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Paul Bryant's Reviews > What Dreams May Come
What Dreams May Come
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Unique, mindblowing and utterly preposterous heap of outrageous twaddle. Richard Matheson, author of the great apocalypse novel I Am Legend, decides to take on The Big One full frontal with no messing about. This novel describes exactly what happens to us after we die. The Afterlife! In full surroundsound 3D Panavision!
So a guy is sitting peacefully at home in 1976 when a strange visitor calls : “I am a psychic type medium and your dead brother Chris has dictated the whole of this manuscript through me! So here you are, take it or leave it.�
The rest of the novel is the first person story of Chris, who died horribly in a car crash, and what then happens.
The first thing is, he’s very upset and more than a little confused to be standing around watching his earthly body die, be wept over by his wife & children, then attend his own funeral. It’s all hey, I’m here, why can’t anybody see me! But then he gets beamed up to a place they call Summerland, some call it Heaven (but its correct name is The Third Sphere), and wakes up in the prettiest of all country parks and meets his old dog who had died but now bounds up wagging its tail. Hello Katie! Then cousin Albert turns up and he turns out to be a most helpful companion. He answers every question to the best of his ability and THERE ARE MANY QUESTIONS.
So here is a summary of interesting points.
HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR STAY IN HEAVEN
1. When you die your life really does flash before your eyes, but slowly, and backwards, and you relive everything.
“It’s a time when men and women come to know what they truly are. A time of purging� a period during which each soul is cleansed by a self-imposed recognition of past deeds � and misdeeds.�
“Self-imposed,� I repeated. “There is really no outside judgement then?�
“What condemnation could possibly be more harsh than one’s own when self-pretense is no longer possible?� he asked
Well, whole theologies teeter and crumble to the ground at this point. There’s no judgement day! You do your own judging! But where do these suddenly-acquired moral standards come from? If you didn’t think that fiddling tax returns was a crime at all when you were alive and fiddling, why suddenly should you realise it was a bad thing now you’re dead?
(I should say right now that in this version of the Afterlife, God hardly gets a look-in. And Jesus? Nowhere, man.)
2. Earth ties have less meaning. Relationships of thought, not blood, are what count. So you might meet your mother and just go Hey how’s it going, Mum? And mosey right on by. Well, you were never that close.
3. You choose what age you are in Heaven. Some people like being old! “Wouldn’t it be silly to have nothing but young people here?�
4. All the buildings and rolling countryside and gorgeous arboreal panoramas and exquisite shrubberies are made of a kind of mental stuff which comes from somewhere called The Matrix (yep, that one) and anyone can make themselves a detached Palladian-style house in its own grounds by getting a few brainy types together and concentrating, but you gotta learn the skills first. It’s not magic. And once you lose interest in your house or your library or your dog it vanishes. Back into The Matrix.
5. Your new body doesn’t need food, and has no stomach or intestines. So logically there are no bathrooms or toilets in Heaven. As for clothes � “They’re as real as your body. Everybody � except certain natives, of course � has, in their mind, the conviction that clothes are indispensable. The conviction garbs them after death.�
Albert does not discuss the question of naturists at this point. Could be there are nude beaches in Heaven, but he doesn’t say.
6. “What about reproductive organs?�
“You still have them because you expect to have them. In time, when you understand their lack of purpose, they’ll disappear.�
“That’s weird,� I said
(I think that already some readers might be going off this version of the afterlife a bit. But wait---)
“Still, part of my relationship with Ann [his wife] was physical.�
“And there are people here who love each other, who have sexual relations. The mind is capable of anything� in time, of course, these people usually realize that physical contact isn’t as integral here as it was in life.�
So there’s great news for you - there is sex after death!
7. In heaven you communicate telepathically. I think that really goes without saying.
8. Parts of Heaven look like England. (page 96). I knew that! And the other way round is true too!
9. When you no longer have a physical brain you can think better. This is rather challenging for a person like myself. I think that if you don’t have a physical brain you can’t think at all because you've gone, baby, gone like snow on the water, but could be I’m wrong. Which brings us to
10. This guy Chris was an atheist and a firm believer that there was no afterlife whatsoever, but he still ended up in Heaven. Nice to know!
11. Heaven has countries just like Earth!
“Where exactly are we?� I asked.
“In a counterpart of the United States,� he told me. “One naturally gravitates to the wave length of his own country and people.�
“There’s an equivalent, here, to every country on earth then?�
“At this level…�
Again, Albert does not address the thornier aspects of this � what happens to a Kurdish person after death, or a Catalan � neither have their own countries on Earth, so will they still be campaigning for independence in Heaven?
Also, is there immigration in heaven? What about border control? Or maybe every country now has none of those earthly problems like, you know, perpetual war and malaria and so forth. These things were not fully addressed. Actually, they didn't get a mention.
