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Do the Blind Dream?: New Novellas and Stories
Do the Blind Dream? shows Gifford at the height of his powers, navigating with ease the new, more fragmented imaginative landscape of morning-after America. Gifford seems to have anticipated themes that suddenly are recognizable the fragility of identity; the power of coincidence; the illusion of a secure tomorrow.
In contrast to his often nightmarish, satirical, groundbreaking novels of the 1990s—Wild at Heart, Perdita Durango, and Night People among them— Do the Blind Dream? continues in the tender and deeply introspective vein revealed in two recent Gifford’s memoir The Phantom Father (named a New York Times Notable Book), and the award-winning novella Wyoming . From the intimate, stylistically daring examination of the darkest secrets in the history of an Italian family, to the terrible but often beautiful fears and discoveries of childhood, to the sardonic, desperate confusion of adult life, Do the Blind Dream? reveals an exceptionally versatile, highly tuned sensibility.
In contrast to his often nightmarish, satirical, groundbreaking novels of the 1990s—Wild at Heart, Perdita Durango, and Night People among them— Do the Blind Dream? continues in the tender and deeply introspective vein revealed in two recent Gifford’s memoir The Phantom Father (named a New York Times Notable Book), and the award-winning novella Wyoming . From the intimate, stylistically daring examination of the darkest secrets in the history of an Italian family, to the terrible but often beautiful fears and discoveries of childhood, to the sardonic, desperate confusion of adult life, Do the Blind Dream? reveals an exceptionally versatile, highly tuned sensibility.
- GenresFictionShort Stories
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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36 people want to read
About the author
Barry Gifford
142 books205 followersBarry Gifford is an American author, poet, and screenwriter known for his distinctive mix of American landscapes and film noir- and Beat Generation-influenced literary madness.
He is described by Patrick Beach as being "like if John Updike had an evil twin that grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and wrote funny..."He is best known for his series of novels about Sailor and Lula, two sex-driven, star-crossed protagonists on the road. The first of the series, Wild at Heart, was adapted by director David Lynch for the 1990 film of the same title. Gifford went on to write the screenplay for Lost Highway with Lynch. Much of Gifford's work is nonfiction.
He is described by Patrick Beach as being "like if John Updike had an evil twin that grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and wrote funny..."He is best known for his series of novels about Sailor and Lula, two sex-driven, star-crossed protagonists on the road. The first of the series, Wild at Heart, was adapted by director David Lynch for the 1990 film of the same title. Gifford went on to write the screenplay for Lost Highway with Lynch. Much of Gifford's work is nonfiction.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 26, 2023
Reading Barry Gifford is like watching a David Lynch film. And no wonder: Lynch filmed Wild at Heart, based on his novel; and Gifford collaborated with Lynch on Lost Highways. Do the Blind Dream?: New Novellas and Stories consists of a couple of novellas, most notably "Havana Moon," and a number of short stories -- all of which are more or less disturbing.
I really think that Gifford is probably one of our best writers, yet he doesn't seem to get the recognition that his work deserves.
I really think that Gifford is probably one of our best writers, yet he doesn't seem to get the recognition that his work deserves.
December 28, 2019
In 2011 I was very curious to know the work of Barry Gifford, mainly because of the film Wild At Heart, I was at least curious, in 2011 I got the chance to buy the book Wyoming. I loved that book, it was original, fresh, and I loved the fact the it told a story just in character lines, no other description whatsoever. It sparked my imagination and the Character Roy and his Mother driving from to Wyoming, kinda stuck with me.
Later I bought "Do The Blind Dream?" and "Memories From a Sinking Ship", later in that same year, 2011. I gave them a quick look and I understood that some chapters had similar names, then I re-checked, they really have the exact same names. I understood the idea, back then, some of the chapters were longer and used in other stories, like a "Chapter-cut-up-technique", that was ok, but I wanted to stay in my "Wyoming" for a bit longer.
8 years later, almost 9, I found the time and the emotional space to read this new set of Novellas and Short Stories.
"Do The Blind Dream ?" - Is the main, not the longest, but the most interesting Novella from this Book. It is pretty original and used death to approach the emotional blindness found in every Human being. Interesting. It stuck.
Then there were several other small stories, 1 chapter stories, 3 to 4, maybe 5 chapter, small stories. They hold an interesting mood and use simple, yet, organic devises to pass a certain message or feeling. They were soothing and sparked some images in my mind, strangely enough, for me, many of these images conjure almost an Edward Hopper mood, with American 50s on them. It is a memory thing, clearly subjective, but this is why these stories work so well for me.
"Havana Moon" - Is the biggest Novella, and it is pretty brave. I have to admit that. But I could not stop thinking that this Novella, from 2005, if I remember correctly, was very influenced by the work of David Lynch, all the motifs are there, it is like from someone that saw Mulholland Drive (the first part) many many times, and of course, Barry Gifford was involved in the screenplay of another David Lynch film, Lost Highway, that was sparked by the book "Night People" (by Barry Gifford, a book that I really want to read, love the title) that Lynch read, way back when, after he had done, "Wild At Heart"(another thing I need for my year 2020).
But Barry, is an honest writer, he just clinged to something and went for it. I like the world, but this narrative, full of analogies and metaphors went into a cycle that seemed like a draft and not a final thing, for me. Some dialog seemed hammered on and some ideas were placed, very much like scenes, it is a common thing nowadays in literature, to expose the influence it received from Cinema, it is very juxtaposed, many times short, and without passages. What happens is what holds the thing, it is very close to a Cinematic device, except for some limitations that we find easily in literature, the description of something from a narrative point of view must be objective, the subjective notion of what a character is seeing, well is very very limited. I believe this is why this Novella doesn't work that well, because, maybe it would work best as a script. And if this was a script, I would want to work on it. But then again, it felt brave and interesting in many ways. I just thought many ideas were hammered on. But it wasn't a waste of time. It is a story about getting what you really want, but for you to have that, you must face the projection of what you think it is and then survive the thing, for what it is. The subject, therefore, kept me interested. But I didn't find the Novella rock solid, like Wyoming. But I am eager to read "Memories from a Sinking Ship", that, specially, has a full chapter that uses the whole Wyoming novella, probably not very different, but with a different balance, is has something before and something after. So I am very interested.
Above all I found this release to be very honest and from someone that is working hard and passionately. This is good enough for me. Thank you, Barry Gifford.
Later I bought "Do The Blind Dream?" and "Memories From a Sinking Ship", later in that same year, 2011. I gave them a quick look and I understood that some chapters had similar names, then I re-checked, they really have the exact same names. I understood the idea, back then, some of the chapters were longer and used in other stories, like a "Chapter-cut-up-technique", that was ok, but I wanted to stay in my "Wyoming" for a bit longer.
8 years later, almost 9, I found the time and the emotional space to read this new set of Novellas and Short Stories.
"Do The Blind Dream ?" - Is the main, not the longest, but the most interesting Novella from this Book. It is pretty original and used death to approach the emotional blindness found in every Human being. Interesting. It stuck.
Then there were several other small stories, 1 chapter stories, 3 to 4, maybe 5 chapter, small stories. They hold an interesting mood and use simple, yet, organic devises to pass a certain message or feeling. They were soothing and sparked some images in my mind, strangely enough, for me, many of these images conjure almost an Edward Hopper mood, with American 50s on them. It is a memory thing, clearly subjective, but this is why these stories work so well for me.
"Havana Moon" - Is the biggest Novella, and it is pretty brave. I have to admit that. But I could not stop thinking that this Novella, from 2005, if I remember correctly, was very influenced by the work of David Lynch, all the motifs are there, it is like from someone that saw Mulholland Drive (the first part) many many times, and of course, Barry Gifford was involved in the screenplay of another David Lynch film, Lost Highway, that was sparked by the book "Night People" (by Barry Gifford, a book that I really want to read, love the title) that Lynch read, way back when, after he had done, "Wild At Heart"(another thing I need for my year 2020).
But Barry, is an honest writer, he just clinged to something and went for it. I like the world, but this narrative, full of analogies and metaphors went into a cycle that seemed like a draft and not a final thing, for me. Some dialog seemed hammered on and some ideas were placed, very much like scenes, it is a common thing nowadays in literature, to expose the influence it received from Cinema, it is very juxtaposed, many times short, and without passages. What happens is what holds the thing, it is very close to a Cinematic device, except for some limitations that we find easily in literature, the description of something from a narrative point of view must be objective, the subjective notion of what a character is seeing, well is very very limited. I believe this is why this Novella doesn't work that well, because, maybe it would work best as a script. And if this was a script, I would want to work on it. But then again, it felt brave and interesting in many ways. I just thought many ideas were hammered on. But it wasn't a waste of time. It is a story about getting what you really want, but for you to have that, you must face the projection of what you think it is and then survive the thing, for what it is. The subject, therefore, kept me interested. But I didn't find the Novella rock solid, like Wyoming. But I am eager to read "Memories from a Sinking Ship", that, specially, has a full chapter that uses the whole Wyoming novella, probably not very different, but with a different balance, is has something before and something after. So I am very interested.
Above all I found this release to be very honest and from someone that is working hard and passionately. This is good enough for me. Thank you, Barry Gifford.
May 16, 2020
Complete drivel. Wooden characters, crap dialogue, boring as all hell. Gave up 10 pages in when a character asked his sister at their mother’s funeral if she remembered him sex trafficking her when they were kids. Wtf? Skimmed a couple of the other stories but none of the writing quality seemed any better so elected not to subject myself to any more.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 17, 2019
The title novella is excellent, and there’s some Roy stories that I’ve already read in The Cuban Club. Unfortunately there’s also a 100 page novella that is among the weakest of Gifford’s stories I’ve read.
November 10, 2024
I kept coming back to the word "staccato", and what I mean by that is that the flow in conversation was not flowing. The first and ninth stories were somewhat enjoyable, but I can only land at an overall rating of "okay". The sharp conversational non-flow made the encounters flat and awkward. Mr Gifford has a lot to learn in that area - but anyway, I won't be revisiting his works ...
September 30, 2012
The quality of the stories tailed off a bit as the book went on. My favourites - 'Ball Lightning' and 'Do the Blind Dream?' - reveal the fractures beneath family relationships.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews