Rating: 10 of 10 stars
Ever revisit an old book-friend and find the luster is gone? That is definitely not the case with McEwan's The Daydreamer. Yesterday, after a day which included the euthanasia of an elderly pet, I took The Daydreamer home for the second time, in hopes of putting the world right again.
This collection of short stories is centered on Peter, a ten-year-old who has an imagination which, at times, can rule him. In school, at home, with his younger sister, petting his cat, thinking about his sister's dolls--all are occasions in which that imagination overcomes him and takes him on amazing adventures. The everyday world falls away and Peter is off sojourning in strange and wonderful places.
Each story has a different flavor. The Dolls is a story that raises the hair on a reader's nape; The Bully explores the mysteries of enmity and friendship; The Grown Up, the closing story, offers a prescient moment in growing up.
Yet, within all this variety, each has McEwan's uncanny ability to recreate the truth of the moment in a young boy. His language, his sense of both lavishness and economy are masterful.
So when I read The Cat, my day was quieted by the beauty of his imagination, through the eyes of Peter.
Usual borrowers: Fifth grade and up
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Short Stories
Also: 8 1/2 or Better List
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