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Case and the Dreamer
James Blish called him the “finest conscious artist science fiction ever produced.” Kurt Vonnegut based the famous character Kilgore Trout on him. And such luminaries as Harlan Ellison, Stephen King, and Octavia Butler have hailed him as a mentor. Theodore Sturgeon was both a popular favorite and a writer’s writer, carving out a singular place in the literary landscape based on his masterful wordplay, conceptual daring, and narrative drive. Sturgeon’s sardonic sensibility and his skill at interweaving important social issues such as sex—including gay themes—and war into his stories are evident in all of his work, regardless of genre.
Case and the Dreamer displays Sturgeon’s gifts at their peak. The book brings together his last stories, written between 1972 and 1983. They include “The Country of Afterward,” a sexually explicit story Sturgeon had been unable to write earlier in his career, and the title story, about an encounter with a transpatial being that is also a meditation on love. Several previously unpublished stories are included, as well as his final one, “Grizzly,” a poignant take on the lung disease that killed him two years later. Noted critic and anthologist Paul Williams contextualizes Sturgeon as both man and artist in an illuminating afterword, and the book includes an index to the stories in all thirteen volumes.
160 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1962
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About the author
Theodore Sturgeon
724 books772 followersTheodore Sturgeon (1918–1985) is considered one of the godfathers of contemporary science fiction and dark fantasy. The author of numerous acclaimed short stories and novels, among them the classics More Than Human, Venus Plus X, and To Marry Medusa, Sturgeon also wrote for television and holds among his credits two episodes of the original 1960s Star Trek series, for which he created the Vulcan mating ritual and the expression "Live long and prosper." He is also credited as the inspiration for Kurt Vonnegut's recurring fictional character Kilgore Trout.
Sturgeon is the recipient of the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, and the International Fantasy Award. In 2000, he was posthumously honored with a World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.
Sturgeon is the recipient of the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, and the International Fantasy Award. In 2000, he was posthumously honored with a World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
May 27, 2017
These 3 longish short stories are all pretty good, but not as good as I recall. The short afterwords by Sturgeon were even better, though. Bad news, the cover came off my edition, purchased new back when this came out. The rest of the pages are still tight, so I taped it back on. Well, it's not the first & it's still quite readable.
Case and the Dreamer (1973) 4 stars about loneliness & love. Well done.
If All Men Were Brothers, Would You Let One Marry Your Sister? (1967) 6 stars, although it went on far longer than I recalled to make its point. It's a great point - we need to examine & question our beliefs occasionally, those great TRUTHs that we all just KNOW. Most won't. They'll dismiss even an honest question. Sturgeon says this in his afterword.
I was about 14 when I read this, an obnoxious age, but the teenage years are for questioning the world. My grandfather helped me learn to love books, but when I tried to discuss this story with him, he blew up & wouldn't because it played on 2 of his firmly held beliefs.
1) All SF is garbage. Grandpa was a book snob. (Hammett was far enough out, Spillane shouldn't have been published at all.) When I pointed out to him that only in a genre like SF could such a scenario be written convincingly, he pulled out point
2) The subject matter is taboo & should not be questioned or even discussed. It is a base TRUTH in our world.
His argument was circular & invalid. I knew that then, a quarter of a century before the human genome was mapped & made the base premise of this story a reality, but I never felt it so viscerally before. It opened my eyes in a lot of ways & has been a guiding principle ever since. Thank you for that, Mr. Sturgeon.
When You Care, When You Love (1962) 3 stars. Interesting in several different ways, but I think the main point was too obvious to make much of an impression.
Case and the Dreamer (1973) 4 stars about loneliness & love. Well done.
If All Men Were Brothers, Would You Let One Marry Your Sister? (1967) 6 stars, although it went on far longer than I recalled to make its point. It's a great point - we need to examine & question our beliefs occasionally, those great TRUTHs that we all just KNOW. Most won't. They'll dismiss even an honest question. Sturgeon says this in his afterword.
I was about 14 when I read this, an obnoxious age, but the teenage years are for questioning the world. My grandfather helped me learn to love books, but when I tried to discuss this story with him, he blew up & wouldn't because it played on 2 of his firmly held beliefs.
