What Dreams May Come: A Novel by Richard Matheson Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of What Dreams May Come: A Novel
Book Review: Definintely gives a new perspective on death.
Summary: 4 Stars
About a year before I read this book, I went through the grieving process for the first time with the death of my grandmohter. This book really helped me understand what that all means, "to die." I also read "Talking to heaven" by James Van Praagh, and it's like the 2 authors were sitting together when they wrote their books! Even if life after death is not so, these 2 books at least make grieving a little easier.Book Review: Serious, Thought Provoking, and Emotional
Summary: 4 Stars
The story begins with the main characters death, similar to "Made In Heaven" and like in that story Heaven isn't Heaven without the one that you love. The author uses a similar pretense, but is still original in the presentation. I would love to listen in while this author and and Spider Robinson talk about their ideas on life after death. Some of the thinking in this book is similar to Spider Robinson's "Lifehouse" series.The hero dies, but is unable to pass on to the next plain because he feels his wife's pain. When he finally passes on and reaches "summerland" (Heaven), he can not find happiness without Ann, his wife and soulmate. While he is making this discovery his wife kills herself because she feels that life without him isn't worth living. The Hero searches through Hell and only through his love for her and his sacrificing himself is any good accomplished.
The story is deep and serious (it may belong in the religous section rather than the Science Fiction section) but still a good read.
Book Review: What a disillusion!!
Summary: 1 Stars
After having read almost all the reviews of this book I simply had to have it but frankly, I do not understand all those lyrical works. The book was a disappointment from the start with a pathetic, all-time low end. Even if Mr. Matheson likes us to believe the depiction of heaven is based on scientific research, in my view it is pure conjecture and a subjective portrayal of what perhaps he would like it to look like. As far as the book being a support for people recently bereaved as others have suggested; I think a shoulder to cry on and the loving friendship from those around us will prove to be more effective! Oh yes, like one or two others I stayed up late too to finish this book but for an entirely different reason: to be able to start reading an exciting book the next morning.Book Review: Touching Story Disfigured by Long-Winded Preaching
Summary: 2 Stars
I'm a long-time Richard Matheson fan who has always admired his ability to blend the fantastic with the conventional. _Hell House_, for example, is full of spirits, mediums, and psychic doobobbers that are tightly integrated into the story; one accepts them easily, regardless of one's actual belief in such phenomena._What Dreams May Come_ is problematic not because of its subject matter (a Matheson-flavored New Age view of the afterlife) but because of its execution. Characters ramble on and on, providing tedious theological details that have little (if any) bearing on the story. The reincarnation sermon near the end of the book is especially bad, sounding as if it were pasted in from some religious tract.
And this is a shame because the book had the potential to be one of Matheson's best. The love story is an appealing variation on the old theme of separated lovers; the long sequence in Hell is imaginative and well-written. The book as a whole, however, is fatally damaged by the windy metaphysical excursions.
Book Review: a philosophical story that transcends reality itself
Summary: 5 Stars
This work, while it doesn't compare to the vocal elegance of other writers, more than compensates with his believability and originality. As I am a staunch believer in that which may be seen and catalogued, I am rarely called as strongly to believe in a reality based almost entirely on faith. This book will make you sleep easier at night in the belief in something after death; not as Shakespeare describes it, as something that, "puzzles the will, and makes us rather bear those ills we have..." but as a warmth and security beyond that which we may behold in a corporeal state.