Dreams of Speaking is a 2006 novel by Australian author Gail Jones. Similar to Jones’ first two novels, Sixty Lights and Five Bells, Dreams of Speaking also explores the concept of modernity and its effect on understanding ourselves. The novel moves through time and space, following a refractive writing style. Following a few months in the life of a young Australian writer, Alice Black, the novel weaves through time to explore Alice's journey as a young Australian academic conducting research on the concept of modernity. The novel begins in Perth, Western Australia, and follows Alice's travels to Paris and Tokyo. As she chases the true meaning of modernity, Alice unintentionally learns more about her world and herself. Jones’ includes disparate elements in her novel including letters between the characters and facts. Overall, the novel received mixed reviews from eminent critics.
Plot
Protagonist, Alice Black, is a young Australian academic. The novel follows several months in the life of Alice, as she conducts research for a project that she titled The Poetics of Modernity. Intending to further her research into the unremarked beauty of modern things, Alice leaves Perth for Paris. Alice leaves behind her sister, Norah, who, unbeknown to her, is suffering from cancer.
When in Paris, Black coincidentally meets her estranged lover, Stephen. Stephen, too, had travelled to Paris to conduct, presumably, philosophical research. Stephen attempts to rekindle their relationship. But, Alice almost immediately grows distant from Stephen, instead concentrating on her research. In her mind, Alice resolves that she is not there to be with him but rather to study the concept of modernity. Through her project, Alice aims to consider the complex relationship between the human mind and "these plastic and metal extrusions," ultimately questioning how the aesthetics of technology meld with the human psyche.
Yet, upon moving to Paris, Alice becomes almost obsessively consumed by her own loneliness. She feels a sense of isolation and disorientation as she mourns her ever-growing physical and emotional distance from her working-class family and her failed relationship with Stephen. By chance, Alice meets Mr Sakamoto, an elderly Japanese gentleman, on a train. Mr Sakamoto and Alice commence a friendship, despite initial tentativeness. To her surprise, Alice discovers Mr Sakamoto spoke impeccable, literary English and was also fascinated by modern technology, working on a biography of Alexander Bell, the inventor of the telephone. Yet, Mr Sakamoto also embodied a darker side to modernity, being a survivor of the Nagasaki bomb. The pair forge an intense friendship, predicated on their shared curiosity for the modern world and their search for some way of explaining the elusive poetry which resides within a machine.
The serendipitous and surprising friendship is forged despite vast cultural and generational differences, forming the heart of the novel. Finding an intellectual partner, Alice follows Mr Sakamoto to Japan. Tragically and unexpectedly, Mr Sakamoto dies whilst in Japan. The death and Alice's grief spurs her to abandon her initial project for one of a different kind. Instead of exploring the operations of global modernity, Alice tells the story of her friendship with Mr Sakamoto. Ultimately, Alice realises that modernity is haunted by the persistence of the unmodern, typified in death, loss and mourning. The novel concludes where it began, with Alice returning to Australia to find her sister, Norah, suffering from cancer.
Characters
Alice Black: A young Australian academic. Alice is originally from Perth, however moves to Paris, and then Japan, in order to conduct research for her project on modernity and emerging technology. