The Dreamers
written by Karen Thompson Walker
Alright everyone, look at this book's cover. The background has sleepy stars, the text is rainbow colored, and the endorsement is from Emily St. John Mandel who wrote one of my favorite books, Station Eleven. This book looks as though the story within it must be beautiful too. And it is. BUT! Notice the author's name and previous work. She is Karen Thompson Walker, bestselling author of The Age Of Miracles which I've read, so I know that this author specializes in somber tones. So when I encountered The Dreamers, Walker's latest book, I knew to see past the rainbows, stars, and "dreamy" title, and my suspicions were confirmed. This book is a trudge of hopelessness with a dab of despair that demands you put on that grey hoodie and cinch the strings up tight because you will feel low and, miraculously, will end up relishing every sorrow-tinged page.
This book does not have one main protagonist. Instead there are multiple people and households that serve as eye witnesses to a sleeping sickness. The book begins with Mei, a college student in her first semester, whose roommate is the first to fall into a strange sleep. This sleep leaves its victims unable to wake, and while they aren't dead, they can die easily without hospital assistance to keep them hydrated and nourished through an IV. Yet, they dream, vividly. What starts with Mei's roommate spreads across the dorm, infecting more and more students and spreads to the surrounding town. As the sickness continues, chapters introduce more characters, so we can absorb the full impact of what this plague can mean for many different people. A young couple worries over their newborn daughter. A survivalist father is ready to bunker down with his two daughters and many cats. A nurse is separated from her daughter when a town-wide quarantine goes into effect. And Mei, who saw the beginning, avoids taking ill and makes her first friend since coming to college (with whom I have very strong negative feelings about). With each story and the way they intertwine, the sickness blooms into an surprisingly stirring tale.
I enjoyed reading this book, but I was relieved when it was over. Walker does not write happy, uplifting books; she writes of quiet tragedies and slow, creeping sorrows. For the days this book sat on my nightstand, the despair seemed to leak out of the inky words and stain my fingers. Although The Dreamers wouldn't have been the same if it was written any other way. How else to tell a riveting story of a sleeping curse then to make the reader feel every beat of the muted and inevitable spread of doom? By using multiple characters to tell the story, every moment of the plague feels personal and all-encompassing. Disaster effects different people in different ways, and this book makes you feel that. Everyone's sorrow will be yours! This is a majestic book, but if you proceed with a read, be warned, for you may have to counteract its gloomy effects with a lively sitcom.