1) All SF is garbage. Grandpa was a book snob. (Hammett was far enough out, Spillane shouldn't have been published at all.) When I pointed out to him that only in a genre like SF could such a scenario be written convincingly, he pulled out point
2) The subject matter is taboo & should not be questioned or even discussed. It is a base TRUTH in our world.
His argument was circular & invalid. I knew that then, a quarter of a century before the human genome was mapped & made the base premise of this story a reality, but I never felt it so viscerally before. It opened my eyes in a lot of ways & has been a guiding principle ever since. Thank you for that, Mr. Sturgeon.
When You Care, When You Love (1962) 3 stars. Interesting in several different ways, but I think the main point was too obvious to make much of an impression.
September 3, 2024
Case and the Dreamer collects three of Sturgeon's science fiction novellas on the topic of love. The title story first appeared in the January 1972 issue of Galaxy magazine, If All Men Were Brothers, Would You Let One Marry Your Sister? is from Harlan Ellison's landmark 1967 anthology Dangerous Visions, and the final story, When You Care, When You Love was the lead story in the September 1962 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. It was a special Theodore Sturgeon issue, with a bibliography and essays and appreciations from Sam Moskowitz, Judith Merril, James Blish, etc., and a very cool painting by Ed Emshwiller on the cover that was later used on the Pyramid Books title Sturgeon in Orbit. The stories are very well-written and thought-provoking; it's important to remember that the idea of sex was almost completely unacknowledged in the field at the time, so what seems normal now was seen as wildly daring at the time. His view of incest seems distasteful (perhaps he'd been associating with Heinlein too much), but they're very good stories, and were a great leap forward for the field at the time.
October 5, 2019
A strange collection of three stories by an author that, according to the inside flap, "truly needs no introduction." I'm going to beg to differ, there; I'd never heard of Sturgeon before I was given this book in a batch of old scifi books, and I thought I knew my classic scifi authors. Evidently not as well as I thought! Turns out Sturgeon wrote several Star Trek episodes and a host of classic scifi stories and novels.
The first story in this collection by the same name was intriguing and quite well done, aside from some odd pacing. The second was a bizarre thought experiment of what a culture might be like when it's missing one crucial taboo. (No spoilers.) The third had a similar "what the heck?" feel as the second but was undeniably creative, and I found myself mulling it over long after I'd turned the last page. All three stories felt...well, strange, though not necessarily in a bad way. I may need to try some more short stories by Sturgeon.
The first story in this collection by the same name was intriguing and quite well done, aside from some odd pacing. The second was a bizarre thought experiment of what a culture might be like when it's missing one crucial taboo. (No spoilers.) The third had a similar "what the heck?" feel as the second but was undeniably creative, and I found myself mulling it over long after I'd turned the last page. All three stories felt...well, strange, though not necessarily in a bad way. I may need to try some more short stories by Sturgeon.
October 31, 2017
Three stories that explore what a white male in the 1960s thought was interesting about love and lust.
Really, there are more provocative ideas inside your own head; you don't need Sturgeon to perform exploratory brain surgery. And if you want this kind of creative, poetic language, read Bradbury, who knew what he was doing, instead.
However, I do own several other mm pb collections of Sturgeon's work, so I'll try again.
Really, there are more provocative ideas inside your own head; you don't need Sturgeon to perform exploratory brain surgery. And if you want this kind of creative, poetic language, read Bradbury, who knew what he was doing, instead.
However, I do own several other mm pb collections of Sturgeon's work, so I'll try again.
June 19, 2011
Three solid Sturgeon stories, each around 50 pages long--from '62, '67, and '72. The best thing about Sturgeon IMO is not that he does his job as an inventive science fiction storyteller by providing the ideas and set pieces that define his chosen genre. Rather, it's his characters, a style closer to Spider Robinson than their dryer cousins, and finally the charm with which he delivers his stories. He takes his readers seriously and invites them in on the gag, on the secret.
September 11, 2016
"If all men were brothers..."
January 12, 2014
Innovative and thought provoking while nodding to great authors that came prior.