12. Heaven is not Christian. Or, well, it is if you’re a Christian, but if you’re a Muslim, say, it will be a Muslim heaven.
“You’ll find in the hereafter the particular heaven of each theology.�
“Which is right then?� I asked, completely baffled now [as well he might be, so am I].
“All of them and none. Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jew � each has an afterlife experience which reflects his own beliefs. All are real. Each is a portion of the overall reality.�
Logically (if logic exists in Heaven that is) that means every tinpot cult gets its own bit too, unless there's a bureau somewhere that issues certificates. This whole thing could get as messy in Heaven as it is on Earth.
13. Although there is work to be done in Heaven, “there’s no need for a Health Department, a Sanitation Department, Fire or Police Department nor for food or clothing industries, transportation systems, doctors, lawyers, realtors.� (Imagine being a realtor in Heaven - nice view of the choirs of angels during the Autumn months, madam. Actually, no angels are to be had for love nor money in this version of Heaven. I wanted my money back. No angels? Come on!)
The work that people do is , as far as I could figure, making yourself ready to either get reborn or proceed to one of the higher levels, like in your usual computer game.
14. There are seven levels, probably. “He explained that earth is surrounded by concentric spheres of existence which vary in width and density, Summerland (aka Heaven) being the third. I asked how many there are altogether and he answered that he wasn’t sure but had heard there are seven.�
15. Don’t mourn the dead because it prolongs their adjustment to the afterlife. Sort of gives them a migraine.
16. Cremation, not burial! It will be so much easier for you if there are no mortal remains. Trust me on that. “People can’t forget their bodies easily. They keep wanting to see the thing they once believed to be themselves. That desire can become an obsession. That’s why cremation is important.�
17. Life in Heaven is real nice but a little bit too much like Stepford Wives.
18. The theatre is alive and well in Heaven, but there is censorship.
“Are plays written on earth performed in the theatres here?�
“If they’re appropriate,� she said. “Nothing that’s sordid though. Nothing conceived merely to harrow an audience.� So, Neil Simon is okay, Samuel Beckett probably not.
19. Don’t commit suicide. This is a real big no no. You will be condemned to stay in a rubbishy decaying version of your own house where all the facilities have been shut off and there is nothing in the fridge and your pets limp and there are tarantulas popping up all the time. You will be there until the time when you were supposed to die naturally (which is written down somewhere I guess). Then you can proceed to Summerland where there is a sale on.
20. What happened is that Richard Matheson read a ton of books about the afterlife and combined all their ideas into this ridiculous novel. Most of these books seems to be THEOSOPHIST. Otherwise known as COMPLETE POPPYCOCK. But it’s nice to know that my severe negativity towards the concept of the afterlife will not prevent me from popping up in Summerland when the time comes. See you there!
So a guy is sitting peacefully at home in 1976 when a strange visitor calls : “I am a psychic type medium and your dead brother Chris has dictated the whole of this manuscript through me! So here you are, take it or leave it.�
The rest of the novel is the first person story of Chris, who died horribly in a car crash, and what then happens.
The first thing is, he’s very upset and more than a little confused to be standing around watching his earthly body die, be wept over by his wife & children, then attend his own funeral. It’s all hey, I’m here, why can’t anybody see me! But then he gets beamed up to a place they call Summerland, some call it Heaven (but its correct name is The Third Sphere), and wakes up in the prettiest of all country parks and meets his old dog who had died but now bounds up wagging its tail. Hello Katie! Then cousin Albert turns up and he turns out to be a most helpful companion. He answers every question to the best of his ability and THERE ARE MANY QUESTIONS.
So here is a summary of interesting points.
HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR STAY IN HEAVEN
1. When you die your life really does flash before your eyes, but slowly, and backwards, and you relive everything.
“It’s a time when men and women come to know what they truly are. A time of purging� a period during which each soul is cleansed by a self-imposed recognition of past deeds � and misdeeds.�
“Self-imposed,� I repeated. “There is really no outside judgement then?�
“What condemnation could possibly be more harsh than one’s own when self-pretense is no longer possible?� he asked
Well, whole theologies teeter and crumble to the ground at this point. There’s no judgement day! You do your own judging! But where do these suddenly-acquired moral standards come from? If you didn’t think that fiddling tax returns was a crime at all when you were alive and fiddling, why suddenly should you realise it was a bad thing now you’re dead?
(I should say right now that in this version of the Afterlife, God hardly gets a look-in. And Jesus? Nowhere, man.)
2. Earth ties have less meaning. Relationships of thought, not blood, are what count. So you might meet your mother and just go Hey how’s it going, Mum? And mosey right on by. Well, you were never that close.
