What Dreams May Come

infobox Book |
name = What Dreams May Come


image_caption = First edition cover
translator =
cover_artist =
author = Richard Matheson
country = United States
language = English
genre = Bangsian fantasy
publisher = G. P. Putnam's Sons
release_date = September 1978
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 288 pp (first edition, hardback)
isbn = ISBN 039912148X (first edition, hardback)
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"What Dreams May Come" is a 1978 novel by Richard Matheson. The plot centers on Chris, a man who dies and goes to Heaven, but eventually descends into Hell to rescue his wife. It was adapted in 1998 into an Academy Award-winning movie of the same title starring Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding, Jr., and Annabella Sciorra.

The title comes from a famous line in Hamlet's "To be, or not to be..." soliloquy, namely, "For in that sleep of death what dreams may come / When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, / Must give us pause." The plot outline in the novel also contains several allegorical references to Dante Alighieri's 1308 epic poem "The Divine Comedy".

Matheson stated in an interview, "I think "What Dreams May Come" is the most important (read effective) book I've written. It has caused a number of readers to lose their fear of death – the finest tribute any writer could receive." [ "Ed Gorman Calling: Interview with Richard Matheson. [http://www.mysteryfile.com/Matheson/Interview.html] ]

In an introductory note, Matheson explains that the characters are the only fictional component of the novel. Almost everything else is based on research, and the end of the novel includes a lengthy bibliography.

Main characters

*Chris Nielsen – the protagonist and main narrator, a middle-aged screenwriter who is killed in a car accident and who spends most of the novel exploring the afterlife while searching for his wife Ann
*Robert Nielsen – Chris's living brother, narrator of frame story, to whom most of novel is addressed
*Ann – Chris's wife who commits suicide due to grief over Chris's death
*Albert – Chris's cousin who acts as his guide in Heaven and whose job is to travel to the "lower realm" (i.e. Hell) to help its inhabitants
*Leona – woman who guides Chris through a Heavenly city; Chris first mistakes her for Ann

Plot summary

The prologue is narrated by a man telling of his visit by a psychic woman, who gives him a manuscript she claims was dictated to her by his deceased brother Chris. Most of the novel consists of this manuscript.

Chris, a middle-aged man, is injured in a car accident and dies in the hospital. But he remains as a ghost, at first thinking he's having a bad dream. Amid a failed séance that helps further convince his wife Ann that he didn't survive death, an unidentified man keeps approaching Chris and telling him to concentrate on what's beyond. But Chris disregards this advice for a long time, unable to leave his wife. After finally following the man's advice, focusing his mind on pleasant memories, he feels himself being elevated.

He wakes up in a beautiful glade which he recognizes as a place where he and Ann used to travel. Understanding by now that he is dead, he is surprised that he looks and feels alive, with apparently a complete physical body and sensation. After exploring the place for a while, he finds Albert, his cousin, who reveals himself as the unidentified man.

Albert explains that the place they occupy is called Summerland. Being a state of mind rather than a physical location, Summerland is practically endless and takes the form of the inhabitants' wishes and desires. There is no pain or death, but people still maintain occupations of sorts and perform leisure activities. The book spends several chapters depicting Summerland in great detail, through Chris's eyes. But Chris feels somehow uneasy, being haunted by nightmares ending in Ann's death. Soon he learns that Ann has killed herself.

Albert, who is as shocked as Chris, explains that by committing suicide, Ann has placed her spirit in the "lower realm" from Summerland, and that she will stay there for twenty-four years--her intended life span. Albert insists that Ann's condition is not "punishment" but "law"--a natural consequence of committing suicide.

Since Albert's job is to visit the lower realm, Chris wants to be taken there so he can help Ann. Albert first refuses, warning Chris that he might inadvertently find himself stuck in the lower realm, thus delaying his eventual, inevitable reunion with Ann. Chris finally convinces Albert to attempt the rescue, even though Albert insists that they will almost certainly fail.

The lower realm (which the book only later refers to as "Hell") is cold, dark, and barren. Albert and Chris are able to use their minds to make their surroundings slightly more bearable, but Albert warns Chris that this will become harder to do the further they travel. They eventually reach a place occupied by people who were violent criminals while they were alive. Chris is forced to witness a series of dreadful sights and gets gruesomely attacked by a mob, though he soon discovers that the attack occurred only in his mind.

They finally depart from that particularly violent section of Hell, arriving at last at Ann's place. It looks like a dark, depressing version of the neighborhood where he and Ann used to live. Albert explains that she will not immediately recognize Chris, and that he can only gradually convince her who he is and what has happened to her. Ann believes that she is living alone in her house where nothing seems to work, grieving her husband's death. This is her private "Hell"--an exaggerated version of what she had been experiencing prior to her suicide.

Identifying himself as a new neighbor, Chris makes numerous unsuccessful attempts to make her realize the true situation. He describes details of his own life so that she will be reminded of her husband. He calls her attention to the improbably negative conditions of the house. He drops in clues, gradually leading her to the truth, but she seems to block out anything that will cause recognition. He finally tells her the truth straight out. She gets angry and calls him a liar. Because she does not believe in afterlife, she finds it impossible that he could be her dead husband.

