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grahamclements's review against another edition
5.0
The Living Sea of Waking Dreams is about a dying mother, Francie, and the efforts of her adult children to keep her alive, even though she wants to die. The children have lost the ability to communicate with each other, and are out to show they have the power, at least in the case of Anna and Terzo, to keep their mother alive. While Tommy, a failed artist who was looking after Francie, just acquiesces to the will of his other two siblings.
The novel is also about our dying planet, particularly from climate change, as animals go extinct We say we care, but do little to prevent the unfolding disaster. The novel is set in Tasmania while bushfires rage throughout that state and the rest of Australia.
Anna is the main protaganist, a successful architect, who rather than face her mother's pain, her crap relationship with her son, or the raging climate around her, retreats into social media. Frequently forwarding articles she has not read to her friends, showing how she avoids taking responsibility for what is going on by keeping herself uninformed and deferring action to others.
The novel has magic realism elements, which work. Other reviewers have likened it to The Corrections, by Jonathon Franzen, a novel I really enjoyed.
There is a lot going on in the The Living Sea of Waking Dreams. I was particularly interested in it as I have an elderly mother the same age as Francie, who's mental capacity and stamania has been declining in the past few months after a fall, and I wonder how I would respond if she, like Francie lying in a hospital bed in pain, requested the last rites. Would I have the courage of my convinctions to let her pass. It's a bit how the father with dementia drew me into The Corrections as my Father was battling dementia when I read it.
But then the climate change and the destruction to the planet, and my feeble attempts to do something about it come to the fore. I hope this novel will get me doing more.
The Living Sea of Waking Dreams is a novel that will get you thinking as it brings to the surface your guilt and fears.
It is an utterly compelling read.
The novel is also about our dying planet, particularly from climate change, as animals go extinct We say we care, but do little to prevent the unfolding disaster. The novel is set in Tasmania while bushfires rage throughout that state and the rest of Australia.
Anna is the main protaganist, a successful architect, who rather than face her mother's pain, her crap relationship with her son, or the raging climate around her, retreats into social media. Frequently forwarding articles she has not read to her friends, showing how she avoids taking responsibility for what is going on by keeping herself uninformed and deferring action to others.
The novel has magic realism elements, which work. Other reviewers have likened it to The Corrections, by Jonathon Franzen, a novel I really enjoyed.
There is a lot going on in the The Living Sea of Waking Dreams. I was particularly interested in it as I have an elderly mother the same age as Francie, who's mental capacity and stamania has been declining in the past few months after a fall, and I wonder how I would respond if she, like Francie lying in a hospital bed in pain, requested the last rites. Would I have the courage of my convinctions to let her pass. It's a bit how the father with dementia drew me into The Corrections as my Father was battling dementia when I read it.
But then the climate change and the destruction to the planet, and my feeble attempts to do something about it come to the fore. I hope this novel will get me doing more.
The Living Sea of Waking Dreams is a novel that will get you thinking as it brings to the surface your guilt and fears.
It is an utterly compelling read.
anthea_christie's review against another edition
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
cchipmunck's review
3.0
put very simply
after recently studying and arguing the intrinsc link between the human body and nature there is nothing that this book does more. the connection shown between mother nature and the maternal mother echoes an emotional rationalisation of what it is to stabilise and nurture life.
this book explores what it is to live in a world decaying around you but the mental stamina of your mind unable to keep up.
after recently studying and arguing the intrinsc link between the human body and nature there is nothing that this book does more. the connection shown between mother nature and the maternal mother echoes an emotional rationalisation of what it is to stabilise and nurture life.
this book explores what it is to live in a world decaying around you but the mental stamina of your mind unable to keep up.
gabrielle_erin's review against another edition
3.0
Mixed feelings on this one. Flanagan's prose is absolutely beautiful throughout this story. He touches on some really delicate and pertinent topics in an interesting and nuanced way, however, I really think this book tries to do too much. The core storyline becomes overshadowed by the odd addition of the magical realism and then there's also subtle conservation undertones to it??? I didn't hate it, but there were certainly parts I didn't really 'get'. The last few chapters hit hard though.
melisaf82's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sui_marie's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
madgerdes's review against another edition
I still want to read this, but I think reading a physical copy will be better! I found the audiobook a bit difficult to follow
lukemusto's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
mtafil22's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't even want to finish this book. It felt incoherent from the beginning. The idea of the story could have been executed so well if it didn't take on this magical way of telling the story of grief, loss and whatever else it was attempting to incorporate. Because of the way it was written it felt like the book over all was lacking any substance or ability to relate with characters. I had hoped it would be a good read as the synopsis pulled me in but it was terrible.