May 23, 2015
I only remember "Case and the Dreamer" from this collection, but I remember liking it quite a bit.
April 30, 2022
An uneven collection of three novelette or novella-length works from SF master Theodore Sturgeon. In many ways Sturgeon functioned as a bridge between the last of the late Golden Age SF writers and those more apt to explore more "grown up" themes. There are lasers and spaceships and holograms, but experts in these stories are as likely to know as much about psychology or human sexuality as FTL drives and gravitational fields.
The titular "Case and the Dreamer" starts off the collection, and is the best of the three. It deals with a human who awakes on a ship— tended to by a blue-skinned, holographic helpmeet— who has to piece together the broken fragments of his mind and figure out what happened to him and the woman he loved.
The second story, "If All Men Were Brothers, Would You Marry Your Sister," is the quintessential "adult" SF story (in both senses of the word). No, it's not "blue" but it does focus on the incest taboo, and plays with the idea of what would happen when someone who honored that taboo stumbled onto a society where such a thing had never been heard of. The ultimate effect comes off more pervy than speculative, like a disguised apologia written by an SF artist who was looking for an excuse to nail his sister.
Last up is "When You Care, You Love," a story about ectogenesis, and the spiritual and psychological consequences of whether a version of us grown from our tissue would still, in fact, be us. It's a question that human beings have been grappling with since the Attic philosopher Theseus posed his question about replacing planks on a ship, and though Sturgeon would die about a decade before the cloning of Dolly the Sheep, the issue was already starting to creep from the purely speculative into the frighteningly plausible. But Sturgeon doesn't make as much of it as he could have.
All in all, lesser works from a great giant.
The titular "Case and the Dreamer" starts off the collection, and is the best of the three. It deals with a human who awakes on a ship— tended to by a blue-skinned, holographic helpmeet— who has to piece together the broken fragments of his mind and figure out what happened to him and the woman he loved.
The second story, "If All Men Were Brothers, Would You Marry Your Sister," is the quintessential "adult" SF story (in both senses of the word). No, it's not "blue" but it does focus on the incest taboo, and plays with the idea of what would happen when someone who honored that taboo stumbled onto a society where such a thing had never been heard of. The ultimate effect comes off more pervy than speculative, like a disguised apologia written by an SF artist who was looking for an excuse to nail his sister.
Last up is "When You Care, You Love," a story about ectogenesis, and the spiritual and psychological consequences of whether a version of us grown from our tissue would still, in fact, be us. It's a question that human beings have been grappling with since the Attic philosopher Theseus posed his question about replacing planks on a ship, and though Sturgeon would die about a decade before the cloning of Dolly the Sheep, the issue was already starting to creep from the purely speculative into the frighteningly plausible. But Sturgeon doesn't make as much of it as he could have.
All in all, lesser works from a great giant.
January 5, 2021
I did only read Case and the Dreamer. Some years ago I brought 4 sci fi/fantasy magasins from the 70s in a obscurer second hand book shop.
One of them was GALAXY MAGAZINE from 1973. The first story in it was case and the Dreamer. I am not sure if this was the first eve publishing of the story?
However the story was fine. The ending was more weired than I first anticipated.
A first was the concept of a clown like bat with four feets, wings and telepathic abilities kinda a WTF moment. Do not get me wrong I like weired like in the Dune, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Marvel Thor way.
But first I thought Cases changing surroundings and the blue hologram doctor to be caused hallucinations due to a mental break down from crash landing on a remote planet and being the only survivir. That would likewise explain the nonlogical changings on the planet.
Seriously I thought the blue hologram doctor to be a real person, but seen through the eyes of a mad man.
Another aspect worth mentioned was that the story seems to be about loneliness and love. I found it to be about madness, mental breakdown and guilt. 😵
I liked how it just surprised me. Have been reading alot in 2020, around 39 consisting of books, comics collections and short stories, but mostly mainstream. So it feel good the find something little unknown like this, to give me that unexpected feeling that only few stories gives us. 🤔
I am totally a fan now. Bring forth all his books. 😏😺📖
One of them was GALAXY MAGAZINE from 1973. The first story in it was case and the Dreamer. I am not sure if this was the first eve publishing of the story?