After a moment of disorientation where he starts to forget his own identity, the atmosphere of Hell gradually drawing him in and threatening to trap him there, he delivers a long monologue of appreciation for her, detailing all the ways in which she enriched his life. He finally makes the most dreaded decision of all: he decides to stay with her and not return to Summerland. As he begins losing consciousness, Ann finally recognizes him and realizes what has happened.

Chris awakens in Summerland once again. Albert, who is amazed that Chris was able to rescue Ann, informs him that she has been reborn on Earth, because she is not ready for Summerland. Chris wants to be reborn too, despite Albert's protests. Chris learns that he and Ann had several previous lives, and in all of them they had a special connection with each other.

As the manuscript comes to a close, Chris explains that he is soon going to be reborn and will forget all that has happened. He ends with a message of hope, telling his readers that death is not to be feared, and that he knows in the future he and Ann will ultimately be reunited in Heaven, even if in different form.

Religious basis

Some Hindus claim that the beliefs presented in the novel conform well to the teachings of Hinduism, though Matheson denies any direct influence. Raised a Christian Scientist, Matheson gradually developed what he calls his own religion, taking elements from many sources. "As a Pisces," he explains, "I have been fascinated about parapsychology, metaphysics and the supernatural ever since I was a teenager. The concepts in the book are derived from my wide range of reading." [ Archana Dongre. "Matheson's Metaphysics: The author explains 'What Dreams May Come.'" "Hinduism Today", Feb. 1999. [http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1999/2/1999-2-08.shtml] ] One character quotes from the writings of 18th century Christian mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (pp. 132-3). Matheson bases his descriptions of the death experience itself on studies by Elisabeth Kuebler-Ross and Raymond Moody. ["Richard Burton Matheson," in "Contemporary Authors Online". Detroit: Gale Group, 2003.] When reading these accounts, Matheson found that revived suicides told a much more frightening story than anyone else who had near death experiences. [Stephen Simon. "The Force Is With You: Mystical Movie Messages That Inspire Our Lives", Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Publishing Co., 2002, qtd. in [http://www.adherents.com/people/ps/Stephen_Simon.html] .]

Major themes

The book explores a range of paranormal phenomena and advances a philosophy of mind over matter, arguing that the human soul is immortal, and that a person's fate in the afterlife is self-imposed.

When Chris dies, he experiences symptoms of a near death experience. As pain gradually leaves his body, he observes a tunnel of light and views his dead body from above, connected to himself by a silver cord. He then experiences his life flashing before his eyes, as all the events in his life unfold in reverse. This last experience occurs again later, much more slowly, while he's a ghost. Albert later compares it to purgatory, since it is a time when people are forced to reexamine their lives without rationalization.

Chris's family contacts a medium who can see but not hear Chris, and they conduct a séance. Chris tries to communicate with them, but soon grows tired and goes off to sleep. When he awakens, he is horrified to find himself staring at a figure of himself conversing with the family. The psychic is unknowingly feeding this figure whatever answers he expects to hear, unaware that he's no longer conversing with the real Chris. The novel later explains that the figure is the shedding of Chris's etheric body to release his spirit body, enabling him to ascend to Heaven, or "Summerland."

Summerland, an environment shaped by the thoughts of the inhabitants, appears relatively Earth-like because that's what the newly dead are accustomed to. Communication is telepathic, travel instantaneous. There's no need to eat or sleep. The inhabitants, all of whom possess an aura, can spend their time relaxing, studying, or working--though not for profit. There are even scientists and artists, many of whom work on subtly influencing the minds of earth's inhabitants.

Albert, whom the novel identifies as Chris's guardian angel, explains that Summerland includes many things which inhabitants do not need--like automobiles--but which exist simply because some people believe they are needed. The particular Heaven of each religion exists somewhere, because that is what members of each religion expect.

Albert emphasizes that everything Chris sees in Summerland--the landscape, the buildings, people's bodies--are completely "real" even if they are subject to thought. Later, when they travel through the "lower realm" (i.e. Hell), Albert considers the surroundings unreal, merely temporary imagery created by the inhabitants.

Albert cannot locate Ann until one of her sons makes a prayer. In the lower realm, Albert and Chris can no longer communicate telepathically and must travel by foot. The negative thoughts of the inhabitants have the potential to cause damage on Earth. Spirits from above are able to deflect it to some degree, but there are still people on Earth receptive to those thoughts.

Everyone has had a multitude of past lives; some souls become so advanced, however, that they pass on to a higher level where they ultimately become one with God. Reincarnation is a complex process in which one enters a baby's body, though not necessarily at birth.

Different editions

The 1998 edition, published to anticipate the movie's release, has a cover based on the film, and includes an afterword by producer Stephen Simon (a.k.a. Stephen Deutsch) explaining how he came across the book, what it meant to him, and how it has changed many people's lives.

External links

*

Release details

1978, USA, Putnam Pub Group, ISBN 039912148X, September 1978, Hardcover

1998, USA, Tor Books, ISBN 0-812-57094-4, October 1998, Paperback

2004, USA, Tor Books, ISBN 0-765-30870-3, January 2004, Paperback

ee also

*Theosophy
*Spiritualism
*Astral plane
*Thoughtform
*"Bid Time Return" (a Richard Matheson novel with similar themes)

Footnotes