Customer Reviews

What Dreams May Come: A Novel

5 star:		(107)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

This book, oh, this book, is absolutely amazing. I read it for the first time about 3 years ago. Anytime I am board or have nothing to read, I reach for this book.
The book grabs a hold of your mind, emotions, and soul. It tells of a journey of a man's life, death, and life again in a way I never imagined possible. The details that this author uses to describe the events in the book is amazing. I feel as if I am the one clinging to life's last thread and trying to hold on to all that I know. His journey begins clouded and disoriented as he struggles to regain what he once had on Earth, only to see that there was no way to go back. He later sees that death is not the end, but the true beginning.
It is a powerful and riveting book with many twists and turns. It opens doors to the way people look at life, death, and the next life. I recommend this book to people who don't mind seeing different views about life, death, heaven, and hell.
If you saw the movie and you didn't quite understand you need to read the book, it is sooo much better than the movie.

The idea of what happens in the afterlife is intriguing. I more readily believe that heaven and hell are the products of our thoughts than punishments or rewards imposed by an outside source, so I thought the premise of this book very easy to envision. It was, on the whole, well written, thought necessarily depressing for the last half. The movie was actually a very good adaptation, although it made the two main characters seem selfish. I would recommend this if you are not offended by having traditional Christian dogma questioned.

A book I think everyone should read if they have any sort of belief in having a soul mate, and even for those who don't. For me it was a powerful story of love and emotion. Granted it focuses on the life after death, but it was still fantastic imagery of love transcending life. Don't read this book expecting it to be like the movie, b/c no book ever written is the same as a movie. It just doesn't work that way. I think Matheson sums up what this book feels like in the dedication, at least for me it does. "with grateful love, to my wife for adding the sweet measure of her soul to my existence"

Being that I'm interested in alternative thought, religion and philosophies, I enjoyed this book quite a lot. It was compelling learning of the protagonist's journey through the afterlife, starting immediately after his death and ending with his impending reincarnation. The ideas discussed, though not new, were nonetheless intriguing (and quite accurate), the depth of love displayed, touching.

At times I thought Matheson went on a bit too much about the relationship between the protagonist and his wife, whereas I'd much rather he described in more detail the goings on in Summerland (and beyond). But perhaps that's more a stylistic critique than a substantive one; there was a lot of Summerland to go around.

Overall, a very good book. I recommend it.

Annotation: "What Dream May Come" is a book which explains through love and struggle, his views on the afterlife. After Chris' (the main character) death, he is filled with a void that only his "soul mate" Annie can fill. With his uncle Albert as his guide, he is explained what the afterlife is and what he needs to know in order to ascend to higher levels. As time passes and Chris becomes more accustomed to his "Summerland (the third level)," he in turn becomes engrossed in waiting for his wife. After attempts and struggles to find out when she is expected to die, he is faced with the fact that it will be long and he needs to do something to fill the time. This thought is interrupted by his sudden wife's suicide. As readers we learn that in the afterlife people are allotted an amount of time to live before they get to their heaven, and she has to wait because she cut hers short. Chris is dumbfounded and desperately tries to find a way to free his wife from her hell. Once again using Albert as his guide, Chris starts an expedition to save his wife. With struggles beyond Chris' understanding and hells within hells, Chris finds the search for his wife troubling. Will he ever find his wife?

Author Bio: Richard Matheson was born in New Jersey in 1926. He has been called one of the most important writers of the 20th century, and his work has inspired many other notable authors such as Stephen King. Even if you've never heard of him, you've almost certainly seen some of his work. In addition to novels in the mystery, science fiction, horror, fantasy, and western genres, Matheson has been a writer of film and television scripts. Over a career spanning five decades, Matheson has won innumerable prestigious awards, including the World Fantasy Convention's Life Achievement Award, the Bram Stoker Award for Life Achievement, the Hugo Award, the Edgar Allan Poe Award, the Golden Spur Award, and the Writer's Guild Award. Born in New Jersey in 1926, Matheson has lived and worked in California since 1951.
Evaluation: This book was one of the most influential books I have ever read. The book got me hooked from the start. The story starts out with a lot of action and the author makes the afterlife experience seem so real. As a reader you can't help believing that afterlife is a reality and the book proves it. My favorite part of the book was when Chris goes to Summerland and immersed in the awesome surroundings. If you have seen the movie you must read this book and discover what afterlife really is.