3. You choose what age you are in Heaven. Some people like being old! “Wouldn’t it be silly to have nothing but young people here?�
4. All the buildings and rolling countryside and gorgeous arboreal panoramas and exquisite shrubberies are made of a kind of mental stuff which comes from somewhere called The Matrix (yep, that one) and anyone can make themselves a detached Palladian-style house in its own grounds by getting a few brainy types together and concentrating, but you gotta learn the skills first. It’s not magic. And once you lose interest in your house or your library or your dog it vanishes. Back into The Matrix.
5. Your new body doesn’t need food, and has no stomach or intestines. So logically there are no bathrooms or toilets in Heaven. As for clothes � “They’re as real as your body. Everybody � except certain natives, of course � has, in their mind, the conviction that clothes are indispensable. The conviction garbs them after death.�
Albert does not discuss the question of naturists at this point. Could be there are nude beaches in Heaven, but he doesn’t say.
6. “What about reproductive organs?�
“You still have them because you expect to have them. In time, when you understand their lack of purpose, they’ll disappear.�
“That’s weird,� I said
(I think that already some readers might be going off this version of the afterlife a bit. But wait---)
“Still, part of my relationship with Ann [his wife] was physical.�
“And there are people here who love each other, who have sexual relations. The mind is capable of anything� in time, of course, these people usually realize that physical contact isn’t as integral here as it was in life.�
So there’s great news for you - there is sex after death!
7. In heaven you communicate telepathically. I think that really goes without saying.
8. Parts of Heaven look like England. (page 96). I knew that! And the other way round is true too!
9. When you no longer have a physical brain you can think better. This is rather challenging for a person like myself. I think that if you don’t have a physical brain you can’t think at all because you've gone, baby, gone like snow on the water, but could be I’m wrong. Which brings us to
10. This guy Chris was an atheist and a firm believer that there was no afterlife whatsoever, but he still ended up in Heaven. Nice to know!
11. Heaven has countries just like Earth!
“Where exactly are we?� I asked.
“In a counterpart of the United States,� he told me. “One naturally gravitates to the wave length of his own country and people.�
“There’s an equivalent, here, to every country on earth then?�
“At this level…�
Again, Albert does not address the thornier aspects of this � what happens to a Kurdish person after death, or a Catalan � neither have their own countries on Earth, so will they still be campaigning for independence in Heaven?
Also, is there immigration in heaven? What about border control? Or maybe every country now has none of those earthly problems like, you know, perpetual war and malaria and so forth. These things were not fully addressed. Actually, they didn't get a mention.
12. Heaven is not Christian. Or, well, it is if you’re a Christian, but if you’re a Muslim, say, it will be a Muslim heaven.
“You’ll find in the hereafter the particular heaven of each theology.�
“Which is right then?� I asked, completely baffled now [as well he might be, so am I].
“All of them and none. Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jew � each has an afterlife experience which reflects his own beliefs. All are real. Each is a portion of the overall reality.�
Logically (if logic exists in Heaven that is) that means every tinpot cult gets its own bit too, unless there's a bureau somewhere that issues certificates. This whole thing could get as messy in Heaven as it is on Earth.
13. Although there is work to be done in Heaven, “there’s no need for a Health Department, a Sanitation Department, Fire or Police Department nor for food or clothing industries, transportation systems, doctors, lawyers, realtors.� (Imagine being a realtor in Heaven - nice view of the choirs of angels during the Autumn months, madam. Actually, no angels are to be had for love nor money in this version of Heaven. I wanted my money back. No angels? Come on!)
The work that people do is , as far as I could figure, making yourself ready to either get reborn or proceed to one of the higher levels, like in your usual computer game.
14. There are seven levels, probably. “He explained that earth is surrounded by concentric spheres of existence which vary in width and density, Summerland (aka Heaven) being the third. I asked how many there are altogether and he answered that he wasn’t sure but had heard there are seven.�
15. Don’t mourn the dead because it prolongs their adjustment to the afterlife. Sort of gives them a migraine.
16. Cremation, not burial! It will be so much easier for you if there are no mortal remains. Trust me on that. “People can’t forget their bodies easily. They keep wanting to see the thing they once believed to be themselves. That desire can become an obsession. That’s why cremation is important.�
17. Life in Heaven is real nice but a little bit too much like Stepford Wives.
18. The theatre is alive and well in Heaven, but there is censorship.
“Are plays written on earth performed in the theatres here?�
“If they’re appropriate,� she said. “Nothing that’s sordid though. Nothing conceived merely to harrow an audience.� So, Neil Simon is okay, Samuel Beckett probably not.
19. Don’t commit suicide. This is a real big no no. You will be condemned to stay in a rubbishy decaying version of your own house where all the facilities have been shut off and there is nothing in the fridge and your pets limp and there are tarantulas popping up all the time. You will be there until the time when you were supposed to die naturally (which is written down somewhere I guess). Then you can proceed to Summerland where there is a sale on.
