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Dreamers of the Day (2008)

door Mary Doria Russell

LedenBesprekingenPopulariteitGemiddelde beoordelingAanhalingen
1,09212918,389 (3.64)177
A forty-year-old schoolteacher from Ohio still reeling from the tragedies of the Great War and the influenza epidemic comes into a modest inheritance that allows her to take the trip of a lifetime to Egypt and the Holy Land. Arriving at the Semiramis Hotel, site of the 1921 Cairo Peace Conference, she meets Winston Churchill, T. E. Lawrence, and Lady Gertrude Bell. With her plainspoken American opinions, she becomes a sounding board for these historic luminaries who will, in the space of a few days, invent the nations of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan. While neither a pawn or a participant at the conference, she is drawn into the geopolitical intrigue surrounding the conference.… (meer)
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1-5 van 134 worden getoond (volgende | toon alle)
A fascinating book. More rich and memorable than a lifetime of history textbooks. Exquisitely researched down to the last details.

Two things keep Dreamers of the Day from joining Russell's other books among my absolute favorites --
1) Agnes Shanklin often seems a mere vessel to convey historical facts and opinions on colonization decisions. The main character is more properly T.E. Lawrence. By necessity, historical fiction contains true historical figures, and Russell has clearly done her homework, never misattributing opinions. Nevertheless, Lawrence and other historical figures (Gertrude Bell, Winston Churchill and others) in starring roles makes the book feel less like a novel and more like a fictionalized historical text.

2) The ending was superfluous, silly and totally detracted from the tone of the book. ( )
  settingshadow | Aug 19, 2023 |
3.5 stars, rounded down.

How did I get to this ripe old age of mine and never hear of Gertrude Bell? I knew about Lawrence, of course, and had a vague idea that the middle east was parceled out by a small group of Englishmen that included Winston Churchill, but never any inkling of what really happened in an Egyptian hotel that changed the shape of the world and created the fractional and dysfunctional Middle East we see today.

Agnes Shanklin is an American schoolteacher, whose entire family has died in the influenza epidemic of 1918. (Russell's descriptions of the epidemic and the feelings it engendered were somewhat eerie in light of our own recent history). Agnes' sister, Lily, had known T. E. Lawrence before he achieved his fame, and when Agnes meets with him in Egypt, Lawrence invites her to share time with him and subsequently with the diplomats who are carving out the Middle East after WW1.

Agnes, as a friend of Lawrence, is intimate enough with the group to be included in some sensitive conversations, but remote enough not to be personally involved and have an outsider's view. Enter a German by the name of Karl Weilbacher, and you have someone to provide a romantic interest, a reason for Agnes to discuss the progress of the conference, and a person to provide another point of view from which to evaluate the proceedings.

There is a good smattering of descriptions of the holy land and Egypt, both the physical terrain and the social environment, and this is excellently done. I felt at times that I was taking a personal guided tour, and could hear the bustle of the marketplace and feel the crowding at the holy shrines. I experienced the discomfort of riding a camel across the desert to see the pyramids, and in fact, my rear end still aches from the bouncing.

I am a huge fan of Ms. Russell, and her inimitable style is certainly present in this novel, but there were also things that kept me at an arm’s length from our main character and at least one device that really bothered me. A short way into the narrative, Agnes drops that she is telling this story from beyond the grave, and I really did not care for that approach. The story would feel immediate and then Russell would remind us that Agnes was not alive, and somehow that would take something away from the reading for me. I could not see how this added anything to the novel other than providing Russell an avenue for her last chapter, and I felt that such an accomplished writer could have found another way to include this information or might have done just as well to save the “beyond the grave” surprise for the end. The story is well-told and the historical background very interesting, but I never cared enough for Agnes, so there was no sense of urgency on her behalf at any stage of reading.

What this book did inspire me to want to do is to rewatch Lawrence of Arabia. I saw it moons ago, and realized while reading that there is actually very little of it I remember beyond the sweeping cinematography for which it is famous. I will take advantage the next time it airs to revisit a film which is a known masterpiece and see how much of this “unknown” history I might have already been aware of if I had been paying attention.
( )
  mattorsara | Aug 11, 2022 |
Loved this book. Have read every non-fiction book on T.E.Lawrence that I can, and loved this fictionalized story about him. Anyone who is an admirer of Lawrence, will appreciate her portrayal of him. ( )
  Nefersw | Jan 14, 2022 |
Well, I love Ms. Russell's writing, and this novel is no exception. It reads true to life, backing her claim of extensive research. At 40 her protagonist, Agnes Shanklin, an unmarried schoolteacher, looses her mother and siblings to the flu pandemic rife in the world at the end of the Great War. With her lose comes an inheritance that allows her a real vacation to Egypt. The vacation turns her life around. While most Americans then didn't see much beyond their immediate surroundings, Agnes sees a world she hadn't dreamed of. Not to tell too much, but her adventure includes hobnobbing with important politicians of the day, witnessing the creation of the modern Middle East and the modern day problems to come. Unusual and captivating, the story is not to be missed. ( )
  thosgpetri | Nov 3, 2021 |
Agnes Shanklin is a 40 year old school teacher from Ohio who survived the tragedies of the 1st world war & the influenza epidemic. She comes into a modest inheritance & travels to Egypt just as the Peace Conference convenes. She meets Winston Churchill, Gertrude Bell, & T. E. Lawrence who were involved in creating Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel & Jordan.
"I suppose I ought to warn you at the outset that my present circumstances are puzzling, even to me. Nevertheless, I am sure of this much: my little story has become your history. You won't really understand your times until you understand mine."
  taurus27 | Aug 5, 2021 |
1-5 van 134 worden getoond (volgende | toon alle)
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And yet, I will confess to you, from time to time I envied my youthful self—that girl who could still dream and want more, who could still imagine someone who had never materialized, except during those brief weeks before Douglas fell in love with Lillie. However briefly, Douglas had seen my true self, and he had not laughed or sneered or sighed. He was only being kind, I suppose. But kindness is so important, wouldn't you agree?
He had a smile like sunrise.
India was the primary source of British prosperity, Karl continued. "It is governed by bureaucrats who live like royalty with palaces and servants," he said. "Who among them would give up wealth and privilege for such airy ideals as liberty and equality for brown people?"
I imagine everyone's forgotten the difference between suffragists and suffragettes after all these years, but believe me, it was significant. Anyone who favored votes for women was a suffragist, whether male or female. Suffragettes were women only, radicals determined to wrest their rights from the patriarchy by any means necessary, including the occasional plot to push a government official or two under the odd locomotive.
"It's no wonder they're angry! If powerful people won't even ask what you want—it's as if you don't matter a bit. And that's not fair, because we all matter the same amount!" I insisted, cringing away from the shrieking, gesticulating men I was defending. "President Wilson was right about that! All nations matter the same amount, even if they aren't rich and powerful like Great Britain!"
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A forty-year-old schoolteacher from Ohio still reeling from the tragedies of the Great War and the influenza epidemic comes into a modest inheritance that allows her to take the trip of a lifetime to Egypt and the Holy Land. Arriving at the Semiramis Hotel, site of the 1921 Cairo Peace Conference, she meets Winston Churchill, T. E. Lawrence, and Lady Gertrude Bell. With her plainspoken American opinions, she becomes a sounding board for these historic luminaries who will, in the space of a few days, invent the nations of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan. While neither a pawn or a participant at the conference, she is drawn into the geopolitical intrigue surrounding the conference.

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