For the most part, Tolstoy is known as a realist, despite his work’s occasional dips into fancy. Yet the plotlines of his great novels featured long and important dream sequences. In The New York Review of Books, Janet Malcolm argued that Tolstoy was a master of dreams, using Anna Karenina as proof.
Dreamweaver
Farewell, Oyster
The Netflix-like book subscription service Oyster Books has shut down and most of its team is heading over to Google. Google is reluctant to admit that Oyster was a purchase, yet sources indicate they will begin paying investors for the right to hire most of their staff. As we wave goodbye, here is one last read from The Oyster Review.
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“The conspirators sit smoking thoughtfully”
Recommended Reading: “The Colonel’s Daughter,” new fiction from Noir author Robert Coover.
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Viva La Vida
“We break down thirty-nine literary journals and well-respected periodicals, tallying genre, book reviewers, books reviewed, and journalistic bylines to offer an accurate assessment of the publishing world.” This year’s VIDA Count is out.
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Reading Aloud and Clear
“My wife likes to drive. I like to read aloud. So, she takes me places, and I take her places. It’s a match made in heaven — or at least in a Honda.” In honor of World Read Aloud Day, book critic Ron Charles writes about his love of reading out loud for the Washington Post. Pair with: an essay about the importance of reading aloud as adults.
The Austen Effect
Jane Austen is a rare figure. Acclaimed as one of the most brilliant authors in modern history, she has a popularity that few of her peers can match, as evidenced by her posthumous sales and huge numbers of dedicated fans. How did her work hit the sweet spot of broad appeal and scholarly fame? In the WSJ, Alexander McCall Smith provides a theory. (h/t The Paris Review Daily)
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Aysegül Savas Pays Attention to Life
Aysegül Savas discusses White on White, which follows a young student observing the creativity and madness of a painter.
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The concept of “dreaming” was invented by postmodern experimental novelists. Dreams and dreaming, as is well known, are not real. No one actually dreams in real life.