A good telling of a celtic myth. Nothing extraordinary but a good quick read ( )

never heard of before

...you may sleep now,
For Dream Angus leaps light across the heather,
And the name upon his lips is your name,
And the gifts that he bears are gifts for you...
-- Page 173, Dream Angus by Alexander McCall Smith

I found this book completely by random in the bargain section of the local Barnes & Noble. I wasn't even really looking in the bargain section, but this book caught my eye for some reason as we were walking by. I found myself picking it up to see what it was. And then I found myself buying it because it sounded interesting and for five bucks, why not?

Best random book buy EVAR. Here's the blurb from the inside flap.

Dreams to sell, fine dreams to sell

Dream Angus comes to you at night and bestows dreams--you may spot him skipping across the hills, his bag of dreams by his side. Just the sight of him may be enough for you to lose your heart, for he is also the god of love, youth, and beauty. Divine Angus is loved by all, but fated to love only the beautiful Caér, swan maiden of his own dreams.

Five exquisite fables of modern dreamers unfold alongside Angus's search for Caér. Mesmerically weaving together the tales of the Celtic Eros and his contemporary alter egos, Alexander McCall Smith unites dream and reality, leaving us to wonder: what is life, but the pursuit of our dreams?

This book is lovely. It's a light read at only 173 pages and it's quite well-written. The style of it is similar to that traditional kind of myth-telling voice with lots of long sentences and vague, but enchanting descriptions. That style can very easily get on my nerves and often deters me from reading books that are straight-up, pure folklore, but it works for me here.

As the blurb o' the flap indicates, this isn't a simple retelling of the mythical life of Angus, though part of it is that. Kind of interwoven into his story are the stories of people all over the world and in Scotland who live in non-specific, but more modern time periods. Their stories are of varying lengths and complexity, but most of them involve something about dreams. These stories are the story of a honeymooning couple, a story about two young brothers, a story about a boy who learns who his real father is, a story of a man who tends to the animals at a research center, and the story of a woman who leaves her cheating husband. The only one of these that I didn't really care for is the story about the boy learning about his real father and my quibble with it is that there is nothing about dreams in it.

My favorite of these stories is the one about the animal keeper at the research center in the chapter called "Is there a place for pigs there?" It's a sad, hopeful story and I think I loved it most for the whimsical descriptions of the pigs, which I have to share here as representative of why I really loved the writing.

[...] Pig Nineteen looked out at a world which she divided into edible and non-edible. The non-edible was of no interest to her, but she engaged with the edible passionately, sniffing it out with her moist, mucus-encrusted nose, scrabbling for it with her cloven feet, and gobbling it down with a grunting that could have been triumph, contentment or sorrow at the realisation that food was finite.
--Page 103, Dream Angus by Alexander McCall Smith

The little modern stories, instead of seeming out of place with the main story of Angus's life, actually complement it really well. The transition from the myth of Angus into the story of these modern people is never jarring and I think I wouldn't have liked this book nearly so much if it had just been the story of Angus's life or if it had just been those five stories of the modern world. They go together and make this what it is.

I've never read anything by Alexander McCall Smith, but if the rest of his stuff is as good as this, he might be well worth seeking out. I really enjoyed this and would highly recommend it to anybody who enjoys a touch of myth to their fiction. I'm glad I bought it as well as I think it'll be one of those I'll go back to and read again.

And now I'll leave you with one of my absolute favorite bits from Dream Angus because even though it's a sad part of a bittersweet story, it made me smile to think that pigs are so innocent and thoughtful.

Pig Twenty sat down and looked at the sky, as if puzzled, floored, by its sheer immensity. He might have thought, if he thought at all: is there a place for pigs there? Is that for pigs?
--Page 125-6, Dream Angus by Alexander McCall Smith ( )

[Dream Angus] by Alexander McCall Smith is his addition to the myth stories retold by modern authors. Angus is a Celtic God who brings dreams which are prophetic, and who is an active character in these stories. They are all bound together because of Angus, and some are set in ancient times and some are modern. I enjoy McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency stories, but I liked his writing better in this book. It’s sharper, deeper, and more interesting. ( )

A re-telling of Angus, a Celtic figure who was the son of the Dagda and a water spirit Boann. Angus comes in the night and bestows dreams and this tale is a mixture of the original myth and stories of people set in our current time. Boann is married to another man when Dagda sees her and desires her. After she becomes pregnant he leaves her but returns to take Angus when he is born against her wishes. When he grows into manhood he tricks his father out of his Kingdom and later falls in love with a woman he sees in a dream. She is someon unattainable who turns in to a swan for alternate years. The ending of Angus' story is beautiful and has the two finding happiness together.

The tale is interspersed with fragments and dreams of more modern people. The final story was my favourite and is of a woman whose husband has been having an affair. She leaves him and enters therapy. One night she dreams that she stands up to her husband who then reaches out to her saying he had long hoped she would come but was too afraid to ask her. Soon after she drives past their old house and he comes over to her and reaches for her through the car window. It was a beautiful tale and a lovely way to finish this enchanting short novel.

This is one of my favourites so far in the series and I am definitely interested in reading more of McCall Smith's writing. Recommended for anyone with a passion for mythology or a damn good story. ( )