Reflection's Edge

Book Review: Yume No Hon: The Book of Dreams, by Catherynne M. Valente

Reviewer: JoSelle Vanderhooft

Ayako is an old woman for whom nothing is certain. Alone on a mountain side since childhood when invading bandits forced her to flee her village, the old hermit is content to plant her bean garden, mend her sandals and converse with the world around her – the Mountain, the River, the Gate near her house and the children of the village who bring her food each summer and believe she is a ghost. Ayako is also visited by several haunting and enigmatic Dreams obsessed with quests, life, death, and eating. In her isolation she is no longer certain whether anything is real, including herself and her Dreams. As she weaves in and out of sleep like a Steadily, Ayako is drawn upwards through the five floors of a nearby pagoda which may hold the secret of her Dreams and the key to her existence.

Though her epic novels have won praise from critics and readers alike, Catherynne M. Valente is still one of contemporary literature's best-kept secrets. Her books skillfully infuse mythology and religion with poetic images that are as fresh as they are shocking. This is true of her previous work and true of Yume no Hon: The Book of Dreams, her most recent novel.

Set in medieval Japan, Yume no Hon is a book that travels through time, seasons and ancient mythologies with an ease more commonly found in ancient epics than in most contemporary novels.

Coming in at just under 150 pages, this deceptively slim volume contains references to Euclidian geometry, Greek philosophy, Shinto, sphinx-like riddles and even quantum physics. But none of these references feel pretentious or unnecessary. Instead, they work to enhance the story and to bring out its central theme; woman's quest to find her place in time and in the world.

Though the book begins slowly and takes some time to get used to due to its dense imagery and lack of an immediate conflict, the story quickly gathers steam as Valente provides us with more details about Ayako's thoughts and situation. She has been alone for years, with only a River, a Mountain and a Gate to keep her company; her body is aging and decrepit; and she is haunted day and night by mysterious Dreams which also speak to her. But being an old woman, she does not object much to her lonely and confused situation. Instead she is content to plant her garden with beans, dance in the rain and observe the cycles of the seasons.

Like the ancient stories that inspired it, Yume no Hon concerns itself with circles: the changing of seasons, the cyclical nature of Japanese dynasties (where a new ruling house rises from an old line's decay) and even the circularity of human consciousness, which has known and done all things for all time. To illustrate this concept, Valente uses a riff on the riddle the Sphinx asked Oedipus:

And yet, before any of them have occurred, it is possible that all have occurred, and so they all have. There is no reason for us ever to meet. We have already met. I am in your belly, you are in mine. We are a many-colored ouroboros, merrily chewing on each other's scales. My riddles are answered. I am content. Though identified primarily through symbol and literary reference, they are the stories of the Sphinx, the Babylonian dragon-woman Tiamat, the Hawaiian volcano goddess Pele, and Isis, the Egyptian Queen of the Underworld. These archetypes visit Ayako, and the old woman wonders if her dreams are more real than she is. This, Valente tells us, is the nature not only of reality, but of women, who are really just "one woman, who has already lived, died, conflagrated and drowned." Like the Greeks who spoke of man's nature when referencing great (though troubled and flawed) heroes such as Oedipus or Achilles, Valente creates a new mythology by using myth to speak of women collectively.

But Yume no Hon is more than a clever deconstruction of myth and history. It is a poignant story of an old woman's isolation and her longing for security and comfort in old age when she, like everyone, attempts to make sense out of the inexplicable thoughts, feelings and experiences that have defined her life. It is her humanity – her fondness for tea and mustard grass, her love of riddles and learning, her affection for the village children who visit her, that make her a truly compelling character. Valente's greatest triumph lies more in the creation of this woman, who lives and breaths just as surely as the legends who define her, than in any beautiful turn of phrase or metaphor. Told with mathematical precision and the subtle beauty of a well-structured haiku, Yume no Hon is a book not to be missed.

Note: Yume no Hon is currently sold in two editions, "red" and "blue", which represent the opposite ends of the visual spectrum (a nod to the novel's concerns with quantum physics). The "red" edition contains 69 words of altered text in one of the novel's most crucial passages. Both can currently be purchased for $40.00 from Wildside Press' website.

If you liked this book, you may also enjoy:

The Labyrinth, by Catherynne M. Valente

Apocrypha, by Catherynne M. Valente

The Neverending Story, by Michael Ende

House of Leaves, by Mark Z. Danielewski

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll



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