Book Review – DREAMS OF SPEAKING by Gail Jones
Book Synopsis
‘We must talk, Alice Black, about this world of modern things.This buzzing world.’
Alice is entranced by the aesthetics of technology and, in every aeroplane flight, every Xerox machine, every neon sign, sees the poetry of modernity. Mr Sakamoto, a survivor of the atomic bomb, is an expert on Alexander Graham Bell. The pair forge an unlikely friendship as Mr Sakamoto regales Alice with stories of twentieth-century invention. His own knowledge begins to inform her writing, and these two solitary beings become a mutual support for each other a long way from home.
This novel from Man Booker longlisted author Gail Jones is distinguished by its honesty and intelligence. From the boundlessness of space walking to the frustrating constrictions of one person’s daily existence, Dreams of Speaking paints with grace and skill the experience of needing to belong despite wanting to be alone.
My Review
In Dreams of Speaking Gail Jones casts a spell of introspection, unbridled honesty and intelligence.
Alice Black and Mr Sakamoto are so different yet inextricably bound together in their focus on the observation of life more so than the living of it.
She watched her book-filled room gather yellowish light. The spines of the books were a kind of reproach – a life lived too inwardly, too much alone, too given over to perplexity and complication.
Through Alice’s ostensibly atypical view on the world the reader is taken on a reflective journey of love and loss, life and death, joy and displacement that all can identify with.
I found myself mesmerised not only by the story of Alice and Mr Sakamoto, but by Gail Jones’ mastery of language. It is not simply that the prose is a treasure trove for word lovers, it is the gloriously descriptive and refreshing, thought-provoking observations that I was continually impressed by. Jones sets a scene and a mood in a way that kept me wanting more.
It was such an easy meeting. Friends are an intersection, a route back to the world…… He too seemed responsive to something in Alice’s manner – not just her project, but the earnestness of her isolation, the dedication to an intellectual cause, the pleasure in supposing the usual arcane, the familiar compelling. If there is a magnetic aspect to sensibility it is evident in friendships that arise from these merest conversations and shreds of sentences, talks that align particles of self in a sudden, energised correspondence.
This novel is filled with Sakamoto’s charming tales of the lives and motivations of the inventors of key advancements in communication technology such as radio, telephone and television. The unique and ever-changing bonds between people are considered with great sensitivity – the power of communication in all its many forms being the central theme.
I enjoyed Dreams of Speaking immensely. Although this is the first novel I have read from author Gail Jones I have a feeling she is going to become one of favourites.
BOOK RATING: The Story 4.5 / 5 ; The Writing 5 / 5
BOOK DETAILS: Dreams of Speaking (Book Depository)
Genre: Literature, Drama
Author Information: Gail Jones is an Australian novelist and academic. She was born in Harvey, Western Australia and educated at the University of Western Australia. She is currently Professor of Writing in the Writing and Society Research School at the University of Western Sydney. Three times shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award, her prizes include the WA Premier’s Award for Fiction, the Nita B. Kibble Award, the Steele Rudd Award, the Age Book of the Year Award, the Adelaide Festival Award for Fiction and the ASAL Gold Medal. She has also been shortlisted for international awards, including the IMPAC and the Prix Femina. Her fiction has been translated into nine languages. (Random House).
Her other novels include Black Mirror, Sorry, Sixty Lights and her most recent Five Bells.
Other Interesting Links:
Other Reviews of Dreams of Speaking: The Age ; Diamond Sharp
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This sounds fascinating!
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Dreams of Speaking “BY” Gail Jones is really a great book thanks for the review
Joanne, I just finished this book and was every bit as impressed as you were, both by the story and the language. I found the ending particularly moving. Thanks for your review. I’m looking forward to reading more of Gail Jones this year.