However the story was fine. The ending was more weired than I first anticipated.
A first was the concept of a clown like bat with four feets, wings and telepathic abilities kinda a WTF moment. Do not get me wrong I like weired like in the Dune, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Marvel Thor way.
But first I thought Cases changing surroundings and the blue hologram doctor to be caused hallucinations due to a mental break down from crash landing on a remote planet and being the only survivir. That would likewise explain the nonlogical changings on the planet.
Seriously I thought the blue hologram doctor to be a real person, but seen through the eyes of a mad man.
Another aspect worth mentioned was that the story seems to be about loneliness and love. I found it to be about madness, mental breakdown and guilt. 😵
I liked how it just surprised me. Have been reading alot in 2020, around 39 consisting of books, comics collections and short stories, but mostly mainstream. So it feel good the find something little unknown like this, to give me that unexpected feeling that only few stories gives us. 🤔
I am totally a fan now. Bring forth all his books. 😏😺📖
December 10, 2020
I've come across quite a few of Strugeon's work and I've tried my best to actively search for him. From the short stories I've read, this little bundle is one of my favorites. He wrote mostly about love and the actions of human nature [*cough*]. But clearly, Sturgeon spoke with authentic truth.
I enjoyed Case and The Dreamer for it's 'out of this world' feeling. Sturgeon is one of the authors that is extraordinarily talented in jumping between reality and the memories of characters. This story and When You Care, When You Love are wonderful examples of his.
Now, I would be lying if [If All Men Were Brother's, Would You Let One Marry Your Sister] the story didn't stun me. It did. At first, I was intrigued as Sturgeon wrote about a planet in which we would rather die insane and in agony than simply communicating with them. Unnntil I found out just WHY they refused to collaborate.
Uh, it's best if you keep an open mind throughout these stories. [Especially that one. ]
I enjoyed Case and The Dreamer for it's 'out of this world' feeling. Sturgeon is one of the authors that is extraordinarily talented in jumping between reality and the memories of characters. This story and When You Care, When You Love are wonderful examples of his.
Now, I would be lying if [If All Men Were Brother's, Would You Let One Marry Your Sister] the story didn't stun me. It did. At first, I was intrigued as Sturgeon wrote about a planet in which we would rather die insane and in agony than simply communicating with them. Unnntil I found out just WHY they refused to collaborate.
Uh, it's best if you keep an open mind throughout these stories. [Especially that one. ]
February 15, 2019
For those interested, the story is a part of this publication available via this link
I, surely like others, found my way to this story through Roberto Bolaño. It's fascinating to ponder Sturgeon's propulsive pace and profuse exposition in relation to the more subdued, more bittersweet retelling of the same story in The Savage Detectives.
I, surely like others, found my way to this story through Roberto Bolaño. It's fascinating to ponder Sturgeon's propulsive pace and profuse exposition in relation to the more subdued, more bittersweet retelling of the same story in The Savage Detectives.
April 17, 2023
Three stories, each a little smarmier and a little duller than the one before it. It's filled with a lot of "nudge-nudge, wink-wink" passages which don't make me laugh--they give me the douche chills. The stories themselves aren't memorable.
March 3, 2022
No es de mis preferidos de Sturgeon pero me quedo con la tercera historia, muy interesante
March 25, 2012
I have no recollection of the other two novellae, but "If All Men Are Brothers" struck me powerfully when I first read it in Harlan Ellisons Dangerous Visions series.
Contrary to the Wikipedia description of the story, the basic idea is that a spacefarer is shipwrecked on a remote planet, taken in, treated kindly, falls in love, leaves. Then, later, wanting to get back to that paradise, he discovers that they are off the map because of their peculiar cultural practice of allowing incest. Cognitive dissonance ensues.
I grew up in a all male household, except for mother. Even the pets were guys. Never had a sister to contend with, so incest was not something I'd ever thought about except in terms of male friends and their sisters in the sense of idly wondering how they handled living with such attractive females. This story made me think about incest seriously for the first time and any story that causes its reader to think, seriously, about anything or rethink, critically, what had been taken for granted deserves praise.
