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Amaryllis Night and Day
The first time Peter Diggs saw Amaryllis she was at a bus stop where the street sign said "Balsamic" although there was vinegary about the place. The bus was unthinkably tall, made of yellow, orange and pink rice paper. That was a dream, but this romance soon begins to intersect with reality.
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
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261 people want to read
About the author
Russell Hoban
182 books408 followersRussell Conwell Hoban was an American expatriate writer. His works span many genres, including fantasy, science fiction, mainstream fiction, magical realism, poetry, and children's books. He lived in London, England, from 1969 until his death. (Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
August 11, 2017
A strange little tale of a couple who can enter each others dreams. Hoban writes beautifully and is pleasantly off beam in an enjoyable rather than challenging sense.
Harmless.
Harmless.
December 21, 2012
Having loved Riddley Walker, I finally got around to checking out something else by Hoban, and I'm so pleased I picked this one. The idea of the book is so awesome that I can't believe no-one's thought of it before – maybe they have – but it's about two people who find that they have the ability to enter each other's dreams. At first they explore the sexual possibilities of this enviable talent, and begin an unstable relationship half in real life and half in dream-worlds – but gradually nightmarish elements from their respective pasts begin to intrude into the dreams and force a kind of resolution.
It's a smallish book – I read it in a couple of days – and Hoban builds it up simply with short chapters and very clear writing. There is a pared-down feel to the dialogue which takes a little getting used to, but the effect is that he is somehow very easy to believe when he describes things which should be impossible. His evocation of the world of dreams is spot-on – logical yet illogical, sexy, frightening and difficult to pin down. Hoban is good at building up metaphors gradually as the novel goes on, and one of the most central to this book is the Klein bottle, a theoretical 4-dimensional object which has only one surface but which intersects with itself, like a kind of solid Möbius strip. Not easy to describe, but for Hoban it seems to represent the way our lives cross and re-cross the same physical and emotional points. This symbol and others like it resonate more and more as you go through the book, helped out by two very endearing and thoughtful central characters who, among other things, are concerned with the way art reflects and enriches life.
By the end, the idea of the dream itself begins to seem like a symbol of the way in which memories and past experiences can affect you in the present: how do we begin a new relationship when there is so much emotional baggage from previous mistakes and heartbreaks? That is, I suppose, what the book is trying to discuss in a new and sympathetic way. Appropriately enough, when I finished it, I felt like I'd woken up from a very beautiful and wise dream.
It's a smallish book – I read it in a couple of days – and Hoban builds it up simply with short chapters and very clear writing. There is a pared-down feel to the dialogue which takes a little getting used to, but the effect is that he is somehow very easy to believe when he describes things which should be impossible. His evocation of the world of dreams is spot-on – logical yet illogical, sexy, frightening and difficult to pin down. Hoban is good at building up metaphors gradually as the novel goes on, and one of the most central to this book is the Klein bottle, a theoretical 4-dimensional object which has only one surface but which intersects with itself, like a kind of solid Möbius strip. Not easy to describe, but for Hoban it seems to represent the way our lives cross and re-cross the same physical and emotional points. This symbol and others like it resonate more and more as you go through the book, helped out by two very endearing and thoughtful central characters who, among other things, are concerned with the way art reflects and enriches life.
By the end, the idea of the dream itself begins to seem like a symbol of the way in which memories and past experiences can affect you in the present: how do we begin a new relationship when there is so much emotional baggage from previous mistakes and heartbreaks? That is, I suppose, what the book is trying to discuss in a new and sympathetic way. Appropriately enough, when I finished it, I felt like I'd woken up from a very beautiful and wise dream.
February 27, 2012
Richly populated with images, this one kept me guessing all the way through: how much of this is real, how much dream. I loved the repetitions of themes and images and particularly enjoyed the idea that each human is given a box of music, sights and sounds when they are born which crop up again and again in the course of their lives.
November 30, 2021
A double-decker bus made out of rice paper and bamboo, a street called Balsamic, Finsey-Obay, oranges pinks and yellows, a Brass Hotel, and glims (dreams). Lots of glims. It weaves in and out of glims and unglims. Everything in this book sounds like strange, beautiful poetry and it feels like you're on drugs. I love it.
"'Amaryllis!' I said. Balsamic! Finsey-Obay!'
I thought I might faint but I didn't. My head went.. wide - that's the only way I can describe it. Immensities of space all around me. Then it went long - space far, far in front of me, dwindling to a point, and far, far behind me to another vanishing point. My stomach started to go somewhere and I stayed with it on a rollercoaster ride, dizzily swooping and twisting, up and over and around while being pulled inside out and passing through myself and the manyness that constituted me: faces I'd long forgotten, voices I'd never hear again, sighs of love and groans of regret; streets of night and day under moons, under lamps, under rain and longing. Then I was back in the wide space and things quieted down enough for me to go to the bathroom and vomit."
"'Amaryllis!' I said. Balsamic! Finsey-Obay!'
