The Dreamers

Walker, Karen Thompson. The Dreamers. New York: Random House 2019. Print

First Sentences:

At first, they blame the air.

It's an old idea, a poison in the ether, a danger carried in by the wind. A strange haze is seen drifting through town on that first night, the night the trouble begins....

Whatever this is, it comes over them quietly: a sudden drowsiness, a closing of the eyes. Most of the victims are found in their beds. 

Description:

Many apocalypse/disaster books detail the results of a deadly plague, war, or zombies - something which threatens to become pandemic and exterminate all humans. Always, there is a random individual or group who somehow survive and try to piece their lives and the world back together.

But for Karen Thompson Walker in her novel, The Dreamers, she portrays an unknown virus that appears only on an isolated college campus and town. And the disaster? People simply fall asleep, whether in their beds, eating meals, walking around, studying -- any time. Kept alive by medical staff using intravenous feeding, the victims peacefully sleep away days, weeks, and months in beds set up in hospitals, gymnasiums, and even libraries. 

Interestingly, someone notices the eyelids of the sleepers keep twitching, leading experts to believe they are dreaming. But of what?

...in some patients, the accompanying brain waves are captured with electrodes and projected on screens....These are not the brains of ordinary sleepers....there is more activity in these minds than has ever been recorded in any human brain -- awake or asleep.

And then, after many weeks, one dreamer wakes up. And what he has to say and do ... well, I'll let you find out.

It's really a simple story without violence, desperation, or noise. The plot concentrates on several adults and students, individually or with partners, trying to understand the virus, help new dreamers get medical attention, and somehow keep themselves, their friends and families from being afflicted. 

But in the hands of a skilled author like Walker, even the simplest of plots can grip readers. Through her narration, we grow to empathize with these characters as they struggle with the unknown. Will they be affected by the virus? How can they live when the food begins to run out? How do parents, cordoned off outside the campus boundaries, feel seeing their children sleeping so peacefully, so permanently? And what about the dreamer pregnant with a baby growing inside her each day/week/month that she sleeps?

The only way to tell some stories is with the oldest, most familiar words: this here, this is the breaking of a heart..

Gripping, compassionate, thought-provoking, and unpredictable. A solid read in every way.

Happy reading. 

Fred

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Ursu, Anne. Spilling Clarence.   

A leak from a local chemical factory sends out a gas that affects residents of the town of Clarence in an unusual way: they suddenly can remember everything with with the associated repercussions of longing, love, and regret. 
brilliantly conceived, funny, and touching. Highly recommended. (previously reviewed here)