Hunts in Dreams

Charles (formerly ‘Tiny’) Darling now has a wife, Joan, a young son, Micah, and an older step-daughter, Lyris, who had been given up for adoption at birth by Joan, but has been returned to her as a teenager by an aggressive organization reconnecting those of the same blood. Despite his primary role as the antagonist of Drury’s first novel, The End of Vandalism, Charles here is the sympathetic glue holding together, mostly, this family. Over the course of one weekend each of the Darlings will lose themselves and find themselves, connect and disconnect, and generally, with a bit of good will, muddle through.

Drury returns to the oblique style of his previous novel with great success. Minor characters step onto the scene, impart show more puzzling wisdom or back stories, and then step aside. There are brilliant moments of comedy that are never over-egged. And the comedy never obscures the underlying tragedy of their condition or the redemptive power of just being decent to one another. Charles, it turns out, is a great dad. Joan, ever looking for signs, has been struggling with what surviving a tornado in the company of Dr. Palomino means. She is willing to go a long way to find out. Micah’s take on the world is as oddly skewed as his parents, and Lyris, who grew up mostly in a benevolent orphanage is probably the most stable and sane of the bunch. You will end up loving them all as much as Drury clearly does.

Highly recommended. show less

After finishing Hunts in Dreams and the earlier The End of Vandalism, I've decided Tom Drury is one of my favourite authors. This is a book where nothing much seems to 'happen'. A man looks for a gun, a woman goes on a business trip, a teenage girl tries to work out where she belongs, a little boy longs for a pet. It seems simple but it's not. I love the clear but kind descriptions of the strange misconnections and muddles of being human - people seeking connection and understanding, but sometimes never quite comprehending their own thoughts, feelings and actions, let alone the thoughts or feelings of others. I love the sweet odd logic of childhood, so beautifully at work in Micah's experiences. And I really love the way that every now show more and then one of the characters think or see something so accurate and true and wonderful it takes my breath away. show less

The action of this slim novel takes place over the course of one weekend in October, and it seems to me plenty of things happen. If you are new to Tom Drury, as I was until a month ago, start with The End of Vandalism. Hunts in Dreams picks up with one family from that book, and I think knowing the history of the characters adds a lot. Not strictly necessary, but you should read EoV anyway if you haven't. I love Drury's writing. It is spare, and probing. Well worth the effort. He notices the weight of the mundane, as well as the humor. I finished this with a sense of having been led through a kind of mystery and I haven't been able to shake the novel even though I finished some days ago.
See the Amazon product review below if you want to show more know what the book is 'about.' show less

Another good read from Tom Drury, with some of the further adventures of Charles Darling from The End of Vandalism. It's similarly laid back and low key, but doesn't have the same extensive supporting cast. So it's more of a portrait of one family than of a whole community.

Not quite as compelling as The End of Vandalism but still very enjoyable. More than once I had a feeling of terrible dread that something truly awful would happen and then it didn't much to my relief.

This had to be about the most boring book I ever read. My wife was given the book by someone who was given the book the author...so I figured, "why not?" Wish I hadn't. I made it through but it was a chore. I just kept waiting for something to happen.