Requiem for a Dream

De: Hubert Selby Jr.

Narrado por: William DeMeritt

A tale of four people trapped by their addictions—the basis for the acclaimed Darren Aronofsky film—by the author of Last Exit to Brooklyn.

Sara Goldfarb is devastated by the death of her husband. She spends her days watching game shows and obsessing over appearing on television as a contestant—and her prescription diet pills only accelerate her mania. Her son, Harry, is living in the streets with his friend Tyrone and girlfriend Marion, where they spend their days selling drugs and dreaming of escape. When their heroin supply dries up, all three descend into an abyss of dependence and despair, their lives, like Sara’s, doomed by the destructive power of drugs. Tragic and captivating, Requiem for a Dream is one of Selby’s most powerful works and an indelible portrait of the ravages of addiction.

©2011 Hubert Selby, Jr. (P)2024 Dreamscape Media

Reseñas de la Crítica

”Selby's place is in the front rank of American novelists . . . to understand his work is to understand the anguish of America.”—The New York Times Book Review

excellent story EXCELLENT narrator

Best narrator I have ever heard so far. Absolutely perfect. awesome story. heart wrenching. an unflinching look at what drugs can do, how far they make you fall. excellent

The title as true as it could be

I didn’t realize at the start this novel was a 1978 setting. NYC at that time was so perfectly depicted as a wasteland— which really pushed the narrative.

The characters, remembering from my youth, the narrator brought memories of the late 70s and made it so real— the language, the scene, decrepit veins of the city itself.

What I love is how the tale exactly is a requiem, true to the title. The dreams Harry and Marion had, devolving deeper, and vanquished— there is a clear connection to Mahler so present in the beginning.

The film is decent, yet to see again if it holds up— but as novels go, they’re always better. I greatly enjoyed differently the excursion south and the time Tyrone C. Love and Harry experienced after lockup. I’d love to go on but spoilers ensue.

Sara’s Story Was The Saddest One

I actually read/listened to the book before saw the movie. This was a rare case of the movie being better than the book.

SPOILERS AHEAD:
As I said in my title, Sara’s story was the the most heartbreaking to me. She was already losing touch with reality & the diet pills made her delusions worse.
Marion’s story was the second saddest because she had everything going for her. Her parents paid for her apartment & she could work on her art, but instead got tangled up in H & did things she would’ve never imagined she’d be doing in a million years just to get a fix.
Tyrone & Harry were two smack heads that were pretty much doomed from the beginning, especially poor Tyrone. I feel like Harry’s mother (Sara) provided a safety net so he didn’t face any real repercussions of his actions until he got busted in another state AND he had no idea his mother had been institutionalized. Then the consequences of his actions were horrific. It was just really sad all around. I just feel like the movie conveyed everything better. Probably because the visuals were so disturbing - as they should be. Very impactful.