Customer Reviews

Memory And Dream

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

This book starts out with a chance meeting between Isabelle, an aspiring artist, and Rushkin, a famous painter. Rushkin offers to take Isabelle on as a student and begins teaching her the finer points of his art. As Isabelle begins to discover, one of the finer points of Rushkin's art is the ability to bring faerie creatures to life through the paintings. These creatures would "cross over" from "the before" to take up real lives in Isabelle's world. But soon after Isabelle discovers the pleasure of bringing these creatures to life, she has to deal with the grief of losing them because somebody is preying upon these faerie creatures. Isabelle must fight to save them from destruction.

This was the first novel I've read by Charles de Lint and it certainly won't be the last. My favorite part of the book was the way everything was tied together and chance encounters brought quick results. It seemed like every action of every character was somehow part of the big picture, and it tied things up into a very neat little package. I loved the interactions of the characters, especially the faerie characters. Every person seemed vibrant and alive, like I could meet them outside of the book.

Although I don't see this book as being one that epic fantasy readers would get excited about (it was a relatively short book and not very deep) it might be good for a break between epic novels. I would definitely recommend it to people who like light fantasy or people who enjoy books where our world collides with a more mysterious one.

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.

"Katherine Mully had been dead for five years and two months, the morning Isabelle received the letter from her." Now that's a great way to start a novel!! Isabelle Copely and Katherine Mully were college roommates. Not just roommates, but best friends and kindred spirits. Izzy was an art major and Kathy was a writer. They lived in a Bohemian style section of Newford, where the arts are celebrated and life was good. Until Izzy met Vincent Rushkin, one of the greatest artists to ever hail from Newford. His work was celebrated, although the artist himself was somewhat of a recluse. But when he met Izzy, he offered up his expertise and took her on as a protege.

Although a brilliant artist, Rushkin was prone to fits of rage.....mostly taken out on Izzy. He was always critical of her. Never accepting anything that he deemed unworthy. One minute he would be incredibly sweet, and then out of nowhere, he would completely lose control and become violent. But from her perspective, the pros definitely outweighed the cons because Ruskin's instruction was enhancing her art to new levels.

But when Ruskin tells Izzy the secret about her art, things change. One of the things that Ruskin had seen in Izzy was her ability to become a "maker". If Izzy put her spirit into her paintings, she could bring the subject to life. Her paintings were the gateway from "the other".....the spirits that she would paint could physically manifest themselves into the real world.

""And it's just people that come across?" Izzy asked.
"Beings," Ruskin said. "Yes. However, they won't necessarily seem like people. They have the same source as legend and myth, Isabelle. When the ancients first made their paintings and sculptures of marvelous beings -- dryads and satyrs, angels and dragons -- they were not rendering things they had seen. Rather they were bringing them into being. Not all of them, of course. Only those with the gift.""

And Izzy DID bring across some beings. Only Kathy knew the secret of Izzy's work. As a writer, she understood the concept. But when things fell apart, Izzy exiled herself to her family's home on Wren Island. Kathy's death a few years later caused even more division between Izzy and her old friends and lifestyle. But when Alan, an old friend from the past, wants Izzy to illustrate a new book containing some of Kathy's unpublished work, the past and the present come together in a way that no one could have predicted.

This story moves flawlessly between the past and the present. Each section gives just enough information to keep the reader constantly wanting to know more. Izzy's ability as a maker has changed her in so many ways, leaving her responsible for the lives her numena, the name she has given to the spirits she brings across. They are frightened of Rushkin, the "dark man". A man they consider a monster, who feeds on them to sustain his own life. But Izzy can't seem to reconcile her feelings towards him, and certainly doesn't think he is a monster.

This book is about memories that aren't always real, but dreams that can be. It's about magic and art, and the intertwining of the two. And it's about love and friendship....two things a person should never be without. Charles de Lint is a genius at opening a world in which all things are possible. His writings flows from page to page with ease. And from page one, I was completely under his spell. De Lint is a master storyteller in every sense of the word. His characters are incredibly deep and well-written. Each one is flawed just enough to seem completely real.

But what I loved most about this book was the idea that magic can really exist in the world today. When real life seems to be bogged down with so many problems and concerns, all you have to do is open a book by de Lint to see that magic really exists. If not in our heads, but in our hearts. I recommend this book 100 percent. It is beautifully written and it's a little piece of magic all by itself.

This rates on my all-time favorites list, near the top. The book basically explains the past and present of a painter, Isabelle (Izzy) Copley, and how it is affecting her now. The basic idea of the book is the relationship between the artist and their creation: does the artist have to protect their creation, or should they bless it, release it, let it go? And on the side, it explores the ability we all have to rewrite reality -- when has it gone too far, and are we living in a world of our own creation instead of facing life? The book is very symbolic, can be read on many levels, and is a must-have for anyone who likes literary urban fantasy.

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.

First, fair's fair. When I was younger I really enjoyed Charles de Lint-- particularly his Newford books. I'm now really really really tired of de Lint, and frankly of Urban Fantasy books in general, but this is probably a combination of my age and how many of these books I have read. More than de Lint. Mostly more than de Lint, anyhow.

As Newford books go, this is a good example. If you like urban fantasy, this will probably be something for you. Nuff said.

Okay-- I'm going to stop being fair now. Ready? Seriously. I'm going to be terribly unfair. And not apologize either. Here goes:

I HATED this book. HATED it. I am so FREAKING TIRED of urban fantasy books featuring waif-like women with masses of tangled hair of whatever goshdarn color. I wanted to drop-kick Isabelle and her precious waif-like paintings out of a plate glass window. And WHY in the name of all that's good in the world are the main characters in urban fantasy novels always painters or lute players or madrigal singers or earth mothers or writers? Does nobody in Newford have an actual job?

I would give nearly anything for an urban fantasy novel that features a stocky banker. With short hair. Who studied accounting. At least then I would have the feeling that I wasn't reading a singles advertisement from the writer over and over and over again. Bookish male, 40s, seeks waif-like artist with masses of tangled hair for a carefree and magical existence. Likes Celtic music and pre-Raphaelite painting. WE GET IT, OKAY? Sheesh.

I didn't realize how much I'd missed Charles de Lint's urban fantasies until I borrowed _Memory and Dream_ from a friend on a whim. I haven't been reading much of his stuff for the past couple of years, and I'm not even sure why.

I do know that the landscape of urban fantasy has changed. _Memory and Dream_, published in 1994, is vastly different from the novels that are in vogue now. In de Lint's work, and in the work of other writers publishing in the subgenre at the time, the Otherworld is both a metaphor for being out of place in mainstream society and a place where the wounds that set one apart can be healed. The protagonists are often those on the fringes of society: struggling artists, abuse victims, and the denizens of the street.

_Memory and Dream_ centers around an artist who has given up the style of painting that she once loved. There's a haunting, metaphysical reason; her work had the power to shape reality, and this gift led to tragedy in her past. The artist, Isabelle, is only persuaded to paint again in the old style as a last favor to a long-dead friend. The novel alternates between a "present" timeline and a "past" timeline. The "past" chapters slowly unfold the events, both happy and sad, that have led Isabelle to her current situation; the "present" chapters show the reawakening of her power and its consequences. De Lint does a great job of building tension in both timelines at once.

There's not much more I can say without spoiling the plot, but I will say that I couldn't put it down, and that it's a moving story about art, love, friendship, forgiveness, abuse in its many forms, and what it means for a being to be truly "real." It's not completely without flaws--there's a small error or two, and a subplot that seems too easily wrapped up--but _Memory and Dream_ passes the most important test that determines whether I give a book five stars. Namely, I couldn't get anything productive done while I was reading it!

I think I should probably add the warning that _Memory and Dream_contains themes of sexual abuse and suicide, which might be upsetting to some readers.

This was a very large book for de Lint and really the first of the Newford novels that de Lint wrote. We get to hear about Jilly, Allan and Kathy, but the protagonist is Izzy. It is her story of how she came to Newford got caught up with all her friends and how she learned how to paint under the tutelage of the famous painter and reclusive Ruskin.

The story starts off in 1992 when Allan asks Isabelle to come back to Newford to illustrate a collection of stories by their old and deceased friend Kathy. The story goes back and forth from the present in 1992, to the mid seventies and up till 1980. Most of the story is told in the past where Izzy must cope with here life and how it got to where it is, which is reclusion on her home in Wren Island after she had put Newford and all her friends behind after Kathy's death.

The past deals with Ruskin and how he teaches Izzy to paint magical paintings where the artist can open a path into another world and bring her paintings to life. She calls them numea, and they are living beings that look exactly like the painting. Rusking though is a bad guy and is teaching Izzy to bring them into the world for his own reasons. The past is told so Izzy can deal with all the problems, Kathy's death, Ruskin, and her ability to lie to herself to hide bad things that have happened to her, and she needs a resolution about the numea and the one called John who was once her boyfriend.

As you can see the story deals with a lot of complicated problems for the protagonist, and the secondary characters also deal with heavy subject matter. This is a happy story in places, but also a dark one, and can be almost horrific in some instances, as it's a tale of overcoming tragedy. The length of the novel allows for a lot of topics to be fleshed out for the characters, and while at first I didn't understand why the book had to be so long, in the end you realize it was all worth it. This was a book I was sad to put down because I didn't want it to end.

A tragically beautiful story as intriguing as it is heartbreaking. It is about the struggle of an artist dealing with her unbelievable gift and the consequences of that gift. The memories it caused changed her life and that of those around her. As she deals with the past and the present she begins to see how her life and actions have and will effect the future. The more I read the more I understood that it was about so much more than that.
An ultimate battle between hope and despair that has not only renewed my faith in my own work as an artist but inspired me to become so much more. Charles De Lint writes with such accuracy and realism that you cant help but believe that the people in his books are real. After reading Memory and Dream I felt as though I knew the characters as actual people, friends. This book will wrench your guts and restore your faith at the same time. I highly recommend it to anyone who has every dreamed and picked up a paint brush or pen in hopes of creating something beautiful for others or for themselves.