Fever Dream

FEVER DREAM

by Samanta Schweblin

 

Nominations: Booker Finalist 2017, Dublin Longlist 2019

 

Date Read: June 16, 2023

 

This strange novella is incredibly captivating, the language mesmerizing. Just like its title suggests, the entire ordeal unfolds as if in a dream, narrated by David and Amanda, two people who are completely unrelated. David is the son of Carla, although Carla does not claim David as her true son. Amanda is a vacationer in their small town, traveling with her daughter Nina, the husband to arrive later in their holiday.

 

Everything seems to go wrong from the beginning. Carla introduces herself to these non-locals and almost immediately begins divulging a tale of poisoning and body transfer that makes Amanda’s skin crawl. It’s not difficult to see where this is heading, as David and Amanda continue their talk, David prompting Amanda to only focus on the necessary details because she doesn’t have much time. The reader almost immediately knows Amanda is dying.

 

The entire town is poisoned. It began with Carla’s horses, nearly killed David and the entire town seems distant and creepy. Everything around them is dying – the horses, the ducks, dogs, all the animals. Carla can’t help but think it’s David’s fault, since she had the local medicine woman try to save him by transferring his spirit to another body. She has no idea who truly inhabits David’s body now. 

 

Amanda, spooked by Carla’s story, decides to cancel their vacation and leave as soon as possible. But she can’t help but stop by Carla’s house to say goodbye. This is her and Nina’s undoing. This is how Amanda is poisoned and Nina meets the same fate as David.

 

Throughout, I couldn’t help but note that both father figures were mostly missing and only briefly show up at the end. This almost seems like a struggle of motherhood to keep their children safe, making impossible choices and suffering the consequences. 

 

The prose is tense, exact and terse: all necessary components of keeping up the tension. I can only imagine how the original read before the translation. A captivating, entertaining novella.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Gentleman In Moscow

Image
A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW by Amor Towles   Nominations: Dublin Longlist 2018, Goodreads Finalist 2016, Kirkus Finalist 2016   Date Read: February 24, 2017   From Kirkus Reviews:   “Sentenced to house arrest in Moscow's Metropol Hotel by a Bolshevik tribunal for writing a poem deemed to encourage revolt, Count Alexander Rostov nonetheless lives the fullest of lives, discovering the depths of his humanity.   Inside the elegant Metropol, located near the Kremlin and the Bolshoi, the Count slowly adjusts to circumstances as a "Former Person." He makes do with the attic room, to which he is banished after residing for years in a posh third-floor suite. A man of refined taste in wine, food, and literature, he strives to maintain a daily routine, exploring the nooks and crannies of the hotel, bonding with staff, accepting the advances of attractive women, and forming what proves to be a deeply meaningful relationship with a spirited young girl, Nina. "We are bound to find comfo
Read more

An Island

Image
AN ISLAND by Karen Jennings   Nomination: Booker Longlist 2021   Date Read: December 10, 2022   A short but mighty novel, An Island explores the concept of home, family, identity, the impact of political upheaval and the immigrant experience, when one’s suffering is so intense they move from one shitty country to the next. Samuel has finally found a peaceful home on an island somewhere off the coast of Africa. He was hired as a lighthouse keeper and after a tumultuous life, most of which was spent in prison as a political prisoner, he has carved out a life for himself on this island, enjoying a tranquil existence that basks in the quiet tasks of daily living.   Only after exploring Samuel’s life does the reader understand why such an isolated, spare and lonely existence satisfy him, with no desire to escape but only to grow deeper roots. His life witnessed the end of the British occupation, the installation of a brutal dictator and yet another dictator after the first was poisoned. Sam
Read more

The Changeling

Image
THE CHANGELING by Victor LaValle   Nominations: Dublin Longlist 2019, LA Times Finalist 2017, PEN/Jean Stein Finalist 2018   Date Read: July 21, 2024   From Kirkus Reviews: “A  tragedy thrusts a mourning father into peculiar, otherworldly corners of New York City. When Apollo and Emma have their baby, Brian, it feels like both reward and challenge for the new dad. Apollo, the son of a single mother, had been scraping by as a bookseller who hunts estate and garage sales for rare first editions, so even the unusual circumstance of Brian's birth (in a stalled subway train) seems like a blessing, as does the way Apollo stumbles across a first edition of  To Kill a Mockingbird  (inscribed by Harper Lee to Truman Capote, no less) shortly after. But after some young-parent squabbles and inexplicable images on their smartphones foreshadow trouble, the story turns nightmarish: Apollo finds himself tied up and beaten by Emma, then forced to listen to the sounds of Brian’s murder. LaValle has
Read more