The Bonobo's Dream

by Rose Mulready

James and his family live in a beautiful house perched on the edge of a forest, within the curve of a giant dome. They circle each other like fish in a fishbowl.

Aquila – James’s philandering father, a renowned artist – prepares to unveil his latest and most shocking work. Suzanne, James’s mother, medicates herself against a rising tide of loneliness and memory. James seeks refuge from the adult world in his drawings and dreams.

But when James’s sister, Charity, returns home, she brings with her a visitor who will shake their fragile home to its foundations.

The Bonobo’s Dream is speculative fiction at its finest, probing the limits of what it means to be human.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Novella

222 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Robert Lukins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elegant, unsettling, perfectly weighted. Loved the darn thing.

[Michael Livingston · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliantly imagined and gorgeously written novella, which builds a creative but hugely plausible future world and then gradually dismantles it. I loved the first half, when it was just exploring the ennui and disaffection of the rich family living in their protected bubble, but wasn't quite as impressed by the ending. Still - this is a wonderful book that somehow slipped by me last year. Get onto it.

[Christy Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

An elegant, fantastical tale that feels a little like falling in to someone else's elaborate dream. My favourite parts focused on Aquila, the ageing genius artist whose sense of the hollowness of his fame and lifestyle foreshadows the challenges he and his family will face.
(Rose Mulready and I share a publisher.)

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a strange book. It is about a family living in the future who's life unraveled when the technology stops working. Each person has to find their own way in a new world.

Oh and then there is an ape/human ...

Strange read that explores what it means to be human

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable story, not very long, set in a future post-apocalyptic "utopia" — both familiar and yet unique. The characters were well drawn, and the writing was quite assured. I much preferred the second half of the novella to the first, which changed in setting and tone from cold and awkward (deliberately so) to something warmer and more optimistic. This brief journey whet my appetite to hear more about these characters and this world, so I'd very much like to read more! I hope the author is planning a novel starring Charity, James, Gid, and the rest.

[Gavan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well that was something a little different. Set in a future world within a protective dome populated by dosed up people. And gladiators. But still with pretentious, misogynistic and self-centred artists. It took me a while to get into; but then it took off at great pace into something somewhat different (no spoilers). I preferred the first section where there was more focus on the characters and family dynamics and less on the characteristics of the new world. I liked it, but didn't love it. Certainly recommended for people who like speculative (science) fiction.

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

The oddness of the book really pulls you in and I found myself 80 pages deep just trying to wrap my head around the concept of the book. It feels at once such an alien read, yet so achingly familiar. A perfect post-apocalyptic read; a world and people that make no sense but whose chaotic harmony have you invested in their story.

[Rachel]

DNF - couldn't get past the first few chapters. Find my mind was wandering trying to understand the weirdness ("why might this be happening?, what's the brace?, what's species are these? What year are we in?" etc etc) and not wandering in an intrigued way but in a chaotic one.

[Curious Reeds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this stuck in my head: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ym8U.... Review to come at allthenovellas.com.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great speculative fiction. You are immersed in the story almost immediately. Only 4 stars as the ending was very abrupt and left me feeling dissatisfied

[Dr Dabbler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up a signed copy of this secondhand. It's a unique presentation of a post-apocalypse scenario. In particular, I don't recall any that look at an artist's perspective.
The writing is lean and well-honed and leaves some things to the imagination. Just what exactly is a harness, as used by artists? After I finished, I reread a few bits to try to figure out what the ending really was. I'm still not 100% sure.
Certainly a thought-provoking work.

[PeggyFliss · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading the description on the back cover, I wasn't sure what I had expected from this when I had originally added it to my list. I am sure that I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did.

[Leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved how confused and yet engaged I was with the story!

[Jarod · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit of a trip

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange, confronting and interesting. Great world-building. I wasn’t entirely satisfied by the ending. I would still recommend this to anyone who likes ‘soft’ sci-fi.

[Rivqa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dreamy, exquisitely written fable of a novella.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twenty years ago or so, after the international reading community discovered Danish author Peter Høeg’s Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow (1992), I went on to read his Borderliners (1993) and The Woman and the Ape (1996). Both these books were speculative fiction featuring outsiders challenging ideas about what humanity might mean, but it was The Woman and the Ape which I still remember vividly, because, as the blurb at Goodreads says, the woman, Madelene Burden is:

… lonely and disillusioned despite her upper-crust London existence, she’s a modern-day sleeping beauty drowsing gently in an alcoholic stupor. But the prince whose kiss brings her to life is not tall, dark, and handsome. He’s a short, dark, 300-pound ape named Erasmus.

What made the book memorable was the way the initially confronting idea of a woman in love with an animal was transformed into a parable about where the next phase of human evolution might go…

Rose Malready’s novella The Bonobo’s Dream is also speculative fiction exploring the random way in which privileged people meet outsiders and have to confront their denial of reality. Likewise, it speculates about what the defining limits of humanity might be, but it covers territory both broader and less political in scope. The book won the 2016 Seizure Viva La Novella Prize and was a nominee for the Aurealis Awards, and it is also shortlisted for the UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing in the 2017 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. It’s not easy to discuss without a –

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT!

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2017/04/30/t...