Memory and Dream

By: Charles de Lint

Narrated by: Kate Reading

Length: 20 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

As the young student of the cruel, brilliant artist Vincent Rushkin, Isabelle Copley discovered that she could paint images so vividly real they brought her wildest fantasies to life. But when the forces she unleashed brought tragedy to those she loved, she turned her back on her talent and her dreams.

Now, 20 years later, Isabelle must come to terms with the shattering memories she has long denied and unlock the slumbering power of her brush. And, in a dark reckoning with her old master, she must find the courage to live out her dreams and bring the magic back to life.

This is a tale of love, courage, and the transforming power of imagination.

©1994 Charles de Lint (P)2007 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"In de Lint's capable hands, modern fantasy becomes something more than escapism. It becomes folk song, the stuff of urban myth." (Phoenix Gazette)
"[B]eautifully evokes a sense of creative community, making it almost possible to believe that the rarified aesthetic atmosphere might well be capable of conjuring up a spirit or two." (Publishers Weekly)
"[M]oves gracefully through the borders between reality and imagination, weaving a powerful tale about the relationship between an artist and her work. A strong addition to fantasy collections." (Library Journal)

one of my favorites

Revisited a book I read on paper
& loved it even more! The intrigue kept me happy to avoid the tv and listen to this suspenseful and inspiring story.

Disappointing

This is one of those books that you just want to love so badly, but you just don't. Charles de Lint has written about a hundred books. No kidding, his list of books is huge. I have wanted to read some of them for a long time, so I took the opportunity to listen to this one. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it, and I was glad when I was finished with it. In all fairness, I have to say that I did not know it was the fifth book in a series when I started it, but I never had the sense that I needed to read the others before I read this one. It was all right. The writing was not bad, the story was not bad, the characters were not bad, but it just didn't have that "Je ne sais quoi" that makes a book irresistible, or even engaging. I am not a huge "fantasy" fan, for one thing, so I guess that has to color my opinion of it somewhat. I have one more deLint book on my shelf that perhaps I will get around to someday, and maybe I will like it better. I hope so, but I don't foresee myself becoming a great fan.

The narrator, Kate Reading, was a good reader. I was annoyed at her voice at first, but after a while I got used to it, and I thought she did a pretty good job, but like de Lint, she will never be my favorite.

A favorite...

One of my favorites by DeLint. Something about his work resonates with the same truth and tone as fairy stories of old. I enjoy that his characters are often flawed in some way that is not always visible or known even to those who are close friends or family- like we all are. We are all different, sometimes it is just more obvious. That magic interweaves so seamlessly and can even be the hidden thing that makes someone different or struggling is wonderful.

What was with the chapter numbering?

Would you listen to Memory and Dream again? Why?

Not sure

What did you like best about this story?

I like Kate Reading. She could read the phone book and I think I would like it

Have you listened to any of Kate Reading’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is not one of her best but I like her ability to clearly do multiple characters believably.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not really. Some of the characters seemed very weak which really pissed me off. Hey if someone wants to do you harm; Then you have to butch up and take a chunk out of someone's ass. Stop crying and do something

Any additional comments?

Someone please explain the random chapter numbering. Every chapter there was some random number (2,11,13,16,8,4). Not in any order or rhyme or reason. So frustrating!!!!

Absolutely wonderful!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would definitely recommend this book! It was one I didn't want to end. It pulled me in and wouldn't let me go. I still think about it and wonder -

What did you like best about this story?

I loved the language and the pacing and the weaving of worlds and lives

What does Kate Reading bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She brought the characters to life! She gave definition to some voices that could have gotten lost in the shuffle

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I cried at the end. And during the book I was holding my breath at some parts and urging it on at others

Any additional comments?

I can't wait to read more -

A great read but a few problems

It is hard for me to review this book. I liked it, and I will read more by the author. It was ambitious, entertaining, and unique. I gave it 4 stars. However, it was also inconsistent. In the last 1/3 of the book, the author began to try and instruct and entertain in the classic style. This may have been to better illustrate one of the characters, but it was heavy handed, and seemed out of place. In his defense, he switched narration viewpoints successfully and in an audio-book, journal entries, and similar shifts are hard to narrate. Kate Redding did her best here.

The author wrote about LSD and did not seem to have a good understanding about the drug. I mention this because it caused problems with my suspension of disbelief that is so necessary in fantasy. Later, a police officer who was a "walk on" character entered the story again and became almost (my opinion) a cartoon. Kate Redding is a great narrator, and her cops stand out. She rescued the cop. He kept a shotgun under his seat. That sentence caused problems with my suspension of disbelief as well. Was his sidearm not enough fire power? Is that even possible? Why would he do that? In a dashboard rack or in the trunk perhaps, but would a police shotgun even fit under the seat of any squad car? Even if it would, the sentence bothered me enough to mention it. Suggestion: The author needs to do a ride-along with the police at some point.

I think that the failing here falls with the editor. This story was very good, and had a lot of primary characters. The editor needs to keep the final version concise because the author can become blind to this sort of problem after several drafts.

Enchanting

This is a book both writers and artists can enjoy. The authenticity of the lives of artists, writers, abusive childhoods, post traumatic stress disorder and depression are vividly written, but with subtle stokes. Taking the everyday joys and horrors of "real" life and adding the elements of magic mixed in with physics (the physics is not overt, but if one has heard of Projection Theory, the book seems to be littered with references) blends into a cohesive whole. The effect is enchanting and satisfies our desire for Truth while clothed in fantasy.

Artsy audience murder mystery

To me, this book was a sci-fi murder mystery for the female art lover. I was never able to relate to the characters much because it was so focused on life for the artsy crowd. The sci-fi aspects were mildly interesting, but tame compared to what could have been done. Again, it was focused on the artist's ultimate fantasy, to create something so real that it becomes real. The murder mystery aspect wasn't touched much either. Someone was killed, lets move on was the general tone. The female target audience perception is based on the female main characters and their conversations and reactions to the world around them. I also had trouble at times with the distinguishing characters when conversations occured between two of the main female characters. As I am neither an artist, nor that much of an art lover, nor a female, and with not much drama to hold up the sci-fi / murder mystery end, this barely rates a 3 (I almost gave up listening at one point).

Memory and Dream

Slow to start. Not what I was expecting, but was a great book in the end. The end the end

If this is your first de Lint

Although I had heard of Charles de Lint for years and had read some of his short stories, this is my first book, so I write this to those of you who might come in cold and consider this book.

First, the book takes a LOOOONNGGG time to get started -- I had to start over a few times because I lost track of what was going on (and it's a long book). It also takes a long while before any fantasy element emerges, but the writing is so fresh and the characters so compelling, that eventually this book met my test of a wonderful audio book -- when you sit in your garage listening to it in the car because you can't wait to get back to it.

The long beginning is worth it, as this becomes my introduction into what I see now is a rich world that gets revisited in several of his books (all set in the artist community of Newford).

I rarely write reviews and, as a die-hard Stephen King fan, find few books that are as compelling, but this one sings after awhile, and is well worth the wait.