Since then, of course, I've read a lot more cultural anthropology and have broadened my views, if not my practices, to recognize such things as incest, cannibalism, pederasty, drug veneration and other taboos of our culture as contingent values. But these recognitions are rather abstract. Sturgeon's story wherein the the incest is, first, unknown and, second, rationally argued for, hit home emotionally, existentially.
Contrary to the Wikipedia description of the story, the basic idea is that a spacefarer is shipwrecked on a remote planet, taken in, treated kindly, falls in love, leaves. Then, later, wanting to get back to that paradise, he discovers that they are off the map because of their peculiar cultural practice of allowing incest. Cognitive dissonance ensues.
I grew up in a all male household, except for mother. Even the pets were guys. Never had a sister to contend with, so incest was not something I'd ever thought about except in terms of male friends and their sisters in the sense of idly wondering how they handled living with such attractive females. This story made me think about incest seriously for the first time and any story that causes its reader to think, seriously, about anything or rethink, critically, what had been taken for granted deserves praise.
Since then, of course, I've read a lot more cultural anthropology and have broadened my views, if not my practices, to recognize such things as incest, cannibalism, pederasty, drug veneration and other taboos of our culture as contingent values. But these recognitions are rather abstract. Sturgeon's story wherein the the incest is, first, unknown and, second, rationally argued for, hit home emotionally, existentially.
August 5, 2015
Es curioso, los tres cuentos que conforman este libro, en un sentido, son parodias/homenajes de otros cuentos. El que le da título al libro es un homenaje a Solaris y a los relatos sobre náufragos. El segundo, "If All Men Were Brothers, Would You Let One Marry Your Sister?" parece ser una parodia de los relatos de ciencia ficción filosóficos, como los de Stanislaw Lem, y también es una interesante reflexión sobre el incesto. El tercer y último cuento es una parodia de los cuentos que son biografías falsas y también una inversión del tópico del hombre que cruza la frontera entre el bien y el mal para revivir a su amada, sólo que en este caso es una mujer reviviendo a su esposo. Lo más interesante del libro es que el narrador está presente en varias ocasiones para burlarse de las convenciones del género.
September 11, 2012
I think Sturgeon is an all-time great and i really admire his work but... something about it in general never propels it to the top of my list of favorites. This book contains three short stories, the first being the namesake. It seems lomger than it needs to be but I couldn't point to a spot that needs edited out. It seems like evry word is needed. Somewhere in the 'it doesn't feel quite right' sentiment is what keeps me from giving this a 5. You'll have to read and judge for yourself.
May 30, 2008
(I read the German translation.)
One of the best collection I have ever read. When Sturgeon writes, he writes about love. He is not afraid of taking risks and looking from uncommon angles. Three absolutely fabulous stories. Would I do the same as the protagonists? No. Do I understand them? Yes!
One of the best collection I have ever read. When Sturgeon writes, he writes about love. He is not afraid of taking risks and looking from uncommon angles. Three absolutely fabulous stories. Would I do the same as the protagonists? No. Do I understand them? Yes!
February 21, 2020
A good little book with 3 nice stories, they are gripping and an extremely easy read. takes you thirty minutes to ready and after leaves you engaged in some moral dilemma's you probably wish you hadn't stumbled upon
Want to read
June 19, 2010We really own a Galaxy magazine with this short story in it. #5
January 18, 2012
Good stuff, this. Three stories about love and relationships. Alternative stories. I wonder how much Sturgeon and Heinlein influenced each other? Which is to say, yes, there is some incest.
January 6, 2016
A gorgeous little semi-sci-fi story about love, wealth, what makes us human, and what can be accomplished when you care, when you love.
May 16, 2016
Wonderful. It's incredibly sweet and touching, and for such a short story, it leaves a significant impression.
Read
August 7, 2023I wish I could write like Sturgeon. And maybe study his brain under a microscope. Something about his stories makes me feel positively insane.
January 3, 2018
Two solid stories and one phenomenal one (When You Care, When You Love).
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews