mjfmjfmjf's review
4.0
A re-read. It seems like I like Sandman better on ever read. This one is 4 stand-alone stories.
Calliope was great. It was creepy and real and interesting. And Morpheus was himself. And we get to see hints of the bigger Morpheus story.
A Dream of a Thousand Cats was also great. And this time Morpheus was himself, but a cat. And the whole nature of reality was put in question.
And then there was A Midsummer's Night's Dream. Which presumable people think is good. But really I don't. It doesn't get better with re-reading. But perhaps it doesn't get worse.
And last Facade. Which was cool and a bit weird. And the art for Didi was not my favorite. There was kind of a leap near the end that I struggled to follow.
But definitely all worth re-reading
A little of everything in this one. But most of all more clearly defined stories. And not nearly as much of a horror focus. Always good to have a Didi story. But the Calliope story worked rather well. And the cat revolutionary. But I wasn't impressed as I was supposed to have been with Midsummer Night's Dream. All in all, very good, but not as good as Sandman's reputation.
Calliope was great. It was creepy and real and interesting. And Morpheus was himself. And we get to see hints of the bigger Morpheus story.
A Dream of a Thousand Cats was also great. And this time Morpheus was himself, but a cat. And the whole nature of reality was put in question.
And then there was A Midsummer's Night's Dream. Which presumable people think is good. But really I don't. It doesn't get better with re-reading. But perhaps it doesn't get worse.
And last Facade. Which was cool and a bit weird. And the art for Didi was not my favorite. There was kind of a leap near the end that I struggled to follow.
But definitely all worth re-reading
A little of everything in this one. But most of all more clearly defined stories. And not nearly as much of a horror focus. Always good to have a Didi story. But the Calliope story worked rather well. And the cat revolutionary. But I wasn't impressed as I was supposed to have been with Midsummer Night's Dream. All in all, very good, but not as good as Sandman's reputation.
katybug25's review against another edition
4.0
This volume has four stories that can be read separately (it is not one story line). They are all interesting stories, but my favorite is A Dream of a Thousand Cats. Dream isn’t a central character in these stories, in fact he doesn’t even feature in the last one, Façade. (Instead we get Death).
The first story follows an author who is experiencing writer’s block and goes to a famous author to find a muse. This story was disturbing, especially in that the author justifies his actions by explaining away the “humanity” of his muse. The ending was satisfying and demonstrates Dream’s sense of justice.
The second story is my favorite one. A cat goes on a journey to the Cat of Dreams to find revelation (something that is in the realm of dream). The answer she finds is intriguing, and flips the reader’s perception of the world these comics are in, and the power of dreaming.
The third story features Shakespeare and his play A Midsummer Night's Dream. Dream has Shakespeare bring his theater troupe to perform the play before the Fair Folk (Queen Titania and King Oberon are a part of the audience). I loved the different character designs for the Fair Folk and appreciated that they were not cutesy fairies; some were quite frightening in looks.
The last story follows Element Girl, a forgotten super hero who is no longer active in that capacity. She has a lot of anxiety, and is very lonely. She wants to end her life, but can’t figure out how with her powers preventing a clean or simple death. We also see Death is in this story rather than Dream and I found it fitting that they put this as the last story since it’s about an ending.
The first story follows an author who is experiencing writer’s block and goes to a famous author to find a muse. This story was disturbing, especially in that the author justifies his actions by explaining away the “humanity” of his muse. The ending was satisfying and demonstrates Dream’s sense of justice.
The second story is my favorite one. A cat goes on a journey to the Cat of Dreams to find revelation (something that is in the realm of dream). The answer she finds is intriguing, and flips the reader’s perception of the world these comics are in, and the power of dreaming.
The third story features Shakespeare and his play A Midsummer Night's Dream. Dream has Shakespeare bring his theater troupe to perform the play before the Fair Folk (Queen Titania and King Oberon are a part of the audience). I loved the different character designs for the Fair Folk and appreciated that they were not cutesy fairies; some were quite frightening in looks.
The last story follows Element Girl, a forgotten super hero who is no longer active in that capacity. She has a lot of anxiety, and is very lonely. She wants to end her life, but can’t figure out how with her powers preventing a clean or simple death. We also see Death is in this story rather than Dream and I found it fitting that they put this as the last story since it’s about an ending.
mi_a's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
Down bad for death
mckaywilde's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
nesskempton's review
2.0
I’ve lost the plot here. No overarching narrative. Just four short self contained stories. I don’t think I liked this one. I much preferred having the short tales integrated into the longer narrative. And can we stop with all the violence against women already? So many unnecessary boobs. I’m definitely struggling to enjoy this storytelling medium at this point. I’m not sure it’s for me. I’m honestly contemplating just googling all the info I want to know about the Endless now so I don’t have to sit through another volume like this one.
I just can’t ignore how much I love Gaiman’s other stories though.
Perhaps just one more volume… I’ll give it one more.
I just can’t ignore how much I love Gaiman’s other stories though.
Perhaps just one more volume… I’ll give it one more.
proffy's review against another edition
4.0
Dream Country contains 4 disturbing stories: Calliope, A Dream of a Thousand Cats, A Midsummer-Night's Dream, and Facade. Plus, Gaiman has included his script for Calliope which gives us insight into Gaiman's writing process on this particular story.
Calliope was difficult for me to read. Artfully done and intriguing, the story features a young author who comes into possession of a muse (who used to date...is that the right word?...Dream) and uses her to become rich and famous. That is not the difficult part. The author rapes the muse. And not only do we read about it: "She's not even human, he told himself. She's thousands of years old. But her flesh was warm, and her breath was sweet, and she choked back tears like a child whenever he hurt her." But since this is a graphic novel, we also get to see it. Rape is so abhorrent to me that I dislike seeing it in books or films.
A Dream of a Thousand Cats freaked me out with its focus on the possibility of dreams. In it, a group of cats listen as one cat tells them about their power to change the world, to re-elevate cats over humans, through a mutual dream. I find cats terrifying; I find the images in this story stomach-clenching. The illustrators manage to create visuals of cats that are at once familiar and highly other. It may have been my favorite of the collection.
In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Titiana and Auberon arrive as guests of Dream to watch Shakespeare and Company present A Midsummer Night's Eve. I loved the layers of this story, the intricacy of a play about fairies being shown to the real fairies. And who doesn't love Puck?
Facade features Urania Blackwell, a lonely woman, altered by Ra, able to change her physicality but unable to fix her destroyed face. She uses masks to hide her disfigurement but is still primarily a solitary figure. Death reappears in this story, as an unexpected consolation.
Calliope was difficult for me to read. Artfully done and intriguing, the story features a young author who comes into possession of a muse (who used to date...is that the right word?...Dream) and uses her to become rich and famous. That is not the difficult part. The author rapes the muse. And not only do we read about it: "She's not even human, he told himself. She's thousands of years old. But her flesh was warm, and her breath was sweet, and she choked back tears like a child whenever he hurt her." But since this is a graphic novel, we also get to see it. Rape is so abhorrent to me that I dislike seeing it in books or films.
A Dream of a Thousand Cats freaked me out with its focus on the possibility of dreams. In it, a group of cats listen as one cat tells them about their power to change the world, to re-elevate cats over humans, through a mutual dream. I find cats terrifying; I find the images in this story stomach-clenching. The illustrators manage to create visuals of cats that are at once familiar and highly other. It may have been my favorite of the collection.
In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Titiana and Auberon arrive as guests of Dream to watch Shakespeare and Company present A Midsummer Night's Eve. I loved the layers of this story, the intricacy of a play about fairies being shown to the real fairies. And who doesn't love Puck?
Facade features Urania Blackwell, a lonely woman, altered by Ra, able to change her physicality but unable to fix her destroyed face. She uses masks to hide her disfigurement but is still primarily a solitary figure. Death reappears in this story, as an unexpected consolation.
cvidean's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
4.25
kstonge42's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
monim6's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0