Customer Reviews

Dream Angus

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
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I am not all that familiar with Celtic mythology and had actually never heard of Angus (god of dreams and love), so I was a bit worried that some bits of the story would be lost on me...but I need not have worried. Dream Angus is a quite a wonderful retelling of this myth. After doing a bit of research, I find that McCall Smith has kept the bones from source material and dressed them up in contemporary garments and he has, I believe, done it a very likeable and compelling way! Like a couple of others in this series, we are presented with vignettes which weave back and forth between ancient mythological settings and more contemporary ones; giving us the opportunity to hear Angus tale from birth to finding his own true love while also being given a glimpse of how he is still relevant in the modern world...for Angus, it seems still bestows upon us his precious and wonderful dreams! We find that Angus touches the lives of someone in each little story, and each is compelling and beautiful in its own way. I was particularly amused to see Angus cast as a psychotherapist using lucid dreaming to help his patients...a nice little twist! I would definitely recommend this as a light, but amusing retelling of Angus, Celtic God of Dreams, I don't think you'll be disappointed! I'm certainly glad to have read this and I'm looking forward to seeing more in this series!

For lovers of Celtic mythology and lore, this is a must read. For dreamers (and who doesn't dream?) ... it's a must read.

Alexander McCall Smith has written a gorgeous retelling of the myth of Angus, interlaced with a series of deeply provocative modern vignettes. I read Dream Angus in one sitting, stunned at the beauty & eloquence of McCall Smith's storytelling. For me, the tales provoked tears of empathy with the human experience. I can see myself giving this slim volume as gifts, many times over. It's a tale to read again and again ... either in its entirety, or by individual chapters.

Sometimes, if we're very, very lucky, the universe presents us with gifts. Sometimes, those gifts appear in the form of a great piece of art, a film that touches the soul or a haunting melody still heard long after the turntable stops spinning.

Sometimes, the gift presents itself in the form of the written word. In this age of pulp fiction, it's rare to find a book with magic and stardust on every page. "One Hundred Years of Solitude," by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, comes to mind. John Irving's "The World According to Garp" belongs on the list. So does "The Milagro Beanfield War," by John Nichols, and the little-known "Bridge of Birds," by the reclusive Barry Hughart.

"Dream Angus," by Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith, can take its place among these great works of otherworldly fiction.

"Dream Angus" is a slim, small, 171-page retelling of the life of the Celtic god of dreams. How Smith has woven ancient stories among modern plotlines is nothing short of stunning.

Angus is the love child of Dagda, an all-powerful god, and a beautiful water sprite named Boann.

"Water sprites are gentle; their sons are handsome and have a sense of fun; they sparkle and dart about, just like water," Smith writes.

Angus is an enchanted child. Birds hover around his head. Wild hunting dogs turn into fawning pups in his presence. When he's around, people have vivid dreams and in some cases, their dreams come true.

"In many ways, this was Dagda's greatest achievement, that he gave us this fine boy, who brought dreams to people, and who was loved by birds and people equally and who still is. For Dream Angus comes at night and gives you dreams. You do not see him do this, but you may spot him skipping across the heather, his bag of dreams by his side, and the sight of him, just the sight of him, may be enough to make you fall in love."

At first glance, this book seems deceptively simple. An Introduction and 10 short chapters make the reader think, "This will be quick and pleasant and I can get on about my business."

It takes only four pages or so to realize this trip will not be simple and it will not be short. It will take several readings to peel back all the story's layers. It will take weeks to completely appreciate the beauty of Smith's prose.

Alexander McCall Smith has offered the reading world a peek into a world of myths, magic and mystery. Let's hope his gift is opened, read and treasured by a legion of booklovers for many years to come.

Enjoy!

This slim volume is a collection of five contemporary short stories, loosely connected via the threads of an interwoven retelling of the Celtic myth of the god Angus, bringer of Dreams. The writing here is much flatter than Alexander McCall Smith's normal style, with the mythical elements being treated as a bare recounting of events which, while pointing up the more immediate handling of the contemporary stories, nevertheless leaves the figure of Dream Angus so remote and detached that he becomes nothing more than one of the interconnecting threads upon which the other stories are hung.

The stories themselves are light-weight and insubstantial vignettes; snap-shots, really, of moments in lives where dreams have provided pivotal points in some way. This gentle recounting of far from momentous happenings -- of things which are of importance only at the individual, personal scale -- is one of McCall Smith's great fortes. He almost overdoes things here, though, especially as the book is nothing like long enough to win a reader over with any gentle, sustained insistence, as with, say, the The Sunday Philosophy Club (Isobel Dalhousie) series. The volume has some value as in interesting curio with which to wile an evening but offers little beyond that.

