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A review by ben_miller
Dreamer by Charles R. Johnson
2.0
This was a curious one. Charles Johnson, whose novels always seek the balance between character and commentary, succeeds brilliantly in revealing the interior life of Martin Luther King, and fails utterly at writing a novel.
In his best work, (Middle Passage and Oxherding Tale) Johnson writes about the black experience in America with a keen critical eye for all concerned, and with an equal skill in storytelling and characterization. Here, despite coming up with a brilliant doppelganger premise, he's barely even pretending that his characters are anything other than ciphers for stitching together essays on MLK, religion as it relates to civil rights, and a handful of other topics.
Part of Johnson's conceit is that everyone else pales in comparison with the great Doctor, but in doing so he robs the story of its credibility. The narrator (whose name has already slipped away from me) lapses frequently into long, authorial essays on King's oratorical style, or Cain and Abel, and has no voice of his own. The result is that when he does act out or show emotion, as when he destroys a roadside diner, it doesn't feel earned. Amy, his colleague and the object of his hopeless affections, is even more of a joke: A proud, smart, beautiful woman straight from central casting, and without any unique traits to make her interesting.
Then, of course, there's Chaym Smith, the "double." Well, he's deeply flawed and full of angry contradictions, which puts him way above the other two. But still he's a riddle whose solution, and purpose in the story, never gets found out. The only person Johnson really seemed to be interested in was King, and when he's on the page, either orating thunderously or trying to get a minute's peace in the bathroom, the book comes alive. I appreciate it, at least, for giving me these glimpses of him as a mortal man, which whether they are accurate or not, have the ring of truth.
In his best work, (Middle Passage and Oxherding Tale) Johnson writes about the black experience in America with a keen critical eye for all concerned, and with an equal skill in storytelling and characterization. Here, despite coming up with a brilliant doppelganger premise, he's barely even pretending that his characters are anything other than ciphers for stitching together essays on MLK, religion as it relates to civil rights, and a handful of other topics.
Part of Johnson's conceit is that everyone else pales in comparison with the great Doctor, but in doing so he robs the story of its credibility. The narrator (whose name has already slipped away from me) lapses frequently into long, authorial essays on King's oratorical style, or Cain and Abel, and has no voice of his own. The result is that when he does act out or show emotion, as when he destroys a roadside diner, it doesn't feel earned. Amy, his colleague and the object of his hopeless affections, is even more of a joke: A proud, smart, beautiful woman straight from central casting, and without any unique traits to make her interesting.
Then, of course, there's Chaym Smith, the "double." Well, he's deeply flawed and full of angry contradictions, which puts him way above the other two. But still he's a riddle whose solution, and purpose in the story, never gets found out. The only person Johnson really seemed to be interested in was King, and when he's on the page, either orating thunderously or trying to get a minute's peace in the bathroom, the book comes alive. I appreciate it, at least, for giving me these glimpses of him as a mortal man, which whether they are accurate or not, have the ring of truth.