures. Fergus survives by being governed by the law of dreams, which is to fix on something outside the present and keep moving towards it. That used to be called faith: in this book it is more like the pursuit of happiness."
Thank you
Wordsnark for a wonderful review of this book!
Wonderful review from
Wordsnark!
"Winner of the 2006 Governor General's Award for fiction (Canada).
This is an intermittently powerful book: vivid and fully realized, yet veering into cinematic sentimentality on occasion. There is a kind of compression in the storytelling that can make the weight of experience presented here overwhelming. Everything is at a high pitch: the poverty, hunger, physical and emotional hardship, violence, blood, and body. At times this book seems poetic and epic, at times like over-inflated Blarney.
The novel travels with fifteen-year-old Fergus O'Brien, ejected from the land in Ireland in the midst of the Irish Potato Famine. In the course of less than one year (from November 1846 - May 1847) Fergus becomes a child bandit and murderer, fever-and-poor house survivor, apprentice prostitute in London, horse wrangler/railroad labourer in Wales, and husband/passenger/emigrant headed to "America" (landing in Quebec, then Montreal, and last seen moving towards the Boston states).
Fergus is a modern sensibility hammered into a historical setting. The book seems carefully and authentically detailed. Absorbing the sense of place and time is one of its pleasures. Fergus survives by being governed by the law of dreams, which is to fix on something outside the present and keep moving towards it. That used to be called faith: in this book it is more like the pursuit of happiness."
Thank you
Wordsnark for a wonderful review of this book!
This was/is prob. one of the best books I have read in a long time! A page turner through and through... I was sorry to see it end. I strongly encourage you all to read this book. You will not be disappointed!
Bookring Participants so far....
Person in blue had the book,or book is headed that way.
Ajsmom-Quesnel, British Columbia Canada- Can ship anywhere Book is headed here first!
Yourotherleft-Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania USA - US shipping only
Maurean-Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania USA - US & Canada shipping
Hopesdreams-Abbotsford, British Columbia Canada - US & Canada shipping
MmeClinton-South Berwick, Maine USA Can ship anywhere.
Tarna-Tampere, Pirkanmaa Finland Can ship anywhere.
Home to me.
Person in blue had the book,or book is headed that way.
Ajsmom-Quesnel, British Columbia Canada- Can ship anywhere Book is headed here first!
Yourotherleft-Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania USA - US shipping only
Maurean-Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania USA - US & Canada shipping
Hopesdreams-Abbotsford, British Columbia Canada - US & Canada shipping
MmeClinton-South Berwick, Maine USA Can ship anywhere.
Tarna-Tampere, Pirkanmaa Finland Can ship anywhere.
Home to me.
Received today, thank you!
I devoured this book! Thank goodness for airline flights, which bought me 2 hours of uninterrupted reading! :) Reading Wordsnark's review, I can say that there were only bits of overinflated Blarney - I thought the story of Fergus rang remarkably true, given the historical setting. I liked the writing, I liked the idea (The Law of Dreams is to keep moving), I liked the characters, and I liked the fact that the ending was open.
I will be recommending this book to many. Thank you so much for the ring, Dusties! I have PM'd yourotherleft and will have this book on its journey south as soon as I hear back.
I will be recommending this book to many. Thank you so much for the ring, Dusties! I have PM'd yourotherleft and will have this book on its journey south as soon as I hear back.
Journal Entry 6 by ajsmom at To the next participant in Bookring/Bookray, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- Canada on Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Released 17 yrs ago (2/13/2007 UTC) at To the next participant in Bookring/Bookray, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- Canada
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
RELEASE NOTES:
Sent to yourotherleft via air mail.
Sent to yourotherleft via air mail.
This came in the mail today. I'll read it and pass it on as soon as I can. Thanks! =)
Wow, this book was a very gritty yet realistic portrayal of the Irish immigrant experience as a result of the potato famine. Fergus is a believable character and the rest of those who populate the novel and his life are truly brought to life in the midst of their various sufferings. Fergus's determination to keep moving forward even as life wounds him again and again is admirable, and the reader is allowed to think that this quality will bring him to a good life...at some point. If you're looking for something uplifting and cheerful, this is not your book; but if you're looking to be transported to a different time and place and actually feel how it feels to live there, this book completely envelops you in its subject matter.
Thanks for sharing, Dusties. This book has already been mailed off to Maurean.
Thanks for sharing, Dusties. This book has already been mailed off to Maurean.
This arrived in Saturday's mail. I have one more ring ahead of it, but I will read soon & journal when I'm thru.
Thanks for sharing this Dusties, it sound very interesting...
Thanks for sharing this Dusties, it sound very interesting...
And, interesting, it was. A very gripping tale. Truth be told, I was prepared to give up on this one several times, as the story is somewhat sad & extremely gritty in some places, but each time I lay it aside I felt compelled to follow Fergus' story to the end.
