Hey everyone!
It is (sadly) the last blog on a book. This week’s read The society of Reluctant Dreamers by José Agualusa was certainly a fascinating read. Similar to a lot of the books we read throughout this semester, the formatting of the book was rather peculiar but added on top of that was the complex plot of the story. Where we have to understand a world of dreams and the impact as well as the role that the different characters play in dreams. A lot of people can probably think of a very peculiar dream that they have had including me. I recall having the same dream once a group of friends and my brother once. As the story implies dreams are very peculiar and mysterious. The different characters try to rationalize the purpose of their dreams and the story itself indulges in the different properties of dreams.
There was one particular scene that stood out to me where before going to Brazil, Daniel visits his daughter Karinguiri in prison and he tells her that he has to leave for Brazil for two weeks to investigate dreams. To this, his daughter responds that he does not have to go that far and that within that prison itself there is an overbearing amount of dreams. I found this strange to hear because up till that point dreams were considered to be a strange phenomenon that was questionable with unclear boundaries. Karinguiri however manages to solidify dreams as a clear aspiration that is obvious and evident. I found this to be a stark contrast to the confusion that dreams held till then. This in some ways also directly reflects Karinguiris’s view of the two of them where she considers herself to be rebellious and clear on what she wants while her view of him is an unclear pacifist who does not act clearly on his position.
I also found the ties between dreams and memories to be interesting. It was interesting how when his father lost all of his memories he wanted to go to the sea almost like a dream. Daniel touches on his fear of losing his memories and the memories he wants to keep like the moment at the spa. Memories and dreams have some resemblance yet they seem quite opposing which brings up my question of how do you think memories and dreams are connected especially in this book?
Alyssa Almerling
April 5, 2022 — 2:00 pm
Thanks for your blog post! This book was a great way to end RMST 202, mainly because the themes of memories tie it all up from the start when we talked about memory in our first book by Proust. Memories and dreams go hand in hand but also conflict with each other. Dreams are abstract, memories are real, but not all memories are an accurate representation of reality. Our memories are only seen in our context. I believe that our fragmented memories influence dreams. We include our past and tie it in with our present, creating a new “fragmented memory” known as a dream. I think it’s our memories we don’t fully remember, trying to come into the light, but because they are not perfect, they create this illusion/confusion, much like a dream. Th dream takes over the parts that we forget and try to piece together.
Daniel Choi
April 5, 2022 — 7:41 pm
Great post! Very interesting analysis on dreams and memories. I like your contrast between a mysterious dream and a clear dream. I also felt baffled when thinking of dreams. There’s obviously one definition of dreams, the images/ scenes that you see in your sleep. There’s also another definition, which is defined by Oxford Languages as “a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal.” Perhaps the book swings between these two definition; or, more interestingly, perhaps these are coexistent characteristics of a dream.
– Daniel Choi
YasminAhmadi
April 6, 2022 — 12:56 pm
Hello!
I really enjoyed your reading your post! In regards to memories and dreams, I feel as if memories can heavily influence the dreams we have. It can be from our day to day lives but in a way, our dreams can keep the memory alive!
-Yasmin Ahmadi
jasminechoi
April 6, 2022 — 3:45 pm
I actually really thought that Daniel was going to bring Moira and Helio to the prison to study the dreams of Karinguiri and the other prisoners. It would’ve been really interesting to see that, but I’m glad you brought it up.
Breanne
April 7, 2022 — 12:56 am
Hello, thanks for sharing your thoughts! Like another student said, i feel like memories have a heavy impact on dreams. For me, I tend to dream (or have recurring dreams) about important memories of people or events that have taken place in my life.