The Kindle edition is nicely prepared, with chapter ends marked in the progress indicator.

I am not all that familiar with Celtic mythology and had actually never heard of Angus (god of dreams and love), so I was a bit worried that some bits of the story would be lost on me...but I need not have worried. Dream Angus is a quite a wonderful retelling of this myth. After doing a bit of research, I find that McCall Smith has kept the bones from source material and dressed them up in contemporary garments and he has, I believe, done it a very likeable and compelling way! Like a couple of others in this series, we are presented with vignettes which weave back and forth between ancient mythological settings and more contemporary ones; giving us the opportunity to hear Angus tale from birth to finding his own true love while also being given a glimpse of how he is still relevant in the modern world...for Angus, it seems still bestows upon us his precious and wonderful dreams! We find that Angus touches the lives of someone in each little story, and each is compelling and beautiful in its own way. I was particularly amused to see Angus cast as a psychotherapist using lucid dreaming to help his patients...a nice little twist! I would definitely recommend this as a light, but amusing retelling of Angus, Celtic God of Dreams, I don't think you'll be disappointed! I'm certainly glad to have read this and I'm looking forward to seeing more in this series!

Fact: I will read with pleasure almost anything written by Alexander McCall Smith -- some titles with more pleasure than others, but anything with his name on the cover is practically guaranteed to provide gentle humor, sharp but never acerbic insight about people, and a view into worlds new to me.

"Dream Angus" hits all those marks and one more: it looks at the playful serious curious business of dreams and the purposes to which they might be put.

There are all kinds of serious words that can be delivered about a little book like this and probably there are treatises about whether Smith has written down the "One True Angus" or the one that he has simply invented. But I am not an aficionado of myth. What I causes me to recommend this book so strongly is its optimistic invitation to open oneself to possibiliities offered by the good, but perhaps unconventional scenarios of our dreams.

Your minister or mother or physician could issue this invitation (or imperative) to you, but it would not be as much fun.

this book was a breath of fresh air. it exposed me to celtic mythology which i know little of. not only does it focus on the myth of dream angus but on people living daily life and how in the seemingly mundane wonderment can exist in this case the gift if dreaming. we see dream angus in the past and present. we see how he will always have a place. smith's writing is beautifully crafted as always. he seems to have away of making you feel right with the world even with its struggles. if you are a fan of smith's you will not be disappointed and if you aren't you will become one.

This slim book by the author of the popular Ladies Detective Agency series alternates dreamily between made-up Celtic mythology, maybe a bit fey but original, and some echoing episodes of modern life. I normally don't like this kind of thing at all, and it was, in the reading, captivating. Andrew McCall Smith knows how to tell a story. He's also a skilled writer, so the scenes are sewn together with a light and dextrous hand, moving easily from lyrical description to dialogue. The moral themes of the detective novels are infused rather than read aloud here. McCall Smith seems to have a fundamental optimism about life, and you feel he does not disdain his characters, despite their bad deeds, and various kinds of unhappiness or aimlessness, but rather offers them for our view with love and respect, seasoned with a bit of humor.

Angus, we are told, is the Celtic god of dreams. He is the son of the warlike Dagda and of a water spirit called Boann. If he is the right mood, he might grant you a sight of your true love in a dream; you might even fall in love with him but it won't be reciprocated. Angus is far too busy making mischief: stealing the palace of the gods from Dagda and turning his enemies into pigs. Until one day he is trapped in his own romantic games, and transforms into a swan to be with the woman he loves.

Against this retelling of an ancient myth, part of an oral tradition, are a series of short stories set in 20th century Scotland. Angus's troubled alter ego searches for his real family, and there's a psychotherapist who helps people to understand their dreams. These stories become a modern version of Angus, for in myths, anything is possible.

In Celtic mythology, Angus has a number of roles. He is at his best both as trickster and dream-giver in this book. I read this in one sitting and enjoyed the journey.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Medical law professor and prolific author of the "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series Alexander McCall Smith presents Dream Angus, a fantastic modern-day novel with roots in Celtic lore. Angus is the Celtic god of love, youth, and beauty who distributes dreams at night and inspires love in all who behold him. Yet he loves only the beautiful Caer; his search for her weaves him in and out of mortal dreams. Dream Angus consists of five fables that tell of Angus' quest, penned with insight, wonder, eros, and the mesmerizing rapture of dreams that connect with reality. A buoyant and sensuously enjoyable fantasy.