Scan barcode
A review by ergative
DallerGut Dream Department Store by Mi-Ye Lee 이미예
3.0
This has a lot in common with 'We'll Prescribe You a Cat': A very whimsical, episodic tale about a supernatural institution whose role is to prescribe mundane elements of human existance to make people's lives better. In this case, the world-building was better conceived: Alongside the mundane waking world is a parallel world we go to when we sleep, with its own currency and inhabitants, whose primary jobs and economy are powered, Monsters Inc-like, by the production and sale of dreams. When you go to sleep, you appear in this parallel world, and can purchase particular dreams. Different dreammakers are revered as cultural icons in this dreamworld, with Oscars-like ceremonies to celebrate their creations, prizes for bestselling dreammakers, schools to train new generations of dreammakers, and so on. When you wake you have no memory of visiting this world and making your purchase, but you do recall the effect of the dream.
It's all rather cute. One dreammaker specialises in dog dreams. But still: it was more an exploration of an idea, rather than a fully conceived story. Undemanding, with some surprisingly moving bits (dying people can buy dreams to leave behind for their loved ones), but I'm not raring to read more. The novelty of its conceit is pretty much all it's got going for it. The characters are one-dimensional and obvious; the plot is non-existant, and the writing (or quality of translation) is awfully pedestrian. And now that I've experienced the novelty, I don't see the need for more of the same.
It's all rather cute. One dreammaker specialises in dog dreams. But still: it was more an exploration of an idea, rather than a fully conceived story. Undemanding, with some surprisingly moving bits (dying people can buy dreams to leave behind for their loved ones), but I'm not raring to read more. The novelty of its conceit is pretty much all it's got going for it. The characters are one-dimensional and obvious; the plot is non-existant, and the writing (or quality of translation) is awfully pedestrian. And now that I've experienced the novelty, I don't see the need for more of the same.