A Child's Night Dream

By Oliver Stone

Book Overview

The fictional Oliver Stone is alienated from the stultifying American nation in which he lives, and, abandoning his parents and his Ivy League education for Vietnam, he encounters a hell far more brutal than he could have ever imagined - a world of barroom whores, psychedelic drugs, and killing fields of indescribable proportions. His head torn apart, his emotions sundered, he begins an epic voyage that will lead him through the Merchant Marine, an unceremonious return to American soil, and a flight into madness south of the border into Mexico. A Child's Night Dream is a visit into the unconscious mind, a work that celebrates the power of dreams, propelling us to the brink of reality and then steering us back to calmer waters.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312194463
• ISBN13: 9780312194468
• Release Date: September 1998
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.9" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Deserves at Least 3 1/2 Stars

This book is underrated and underappreciated. It's quality is uneven and inconsistent, but I think worth reading for the good parts. It is pretty clear that Vietnam represents an overwhelming catharsis or abreaction for his character, even to the point of a certain amount of mythologizing. For any reader not expecting a large dose, be prepared. Overall, this novel deserves merit for not keeping to the beaten path.

A hauntingly beautiful novel -- poetic and revealing

_________________________________________________________________They say if you stare into a mirror long enough, you'll see the face of your own mother or father. But what if you saw Mother/Father/eagles in Mexican mountains/Godeath with sun in your eyes/"Ghost of a panther's soul"?A CHILD'S NIGHT DREAM is the first novel written by celebrated screenwriter/director/producer Oliver Stone, winner of three Oscars (for the screenplay of MIDNIGHT EXPRESS and as director of PLATOON and BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY), and whose films have earned 37 Academy Award nominations. First embarked on when Stone was 19, the novel lay becalmed inside a shoebox for 30 years until Stone took a deep breath and set sail once more. Graciously, he's invited us along as fellow voyagers, or voyeurs.A CHILD'S NIGHT DREAM is the autobiographical/fictional story of young William Oliver Stone, whose neglectful haut monde mother made him a haunting promise one night long ago. A promise Stone must prove or dispel or run from or embed like a Cambodian dagger in his own flesh.Torn between his estranged parents, Stone lives in two worlds. The world of "Oliver" is warm, carnal. Lust replaces love, and his mother has the "...face of a growling meateater. Wolfess." The world of "William" is cold, rigid, rigor mortis. Money replaces love, and his father unerringly hammers a stake through his son's heart, "You can't be an individual in this world..."Rejecting both worlds, Stone volunteers for combat in Vietnam and enters the Inferno. Raw, visceral, shot through wih madness, it's a microcosmic version of the film PLATOON, with fascinating additions -- the ghosts of French soldiers, Indians taking scalps, and Stone experiencing his own death.But reality is shape-shifting, and when Stone discovers he's alive, he embarks on a sea voyage. And what a voyage this proves to be -- mano a mano confrontations, a devastating hurricane, a man lost overboard, and Stone's terror when his "own devil voice" calls to him from the impenetrable depths. It's a masterfully told tale that lashes us with all the fury of a storm at sea.Stone's odyssey leads us through dark bordellos, a murderous rainy afternoon in France, and an erotic encounter with an angel. Ultimately we find ourselves in a cheap Mexican hotel room where Stone confronts the ashes of a book, a mirror, a dream.A CHILD'S NIGHT DREAM is an extraordinary novel -- poetic, painful, elemental, pounding to the demented rhythms of the sea and a young man's blood. In Stone's hands, language itself becomes an adventure, and images can be cool, mystical, silvered to the back of a mirror -- or hot, panting beasts rampaging through the jungle.And who will ever forget the courage and tragedy of this Boy/Poet who strips himself naked, shivering outside the garden like a lost cherub?A CHILD'S NIGHT DREAM is an intensely moving experience. Even if we tie the heart in a double sailor's knot for safety, Stone will unravel it. And if we've managed to hold them ba

A hauntingly beautiful novel -- poetic and revealing.

They say if you stare into a mirror long enough, you'll see the face of your own mother or father. But what if you saw Mother/Father/eagles in Mexican mountains/Godeath with sun in your eyes/"Ghost of a panther's soul"?A CHILD'S NIGHT DREAM is the first novel written by celebrated screenwriter/director/producer Oliver Stone, winner of three Oscars (for the screenplay of MIDNIGHT EXPRESS and as director of PLATOON and BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY), and whose films have earned 37 Academy Award nominations. First embarked on when Stone was 19, the novel lay becalmed inside a shoebox for 30 years until Stone took a deep breath and set sail once more. Graciously, he's invited us along as fellow voyagers, or voyeurs.A CHILD'S NIGHT DREAM is the autobiographical/fictional story of young William Oliver Stone, whose neglectful haut monde mother made him a haunting promise one night long ago. A promise Stone must prove or dispel or run from or embed like a Cambodian dagger in his own flesh.Torn between his estranged parents, Stone lives in two worlds. The world of "Oliver" is warm, carnal. Lust replaces love, and his mother has the "...face of a growling meateater. Wolfess." The world of "William" is cold, rigid, rigor mortis. Money replaces love, and his father unerringly hammers a stake through his son's heart, "You can't be an individual in this world..."Rejecting both worlds, Stone volunteers for combat in Vietnam and enters the Inferno. Raw, visceral, shot through wih madness, it's a microcosmic version of the film PLATOON, with fascinating additions -- the ghosts of French soldiers, Indians taking scalps, and Stone experiencing his own death.But reality is shape-shifting, and when Stone discovers he's alive, he embarks on a sea voyage. And what a voyage this proves to be -- mano a mano confrontations, a devastating hurricane, a man lost overboard, and Stone's terror when his "own devil voice" calls to him from the impenetrable depths. It's a masterfully told tale that lashes us with all the fury of a storm at sea.Stone's odyssey leads us through dark bordellos, a murderous rainy afternoon in France, and an erotic encounter with an angel. Ultimately we find ourselves in a cheap Mexican hotel room where Stone confronts the ashes of a book, a mirror, a dream.A CHILD'S NIGHT DREAM is an extraordinary novel -- poetic, painful, elemental, pounding to the demented rhythms of the sea and a young man's blood. In Stone's hands, language itself becomes an adventure, and images can be cool, mystical, silvered to the back of a mirror -- or hot, panting beasts rampaging through the jungle.And who will ever forget the courage and tragedy of this Boy/Poet who strips himself naked, shivering outside the garden like a lost cherub?A CHILD'S NIGHT DREAM is an intensely moving experience. Even if we tie the heart in a double sailor's knot for safety, Stone will unravel it. And if we've managed to hold them back, Stone'

Difficult read - slow start, gutsy middle, confused ending

It's hard to believe that a 20 yr old wrote this book. Stone is obviously talented but in such a way that it's difficult to relate to his wandering prose and stacatto syntax. I LOVED parts of the book but was bored senseless with the metaphors riddled throughout. There must be a thousand "it was like..." sentences in the book and he probably had a giant thesauraus (or great imagination!) to assist with the words.Some memorable quotes made this well worth reading and when he relaxed his tortured style, it was an intriguing read.It's a book that you'll struggle with but you'll miss it when you've finished.