Now, though, we leave young Fergus on his way to New England, and "The Law of Dreams" will make its way to hopesdreams on my next PO run. *mailed 4/07
Now, though, we leave young Fergus on his way to New England, and "The Law of Dreams" will make its way to hopesdreams on my next PO run. *mailed 4/07
Thanks it got here safe. Look forward to enjoying this book.
I think this book came at a difficult time in my life. Found the poverty, hunger, blood was too much for me. Thanks for the chance to try it. Will mail it off to Mme Clinton.
I have received this book in the mail and will begin it soon! I am looking forward to a rollicking story. Thanks for sending it on. I'll make comments after reading!
I think the review done by wordsnark is right on. Although I really enjoyed reading this book and feel I learned a great deal from it as I like to do with historical and well researched fiction, I was alternately pushed to keep reading and needing a break from a somewhat tedious style. The short sentences and quasi-philosophical comments that seemed from the author and not from Fergus kept me from being swept away. I will take this off to France with me and then ship it off to Finland to Tarna who is last on the list and with whom I have already communicated.
The book arrived today. Merci beaucoup, MmeClinton! Oh, I so wish I could have come and picked it up myself just like you suggested ! :-) I wish you enjoy your time spent in France. (I know you do, who wouldn’t. It’s France, for heaven’s sake!)
Judging by the cover The Law of Dreams looks really interesting. It’s just that I have a few other ring books ahead of this one—I guess I’m a bit of a bookringaholic :-( Some heavy reading to do this summer...If reading this one takes longer than I expected, I’ll send you a PM, Dusties, and ask if I can keep the book a bit longer. But I sure hope I won’t have to.
Have a happy summer, everyone!
Judging by the cover The Law of Dreams looks really interesting. It’s just that I have a few other ring books ahead of this one—I guess I’m a bit of a bookringaholic :-( Some heavy reading to do this summer...If reading this one takes longer than I expected, I’ll send you a PM, Dusties, and ask if I can keep the book a bit longer. But I sure hope I won’t have to.
Have a happy summer, everyone!
After all these reviews, what can I say? It is a great book! Breathtaking, somehow.
Actually, this is third book dealing with some Irishman or Irishwoman immigrating North America I’ve read. And this is the one that stays longest in the Old World. Before this, I have understood why Europeans left for America, as they say—and why wouldn’t I; my grandma was one of them—and now I get it even better.
There’s nothing nice or sweet in this story; it was quite depressing, really. But the language is beautiful. I enjoyed the clarity and a kind of shimmer of the sentences Behrens wrote. He is a wonderful writer, I give you that.
And open endings, I adore them. They imitate life just as literature should.
Someone—perhaps it was Dusties?—has highlighted two sentences:
Are you a part of the world, like a bird, an apple tree, a fish, or the sea itself? Or are you here to judge it, everything in it, yourself included?
It pinpoints, not only The Law of Dreams, but life itself. Something to think for us all.
Thank you all for your great journal entries. And especially thanks to Dusties for sharing this book with us. This was a reading experience to cherish.
**
It’s time for The Law of Dreams to get back home. I’ll mail it asap. Early next week, at the latest. After I’ve done it, I’ll edit this JE and change the status of the book.
Edit July 23. Mailed the book today. It should arrive NY in 30 days or so.
Actually, this is third book dealing with some Irishman or Irishwoman immigrating North America I’ve read. And this is the one that stays longest in the Old World. Before this, I have understood why Europeans left for America, as they say—and why wouldn’t I; my grandma was one of them—and now I get it even better.
There’s nothing nice or sweet in this story; it was quite depressing, really. But the language is beautiful. I enjoyed the clarity and a kind of shimmer of the sentences Behrens wrote. He is a wonderful writer, I give you that.
And open endings, I adore them. They imitate life just as literature should.
Someone—perhaps it was Dusties?—has highlighted two sentences:
Are you a part of the world, like a bird, an apple tree, a fish, or the sea itself? Or are you here to judge it, everything in it, yourself included?
It pinpoints, not only The Law of Dreams, but life itself. Something to think for us all.
Thank you all for your great journal entries. And especially thanks to Dusties for sharing this book with us. This was a reading experience to cherish.
**
It’s time for The Law of Dreams to get back home. I’ll mail it asap. Early next week, at the latest. After I’ve done it, I’ll edit this JE and change the status of the book.
Edit July 23. Mailed the book today. It should arrive NY in 30 days or so.
This book has arrived back home safe and sound! Thank you everyone for participating in this ring and moving the book along quite rapidly. I will be releasing the book to my Official Book Crossing Zone as it is in need of adult books. Thanks again everyone and happy reading!
Journal Entry 18 by Dusties at LaFayette Florist & Gift Shop in LaFayette, New York USA on Friday, August 17, 2007
Released 16 yrs ago (8/17/2007 UTC) at LaFayette Florist & Gift Shop in LaFayette, New York USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
RELEASE NOTES: