When Dreams Travel

by Githa Hariharan

This novel takes up where "The Arabian Nights" left off and suggests what might have happened to the protagonists, Shahrzad the bride, Dunyazad the sister and Shahryar the sultan, when the story telling stopped.

Genres: Fiction, India

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Hariharan was born in Coimbatore and grew up in Bombay and Manila. She obtained a BA (in English) from Bombay University and a MA (in Communications) from Fairfield University (U.S.A.).

Hariharan first worked in the Public Broadcasting System in New York and then with a publishing firm as an editor in India. She currently works as a freelance editor.

In her personal life, she, along with her husband, won the right to have the children named after her (instead of carrying the father's name); in this famous case argued by Indira Jaising, the Supreme Court agreed that the mother was also a "natural guardian" of the child.Template:AIR 1999, 2. SCC 228

Reviews

[Friends of the Brooklyn Library]

Shamrita Bhikha: Women's suppression and oppression in a patriarchal society in the quest for love and power.
My favorite part of the book was when the sultan, Shavgav dies, which seem to suggest patriarchy will die too - but does it?

[Sasi Challa Tadepalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very unique, feminist and fairy tale look into the Arabian Nights. Intriguing in its sub plots and captivating in its telling of the women in the Nights, the story can get confusing at times. It is quite well written and takes the reader to many new worlds!

[Veena Soujanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading this book as a part of my MA programme. Initially I found it intriguing but at the same time confusing. It is the kind of book which you have to finish at one go. The more breaks you take the more you get detached from the story. But once you delve deep into the story you can feel it unwrap itself layers by layers. It feels like the fog surrounding you; making you feel but something you cannot catch. Geeta Hariharan's narration is beautiful. She dosen't write stories; she weaves them and you are caught in that web. A story inside a story, stories which have two endings, stories with two perspectives, stories of two storytellers narrated by their two allies. They make you shudder, they make you smile, they make you wonder, in short they make you part of them. Fascinating book on stories and storytellers and the magic they spread :)

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I received this book from a friend I honestly didn't know what to expect since I have yet to read The Arabian Nights.

This book wasn't hard to read at all, in fact it was quite a pleasurable read. I liked how Hariharan is able to weave a complete picture in one long, coherent, whimsical sentence. I felt as though I was transported back in time to the world of Arabian Nights where caravans trudged past the desert; a splendid white dome by the horizon; sultans and sultanahs in all their regality.

Though at times I felt disconnected from the book, because of its link to its predecessor, I managed to enjoy it up to the end. There were really nice stories in Hariharan's When Dreams Travel. I'll definitely re-read this book once I'm done with The Arabian Nights in the future!

[Arun · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't make it through this book. About a 100 pages in, and I still couldn't find my bearings as a reader. This is not a criticism on the writing of the book, mind, its just that the fact that the entire story is being written in present tense vignettes made it very hard for me to engage with the story. I'm thinking that its not the right time for me to read this book, so it's going back on the shelf for now.

For the curious, When Dreams Travel is a metafictional take on the 1001 Arabian Nights, and the story takes place after Scheherazade has told all of her stories.