What Is The Plot Of In Your Dreams?

One plot criticism I have is the moral black and white-ness of it. The heroine, Paula is perfect. She is virtuous, hardworking and noble. Her enemies are all negative characters such as envious, lazy and deceitful. It's a melodrama type of plot where you get emotional satisfaction from seeing good receive their due and evil get what's coming to them. I should mention that this is a pretty black and white morality tale, so if you are looking for a very nuanced story with many shades of gray, then this probably isn’t the story for you. Instead, it’s a very clear and straightforward right versus wrong tale with a great and honorable hero in Paula. The complexity in this tale comes from the numerous and intricate plots to bring her down, not from any moral ambiguity on the part of her enemies. It’s very refreshing in that it is a clear and straightforward story with a good hero.

For me, the dual protagonists were Elara and Kaelen. The way their initial enemies turned into enemies-turned-allies, and possibly even more than that, was at the heart of the story. Elara is a book-smart, naive dreamer who has no idea how to cope in the brutal politics of the dream world, while Kaelen is a cynical harden veteran, full of survivor’s guilt. It was really wonderful to see Elara slowly soften Kaelen up, and to see Kaelen slowly temper Elara’s ideals and help her to see reality. The dialogue between them was all wonderful, really – very, very sharp, with lots of subtext, and I could really see their relationship grow by brick, slowly but painfully. The rest of the cast of characters played around the edges of the two, and really, the story lived and died on the readership of these two characters. I fully believed in them both.

My interpretation of the story is the dissolution of the family unit under crisis. The end of the story where reality and nightmare are blurred mirrors the child’s shattered world as the adults fail. The mother figure’s actions are desperate and possibly even monstrous but are seen through the eyes of a child suffering from high fever and terror. The end does not so much “end” as it breaks apart. It is a sad story and not scary. It is a tragedy of miscommunication and failure. The ambiguity of the story makes it sadder because there is no villain. The circumstances of the failure are all awful.

While all of these interpretations are fun, it’s also important to note the purely poetic value of the writing in the final pages of the book. After a long time for developing characters and plotting, the prose becomes sparse and clean, in many places bordering on the hypnotic. So while one can continue to try to interpret the work on the analytical level, at some point it simply stops mattering. The prose becomes almost music, washing over one. The experience of reading the final pages is that of experiencing a series of sentences and images and somehow being affected by them. The meaning is in the music. The book ends as a piece of abstract emotional music. The novel resolves the dissonance that had been established throughout its pages in a calm, open chord. And that is good enough. It’s even logical enough, although one cannot explain it in terms of plot. That is what great writing does: it bypasses the brain and goes straight to the nerves.

Montgomery skillfully creates a unique love story between Anne and Gilbert Blythe in ‘Anne’s House of Dreams’. Unlike many novels today, there is no dramatic proposal to Gilbert’s acceptance of Anne’s hand in marriage. After many years, Anne comes to realize that Gilbert is her future in a quiet, serene setting of a sunset-filled backyard. Anne and Gilbert exchange vows in a very down-to-earth wedding ceremony where Anne declines expensive, formal wedding dresses and instead chooses a simple dress that she can wear again. This simple, yet meaningful choice symbolizes how far she has come from her Avonlea days of wanting puffed sleeves on her ribbons. The Gilbert and Anne of the novel have an “imperfect” marriage. Gilbert is often called away to work and they do have some hilarious arguments. He teases her about her cooking – once saying that he could survive on a diet of charred pies. Most of the time however, they are shown to be very happy together. They enjoy quiet times together – reading poetry or planting a garden. Gilbert says that his vegetables are no match for Anne’s flowers. As contrast to the Leslies and the Pringles, Anne and Gilbert work to create a resilient marriage. Tragedy does befall them, in the loss of Joyce, but Gilbert’s silent tears on Anne’s shoulder speak louder than any words in a soliloquy. And it is that steady light of the lighthouse that guides the two through the hard times, home to each other.

The key objective of Zoro in ‘One Piece’ is quite easy to realize: He wants to become the greatest swordsman the world has ever seen. But there is so much more to it: His childhood friend Kuina wanted to become stronger than him and he promised her that he would become stronger than she. All of his matches and battles are for fulfillment of his vow. How wonderful and inspiring that the goals one wants to reach are tied up with memories of people one holds dear. This is how Zoro lives his life.

The love story: The only human connection in a story full of weirdness. It gets read in completely different ways. Some people think it’s beautiful. It’s a necessary human connection in the story. Others find it forced and amateur. It’s clearly there for the purpose of human connection. I find it sweet, for the most part. Their growing relationship is key to the plot, and is the vehicle for the biggest change in Eleanor’s life. Leo has a deep understanding of the whole ecosystem of the street, magical and botanical, and so is able to pass on his knowledge to Eleanor, to help her to understand what she’s dealing with. But more than that, their growing trust of each other is a model of the sort of vulnerability and honesty that the street as an entity has, until now, forbidden. Their relationship is quiet, and slow-burning, but ultimately feels earned. There is real connection between the two of them, as they share in their respective curiosities, and their desire to know and understand things, as opposed to just running from them. The story uses their partnership to explore the themes of collaboration and the solitary life, and how they relate to one another. It is a vital emotional thread, and makes the high-concept plot feel warm and real, and the personal stakes that much more personal.

The main problem with the read is that it’s been mis-sold as a high-octane, epic fantasy adventure with a seriously dark and powerful artifact in the mix for 80% of it. In the last 20% it transitions completely to a serious, dark, psychological exploration of a person’s complete and utter obsession with something and it’s been so well written that, had it been sold as that, I think a lot of people’s disappointment could have been alleviated. As it is, a lot of readers have felt ‘bailed on’ by the switch in tone and type of story.

This was a divisive end to a book. I didn’t hate it though. In fact, I loved it. It wasn’t a big battle between good and evil. It wasn’t even a duel between our hero and the big bad. Instead, the climax was a public debate in which our heroine laid out all of her research to a crowded room of scholars. And then – resolution! – they believed her. The truth was enough to break the curse that had been ‘afflicting’ the duke and allowing him to twist and abuse the twilight in order to survive. And then, after that, the duke wasn’t ‘cured’ of his twilight affinity. Instead, he and the land around him slowly, painfully transitioned to a healthy balance of twilight and daylight. And then, in the end, he tended a new garden, full of vibrant, wonderful life, with the heroine. It was a very quiet, very intellectual, very emotional victory. Many readers felt that this was an anticlimactic ending to the book. But for me, it was completely satisfying, because it was so true to this book’s core concept: that the only way to win was through understanding.

Imagine finding out a shocking family secret while dealing with your first crush. ‘Summer Secrets’ follows June as she searches for the truth about her mom’s hidden past. The search becomes a deeply personal journey as June tries to piece together the clues and her journal becomes a personal and emotional search for the truth. The setting of the story on a lake side adds to the story of stormy nights and hope filled sunsets. What resonates with me is the way Summer Secrets explores forgiveness. The anger June feels toward her mom is palpable but so too is the moment where June realises that adults are just people and therefore prone to making mistakes. And Eli – oh Eli! The transition from June’s witty banter with this boy to full on romance is sublime. In particular the scenes where he helps her work out the journal entries were amazing. It makes me want to go and rummage through my own attic to see if I can uncover any family secrets.