20. What happened is that Richard Matheson read a ton of books about the afterlife and combined all their ideas into this ridiculous novel. Most of these books seems to be THEOSOPHIST. Otherwise known as COMPLETE POPPYCOCK. But it’s nice to know that my severe negativity towards the concept of the afterlife will not prevent me from popping up in Summerland when the time comes. See you there!
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Reading Progress
August 23, 2018
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Started Reading
August 23, 2018
– Shelved
August 27, 2018
– Shelved as:
novels
August 27, 2018
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Jeez, what did you do?? The three stars were really because this novel was very entertaining - probably not quite in the way Richard Matheson intended, but still, it tickled me.
Paul wrote: "Jeez, what did you do??"Offended the spider gods, apparently.
And I do understand appreciating a book for its sheer entertainment value.... whether that's how the author intended it to be appreciated, or not.
What a diplomatic approach to the concept of heaven. All things to all people. No one is wrong, no one is right. Anything you like. Its all in your non existent brain. Except Avenue Q. Not that. Never that. :-)
I couldn't get past #1 because "Nowhere Man" would not get out of my head. 😂
I frequently enjoy your reviews more than the books themselves.
What if you were supposed to die of suicide?
According to this version, it's a Very Bad Thing, and you are condemned to a miserable kind of limbo until the time you were "scheduled" to die.
Paul, your review made me laugh out loud!!!
I hope you weren't using public transport at the time...
I felt lukewarm about the movie version too, despite Robin Williams being the leading actor.
haven't seen it but I can just picture RW's over-earnest emoting... shudder...
Haha, yes it was kind of ridiculous. Bless him.
I've owned this forever but have never worked up a desire to read it. Most surprising: a writer who signs off on censorship. Good thing I saw Sarah Kane's Blasted on Earth then. Most disappointing: the moralistic tone toward suicide, when everything else is live and let live, as it were. But--I get to see my dogs, yay!!!! Ok I'm on board, RM.
this is for sure a very heartening vision of life after death; unless you're a real bad 'un (they get to bite each other amidst volcanic ash and sometimes have bestial sex too) you end up in Summerland. I was very taken with the idea that this will happen to you even if you don't believe in it. But as usual I think he dodged a few tough ones - his protagonist is a man utterly in love with his wife & only has ever been. What about the rest of humanity who might have been in more marriages etc than just one? Would there be just a little bit of awkwardness in Summerland?
I'm wondering if this very entertaining review increases or decreases your chances of getting to heaven!;)
it really doesn't matter, so long as I don't commit suicide! that's the good news !
Paul, Thank you for your entertaining review!
This is sitting on my bookshelves unread. I was disappointed by I Am Legend so I wasn’t motivated to try a second Matheson book.
if you want something really off the charts weird, try it
Seems like a too complicated and too serious version of The Good Place!
So there are countries in Heaven. Is Brexit a thing there?
no, that's a hell thing
it sure feels like hell - a horrible argument that several people are having simultaneously that has no end in sight. At first it was fun in a schaudenfreudish way but not any more.
Lol. I remember seeing the 90s movie with Robin Williams and finding it absurd and boring.
Thank you for the delicious review! I not only enjoyed your snarky comments and summation, but you saved me from having to read the book. You were right; the movie was—for once—obviously an improvement on the original material. Thank you for taking the time to write such an enjoyable review. And what a great opening line . . .
thanks Deborah - I wonder if copies of this novel are available in Summerland.
I’m reading it right now (or trying to—it’s incredibly boring). I can’t believe this is actually Richard Matheson.
After seeing the movie, which I loved, I was looking forward to a rich, exciting and romance packed peek into the Afterlife. What I got was a boring, stretched, one dimensional narrative of...Nothing! I actually admire the director of the movie for managing to turn this dull book into such a magical experience.
well, I loved its totally wrongheaded weirdness! but yes, very dull in parts....
I'm honestly confused. Your main problem with the book is that its fictional account of the afterlife is not what you want the real afterlife to be like?
Your main problem with the book is that its fictional account of the afterlife is not what you want the real afterlife to be like?No, it's that this afterlife vision is astonishingly silly. It's beyond silly.
"...meets his old dog who had died but now bounds up wagging its tail"Yeah, but this bit's true, ...right?
Oh...er....yes yes...that bit is true!
Nice review. I don’t understand why anyone needs or wants an after life. The strange insatiable human desire for more just for the sake of having more. Seems deranged.
it's a straightforward wish fulfillment fantasy - this life we have is so fraught and often downright unpleasant that humans have concocted a dream of a great glad place to go to after death, but only if you follow certain rules. Or to summarise : this can't be all there is to it! Surely!
LOL Brilliant review, Paul. It seems kind of you to give it 3 stars. I'm wondering now if maybe I offed myself without realizing it, a la point 19, as there's nothing in my fridge and I do, occasionally, find a tarantula in the house.