The Daydreamer

Written by Ian McEwan

Narrated by Simon Prebble

A delightful literary foray for adults and children alike, from the inexhaustible imagination of the Booker Prize winner and bestselling author of Atonement.

 

“As far-fetched and funny as anything by Roald Dahl.”—Vogue

 

In these seven exquisitely interlinked episodes, the grown-up protagonist Peter Fortune reveals the secret journeys, metamorphoses, and adventures of his childhood. Living somewhere between dream and reality, Peter experiences fantastical transformations: he swaps bodies with the wise old family cat; exchanges existences with a cranky infant; encounters a very bad doll who has come to life and is out for revenge; and rummages through a kitchen drawer filled with useless objects to discover some not-so-useless cream that actually makes people vanish. Finally, he wakes up as an eleven-year-old inside a grown-up body and embarks on the truly fantastic adventure of falling in love. Moving, dreamlike, and extraordinary, The Daydreamer marks yet another imaginative departure for Ian McEwan.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 6, 2008
• ISBN: 9781440798146

Ian McEwan

Ian McEwan (Aldershot, Reino Unido, 1948) se licenció en Literatura Inglesa en la Universidad de Sussex y es uno de los miembros más destacados de su muy brillante generación. En Anagrama se han publicado sus dos libros de relatos, Primer amor, últimos ritos (Premio Somerset Maugham) y Entre las sábanas, las novelas El placer del viajero, Niños en el tiempo (Premio Whitbread y Premio Fémina), El inocente, Los perros negros, Amor perdurable, Amsterdam (Premio Booker), Expiación (que ha obtenido, entre otros premios, el WH Smith Literary Award, el People’s Booker y el Commonwealth Eurasia), Sábado (Premio James Tait Black), En las nubes, Chesil Beach (National Book Award), Solar (Premio Wodehouse), Operación Dulce, La ley del menor, Cáscara de nuez, Máquinas como yo, La cucaracha y Lecciones y el breve ensayo El espacio de la imaginación. McEwan ha sido galardonado con el Premio Shakespeare. Foto © Maria Teresa Slanzi.

Reviews for The Daydreamer

[bookbutterfly · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's an interesting book about an interesting boy who likes to daydream. In the book, he shares some of his adventures. (Translated from Spanish)

[deusxmachina-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A fast read, and I enjoyed the sometimes chaotic, sometimes unexpected changes in perspective. Who can follow the path of children's thoughts? Not your typical McEwan, if there's something like that at all.

[siok-76276 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Simple story but teaches you to see through the lens of other people.

[fliss88_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I had no idea this was a children's book until I started to read the reviews. Now, having read it, I would have to say it's one of those special books that has been able to blur the lines between genre. I thoroughly enjoyed reading these short stories narrated by Peter, our eleven year old daydreamer. Delightful and with a child's innocence, these stories charmed me and made me smile. Peter's imagination is so utterly inventive that it made me stop, and try to remember what it was like to be an eleven year old again, full of curiosity, inward thought and boundless energy! The book often reminded me of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and my much loved collection of Roald Dahl.

[edwinbcn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The world of small children is essentially illogical, chaotic and distorted. That is the lasting appeal of Alice in Wonderland.

Ian McEwan achieves something very similar in The daydreamer. However, McEwan's book is too dense, and too difficult to make it as enjoyable and relaxing as Alice in Wonderland, perhaps because the Vintage edition is not illustrated. The little boy in the book, Peter, also seems more world-wise than Alice, or his name-sake Peter Pan.

Reading a children's book requires quite some patience, and the willingness to enter the world of children. In that sense, The daydreamer does not seem as accessible as other children's books.

[ratastrophe · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This collection of stories, while short (read in one sitting kind of short), also manages to be utterly captivating. The last story especially moved me, when Peter comes to the realization that he will at some point become a grown-up.

"Standing there that August evening between the two groups, the sea lapping round his bare feet, Peter suddenly grasped something very obvious and terrible: one day he would leave the group that ran wild up and down the beach, and he would join the group that sat and talked. It was hard to believe, but he knew it was true. He would care about different things, about work, money and tax, cheque-books, keys and coffee, and talking and sitting, endless sitting."

"It would happen so slowly he would not even notice, and when it had, his brilliant, playful eleven-year-old self would be as far away, as peculiar and as difficult to understand, as all grown-ups seemed to him now."

[marek2009_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I got this when The Book Hive was opened in Norwich, & wanted to support the independents & I'd been looking for this for some time. & doubtless never found it because I don't browse the childrens/young peoples/ juveniles section. Its a wonderful book, the imagination flows over. I hope he writes another.

[seriousgrace · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Daydreamer is an extremely cute book about a boy named Peter Fortune. He's a good boy except he has a wicked imagination. His ability to daydream himself out of reality gets him into trouble all the time. My favorite "dream" was when he is finally, finally allowed to ride the bus to school. His parents have decided he's not only old enough to take himself to school (at ten years old), but he is mature enough to take his seven year old sister, who goes to the same school, as well. Everything goes according to plan until Peter starts thinking about how he would protect his sister from anything...including a pack of hungry, drooling wolves. First he would take out his hunting knife, then his pack of matches, then he would...and before Peter knows it he is in the land of imagination, fighting off wild wolves. He is no longer riding a bus with his little sister on their way to school. It's halarious.

[francescadefreitas · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is series of short vignettes - all incidents in the life of ten-year-old Peter, who people think is difficult, because he is quiet and they don't know what he is thinking. In fact, Peter has an active imagination, one that gets him in to trouble, but also lets him empathise with others. Some of the stories are funny, like when his sister's dolls demand his room, or he uses vanishing cream to make his family disappear, or catches the crabby old lady down the street being a cat burglar. Some of the stories are deeply touching, like when he trades places with his elderly cat and his baby cousin. And a few adventures give Peter insight into himself, such as when he takes on the school bully, or imagines he's a grown up.
Although this is arranged as a chapter book, the stories are each self contained, an well drawn, Peter and his active imagination are entirely believable. I'd recommend this to kids the same age or a little bit younger - the range of stories means that there is something in here to appeal to most tastes.