The Society of Reluctant Dreamers by Jose Eduardo Agualasa (Book Review)

 

The Society of Reluctant Dreamers
By Jose Eduardo Agualasa
Translated by Daniel Hahn
Published by Archipelago Books, 2020
Print Price: $18

Daniel Benchimol is an Angolan journalist who finds himself blackballed from the news biz because his rich father-in-law disapproved of his challenges to the political status quo in the country. What's even worse is that his wife, siding with Daddy, wants a divorce because she feels that by going against her father's wishes, he is disrespecting her family. As Daniel's waking world is collapsing, the world of his dreams becomes more alive and vibrant. In his dreams, he can interview anyone he wants, dead revolutionaries, politicians, and even famous authors. 

While swimming one day, he finds a waterproof camera containing photos of a woman he has been dreaming about. She turns out to be an artist that recreates her own dreams and even knows a man that has invented a machine that can record and play people's dreams! 

I really liked the first 2/3s of this novel with all its surreal imagery and dream subjects. I also liked that you got a lot of different perspectives from the various characters, even ones you would think of as just the supporting cast. You jump back and forth through different points of view and time but it never got confusing. Instead, it just made the narrative fuller and more robust. 

Towards the last bit of the book, the story becomes more involved in the real world politics of Angola when Daniel's daughter becomes involved in a protest movement to get rid of the President of the country. All of the imagery and intriguing storytelling at that point gets kicked out the door and the book becomes a totally realistic picture of any revolt of the young against the status quo. As a result, it gets really boring. It was a shame too because it had potential to be a really good novel. But the contrast between the two parts was too great for me. 

Something that I did enjoy was learning about Angola. I had ZERO idea that Portuguese was the dominant tongue there or of its colonial history with that country. And of the various cultures that exist there. So that was a positive. 

My Grade: C-