I thought I might faint but I didn't. My head went.. wide - that's the only way I can describe it. Immensities of space all around me. Then it went long - space far, far in front of me, dwindling to a point, and far, far behind me to another vanishing point. My stomach started to go somewhere and I stayed with it on a rollercoaster ride, dizzily swooping and twisting, up and over and around while being pulled inside out and passing through myself and the manyness that constituted me: faces I'd long forgotten, voices I'd never hear again, sighs of love and groans of regret; streets of night and day under moons, under lamps, under rain and longing. Then I was back in the wide space and things quieted down enough for me to go to the bathroom and vomit."
December 24, 2012
Hoban does a fantastic job of demonstrating just how compelling the repetition of themes can be in a novel. This story is full of fugue-like strands that repeat and build to great effect. However, I wish there had been more story here...the characters are thinly (but vividly) sketched and the plot's movements flit weakly by. Still, this novel is impressive in that not many writers could pull it off...or would even attempt to.
October 16, 2015
Hoban is always worth reading. I put him in the same category as Vonnegut - generally a pretty easy read with some wacky stuff thrown in for seasoning. This one's a Lynchian analogue of a simple boy-meets-girl with a lot of identity/dream fuckery.
June 9, 2013
The most enjoyable Hoban book for me. It has a great sense of its London place, funny dreams and beautiful imagery that stays with you for a long time after finishing. Highly recommended.
November 5, 2013
Great book! Felt like I was in the story with the characters and was living the dreams they were having!!
November 22, 2019
Some beautiful ideas and descriptions worthy of Hoban... the palimpest of moments, the landscape of Beachy Head, the Japanese lantern bus and other dream sequences. It has Klein Bottles and Möbius strips, but despite this, and despite the subject matter (lucid dreaming) being close to my heart the story fell flat for me as I found the three main characters really rather odious, and I'm not sure this was intentional: Peter is a letchy Lucian-Freudian art teacher who sleeps with his students (I was surprised to learn he was in his mid-thirties, from his voice I imagined him as much older), Amaryllis is a feeble, weepy floater and Lenore is on a path of wanton self-destruction.
I'd like to read Turtle Diairies and Fremde, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Hoban peaked at Riddley Walker.
I'd like to read Turtle Diairies and Fremde, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Hoban peaked at Riddley Walker.
May 3, 2020
I adored this book. It was likely to be a hit because I’m a big fan of fantasy realism and books that weave through references to music and art so that you can listen and look along with the characters. Reminded me of Murakami at his best. I’m also into lucid dreaming, archetypes and the influence of personal psychic images on the course of our lives, and if you are too this is a must read. It’s deeply imaginative, soulful and well written and I devoured it in a couple of sittings. Five stars!
March 20, 2023
This was weird. It actually felt a bit like a dream, which speaks for it I guess. I didn't actually like either of the characters though. Peter came across as an old Lech - even though he's supposedly only maybe in his 30s - and Amaryllis was wishy-washy and spoke in riddles half the time. At times it was strangely compelling but I was actually bored for parts of it, which isn't great in such a short book.
March 15, 2025
A book written that tries, albeit not very hard, to have some depth. But it fails. The interesting part is the magical realism that got ruined by the ending. It gets 2 stars and not 1 because it was, at least, easy to read.
December 25, 2021
It was a delightful one, kind of reminded me of Strange Weather in Tokyo. Loved the surrealist aspect of it but I wish the characters were developed a little more, especially Amaryllis.
June 17, 2024
Not romantic. Doesn’t know how to write women.
February 4, 2025
Do you ever dream about a thing or someone that felt so real, you wake up confused? Now what if it seeps into your daily routines? What if your whole reason for being was because you dreamt about a girl who turned out to share the same dream as you?
May 9, 2016
Basically the story is about a stranger tuning in to another to enable both to meet up in their dreams and then revealing one's self to the other in their day to day life. Getting to know that person and seeing if they can meet up in dreamtime on a regular basis to get to a particular end goal. I've often wondered whether the people you meet in your dreams were people that you've met in past lives or yet to meet in the future. I would love to be able to tune in to other people so as to meet up with them in dreams so really like the concept of that within this book. Russell Hoban's novels might not suit everybodys taste but I think he's great.
August 5, 2008
Russel Hoban is easy to read. Bip bip page turner. I like his language and the reality he sets. Nothing on Riddley Walker, but he's just really enjoyable to read. And gets you thinking too.
August 31, 2009
not great - a good story but it could have been developed more. the characters could have had more depth. they were very superficial.
February 7, 2013
I didn't love this, but I did like it. It reminded me of those surrealist/absurdist indie films that I so enjoy. For some reason, I prefer absurdity on screen.
April 2, 2013
Funny and weird with interesting and very flawed characters. I enjoy Hoban's prose and contemporary references on film and music and art.
October 11, 2013
Very well written, very recognisable insights, a good story. I want to read more by him.
February 4, 2015
BIZARRE! A good read but rather un-poetic for me in writing style.
August 28, 2016
Zeer oorspronkelijk en onderhoudend! Alleen in de ontknoping zag ik wat inconsistentie en dat vond ik jammer. Voor de rest aanbevelenswaardig.
May 18, 2017
hmm. Interesting, annoying and a bit pretentious. I gave up with just 16 pages to go. I really couldn't do it!
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews