Blurb:
By the New York Times bestselling author of The Age of Miracles comes a mesmerizing novel about a town transformed by a mysterious contagion that locks victims in perpetual sleep and triggers extraordinary, life-altering dreams.
One night in an isolated college town in the hills of Southern California, a first-year student stumbles into her dorm room, falls asleep—and doesn’t wake up. She sleeps through the morning, into the evening. Her roommate, Mei, cannot rouse her. Neither can the paramedics who carry the girl away, nor the perplexed doctors at the hospital.
Then a second girl falls asleep, and then a third, and panic takes hold of the college and spreads to the town. As the number of cases multiplies, classes are canceled. A quarantine is established. Mei, an outsider in the hierarchy of dorm life, finds herself thrown together with an eccentric, idealistic classmate.
A psychiatrist summoned from Los Angeles attempts to make sense of the phenomenon as it spreads. Those infected, she discovers, are displaying unusual levels of brain activity, higher than has ever been recorded before. They are dreaming heightened dreams—but of what?
Gorgeously written, The Dreamers is a breathtaking novel, startling and provocative, about the possibilities contained within a human life—in our waking days and, perhaps even more, in our dreams.
One night in an isolated college town in the hills of Southern California, a first-year student stumbles into her dorm room, falls asleep—and doesn’t wake up. She sleeps through the morning, into the evening. Her roommate, Mei, cannot rouse her. Neither can the paramedics who carry the girl away, nor the perplexed doctors at the hospital.
Then a second girl falls asleep, and then a third, and panic takes hold of the college and spreads to the town. As the number of cases multiplies, classes are canceled. A quarantine is established. Mei, an outsider in the hierarchy of dorm life, finds herself thrown together with an eccentric, idealistic classmate.
A psychiatrist summoned from Los Angeles attempts to make sense of the phenomenon as it spreads. Those infected, she discovers, are displaying unusual levels of brain activity, higher than has ever been recorded before. They are dreaming heightened dreams—but of what?
Gorgeously written, The Dreamers is a breathtaking novel, startling and provocative, about the possibilities contained within a human life—in our waking days and, perhaps even more, in our dreams.
My Thoughts and Review:
Rating this book for me is difficult. So I am officially giving it 3 stars based purely on my enjoyment of it. If I were to rate it on the writing I would probably give it 4 stars. This author is extremely talented I will say that.
"Sleep, the experts would tell you, is when our brains sift through the day's memories, sweeping away the unimportant things."
This book follows several characters in a small college town during an epidemic caused by an unknown virus. Reading this in 2020, it is very relatable! The virus in this book causes people to fall into a deep sleep that they are unable to be woken from.
As a Medical Laboratory Scientist, I found it interesting that this particular virus seemed to have no real incubation period. Some people seemed to fall asleep within mere hours of exposure. While still others were exposed numerous times over the course of weeks before finally succumbing to the sleep.
What is even more interesting is how some people slept for days before waking, while others were asleep for a year. Some died in their sleep, others woke up like nothing had happened. Some of "The Dreamers" woke thinking several years had passed, while others thought it had only been a few hours.
"The darkest moods sometimes descend after periods of unexpected light."
Overall, this is a very well written novel. It is thought provoking, and is complex, yet easy to read.
"Sleep, the experts would tell you, is when our brains sift through the day's memories, sweeping away the unimportant things."
This book follows several characters in a small college town during an epidemic caused by an unknown virus. Reading this in 2020, it is very relatable! The virus in this book causes people to fall into a deep sleep that they are unable to be woken from.
As a Medical Laboratory Scientist, I found it interesting that this particular virus seemed to have no real incubation period. Some people seemed to fall asleep within mere hours of exposure. While still others were exposed numerous times over the course of weeks before finally succumbing to the sleep.
What is even more interesting is how some people slept for days before waking, while others were asleep for a year. Some died in their sleep, others woke up like nothing had happened. Some of "The Dreamers" woke thinking several years had passed, while others thought it had only been a few hours.
"The darkest moods sometimes descend after periods of unexpected light."
Overall, this is a very well written novel. It is thought provoking, and is complex, yet easy to read.
Karen Thompson Walker is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel The Age of Miracles, which has been translated into twenty-seven languages and named one of the best books of the year by People, O: The Oprah Magazine, and Financial Times, among others. Born and raised in San Diego, Walker is a graduate of UCLA and the Columbia MFA program. She lives with her husband, the novelist Casey Walker, and their two daughters in Portland. She is an assistant professor of creative writing at the University of Oregon.
