About this title: Russell illuminates the long, rich history of the Middle East with a story that brilliantly elucidates modern headlines. As enlightening as it is entertaining, "Dreamers of the Day" is a memorable, passionately written novel.
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Description: Very Good. Former Library book. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. 1400064716 Former library item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned. Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. read more
Description: Very Good. 0345485556 Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light curve to the spine / light reading creases to the covers. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House
Date Published: 2008-03-11
ISBN-13:9781400064717ISBN:1400064716
Description: Very Good in Like New jacket. Ex-library has clear mylar cover and usual library markings. Pages are clean and in excellent condition. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781400064717ISBN:1400064716
Description: Fine-Used in Fine jacket. / 9781400064717. LIKE NEW CONDITION. 2008. TEXT is clean and without marks or highlighting BINDING is tight and square DJ has no edge wear except tiny corner scuffs. very nice clean copy. prompt shipping, good service, careful packing. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780345485557ISBN:0345485556
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Edition: Abridged.
Binding: Audiobook CD
Publisher: Random House Audio Assets
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780739358399ISBN:0739358391
Description: Fine in new dust jacket. Enjoyed once. Except that shrinkwrap has been removed, indistinguishable from new. Gift-quality. Immediate shipping. 5 CDs. Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: Large type / large print.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Thorndike Press
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781410407092ISBN:1410407098
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. sa Clean, unmarked pages. Some shelfwear/rubbing on cover. Pages somewhat wavy near edges due to moisture damage, text unaffected. Glued binding. Paper over boards. 485 p. Thorndike Basic. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Doubleday & Co Inc
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780385614542ISBN:0385614543
Description: Very Good. This is an EX-LIBRARY COPY. We only offer carefully selected, quality books, in this category. The normal stamps and labels may be present and the front flysheet has been tidily removed. The supplying library will benefit financially from your purchase. This book is in VERY GOOD overall condition, with only minor signs of previous ownership. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House, 2008, First Edition,
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781400064717ISBN:1400064716
Description: /Dust Jacket Included. Hardback, large 8vo, clean and tight, no inscriptions, Very Good / Very Good dustwrapper. ISBN: 1400064716. read more
Description: Fine. 1400064716 Excellent Condition First Edition ~ 1st Printing Hard cover book with paper dust jacket cover! Clean pages, Dust jacket has no tears, mild shelf rubs, this book is Near NEW! Shop & Save With US. read more
Edition: First edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781400064717ISBN:1400064716
Description: New in new dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 253 p. Audience: General/trade. Brand New-Gift Quality In a plastic cover read more
"Agnes is a middle aged school teacher who has never married. She loses her whole family to the 1919 flu epidemic. This is sad, of course, but it also lends Agnes and enormous amount of freedom as she is released from her overbearing mother and whose fortune she inherits. After visiting a fortune teller, Agnes decides to take a trip to Egypt. While in Egypt she becomes friends with Winston Churchill and Lawrence of Arabia who are there for the 1921 Cairo Conference.
The story lends an interesting perspective to decisions that were made for the middle east at the time and that we can still see the effects of today. "Rarely has so much been decided by so few to the detriment of so many as in that fancy hotel in 1921." If the middle east is interesting to you and if you are somewhat already familiar with the history then your enjoyment of this book will be enhanced. While it was gripping in some parts, altogether it was not that exciting of a story. It is told by Agnes who is speaking posthumously, which I found a little odd and never was able to suspend my sense of disbelief. It is a fairly smooth read and Agnes is a very likable character. Her last words of advice were quite good, "Read to children. Vote. And never buy anything from a man who is selling fear!""
"Mary Doria Russell quotes Lawrence of Arabia in"Dreamers of the Day"
"All men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night wake in the day to find that it was vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, For they may act their dreams"
The First World War was the critical event from which modern Western history has flowed right up to today. The main political machinations, dividing Europe, took place in Versailles in 1919. Ms. Russell takes us to Egypt in 1921 for discussions which would influence the making of the modern Arab world, and our own. we become witness to an important moment in history. A later historian would call it the "Peace to end all Peace."
In this coming-of-age story historical characters interface with the very likable protagonist, a middle aged woman. The dashing Lawrence of Arabia, The 47 year old Winston Churchill, (still two decades from being Prime Minister), and the desert queen, Gertrude Bell are there. With such exciting company, important negotiations, interesting fictional characters, and fascinating sights, I thoroughly enjoyed the novel's journey - until the last chapter.
I was drawn to read this historical novel because it is a particularly interesting period in modern history, and because I had so enjoyed Ms. Russell's Threads of Grace. I love fiction, which is stories of things that never happened to people who never existed. However, for my buck, it has to be vaguely plausible. "Dreamers of the Day" is a fun read, but a flawed one."
"I have yet to read a book by Mary Doria Russell that I don't like. This one didn't reach the heights of awesome that The Sparrow and A Thread of Grace achieved, but it was better than Children of God, for sure.
The story is set against the backdrop of the Peace Conference in Egypt following the first World War, when TE Lawrence, Winston Churchill, and Gertrude Bell redrew the boundaries of England's middle eastern colonies. The main character of the story is Agnes Shanklin, a plain Jane schoolteacher from Ohio, visiting Egypt on a whim after coming into an inheritance.
She becomes something of a confidant to the main players of the conference, accompanying Churchill on a painting excursion, having dinner with Lawrence, and trading barbs and tales of spinsterhood with Bell on sand dune.
The book is told as a first person narrative, and the only detractor in that for me is that every now and then it felt like Russell took an entire passage to prove how much research she'd done for the book. Several paragraphs on someone's grudge against Lawrence's book, The Pillars of Wisdom, for instance, which didn't help the narrative at all.
Overall though, it was a lovely, well written book."
"I liked this book very much. My first thought after completing it was..too short. I now think that the brieity of it, was part of it's charm. Some of life's" turning points" are short encounters that we "brush by" or "run into". It also has the charm of the story behind "the story". A great summer read !!!"
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