It seems like all the other people that wrote a review for this book have missed a key point. IT IS FICTION. It is not an explanation of what happens after you die. I read lord of the rings, and not once did I contemplate whether or not mordor or hobbits really exist, because IT'S FICTION. This book was not meant to be a dissertation on after-life. It is fiction, and it is a love story, and it's a good one. I don't think Matheson believed heaven was the way he explained it in the book, but if he did he's a nutcase.

It is a love story about a man who though he was in heaven, felt heaven was not complete without his wife. Being with her was more important to him than being in heaven. The book skillfuly evokes emotion in the reader, and isn't that what good books are supposed to do? If you can read this book with the understanding that IT IS FICTION, you will not be disappointed.

I have come to the conclusion that the only things the writers of the movie version of this book got fromt his book were the names of the characters and the title of the book. The movie was wonderful! The book was terrible! Matheson decided to over-complicate and over-science what most of the world considers life after death and eternal life (or death). Matheson gives the impression that Heavon is run like a Fortune-500 company, not like God's Kingdom. Twenty-four years in Hell sounds like a prison sentence handed down by an inner-city appeals court judge. And then the whole explanation of the soul and how it passes on from this life to the next is not only bizarre, but it seems way to much like an article out of Popular Science than a deep emotional insight into death. This book manages to remove all emotion and heart from an event in one's life that requires a full onslaught of both.

I love the movie! I went into reading the books with high hopes, but was very disappointed. I'm about to give away major plot points, so don't read on if you plan on reading the book. Firstly, in the movie, the wife loses her kids first and then her husband and kills herself. In the book, the kids are alive and she kills herself anyway. Seemed too selfish to me, she left her kids behind to deal with the lose of both parents. Nice. Secondly in the movie, she went to hell without any hope of being saved, in the book, all her husband had to wait was 24 years to be with her again and he couldn't do it. Have some patience dude. So instead of waiting he goes on his quest and finds her, and he gets stuck in her world, and somehow they get out but he's "sleeping" or something, so when he "wakes," he finds that his wife chose to be reborn.... WHAT? she didn't even wait for him to come to. She had such a hard time without him that she kills herself, he goes on a harrowing journey to be reunited with her and she goes back without even saying good-bye to him? What's that about? Anyway, I thought this book sucked. Read his other books, they are much better.

I had seen this movie when it first came out on video and had found it to be very intriguing. The book was ten times better though (nearly always the case). Some people may not like the style it is written in because Matheson tries to expouse on metaphysical topics through illustration. I loved this and enjoyed the theology. It added a lot of depth to the story-for me. Most importantly, the book really spoke to me because of some personal, objective experiences I have undergone that make the book not only relevent but verifiable. Some parts of Matheson's vision may be off (although I don't know) but I believe he is at least headed in the right direction. I am a Christian but my views have altered dramatically over the past few years from fundamentalism to something much, much better. Because of experiences verified by others and circumstances. Matheson must have been a real seeker. If you are one, I highly recommend his book.

Richard Matheson hooked me right from the beginning. I devoured this book in a day. Easy to read, and a wonderful love story. The bibiliography at the back of the book is extensive, which shows Matheson did a huge amount of research on the topic of Summerland, and life after death.

I've done other more recent reading of the afterlife, and its plausibility becomes more of a fact in my mind. The love story between Chris and Ann makes one long for love of that kind, on earth and in Heaven. A wonderfully uplifting read, though the end did not go exactly as I would have liked.

I recommend this book to those interested in learning what may be waiting for us when we die...and in Matheson's words...it sounds wonderful. I give this book 4 stars.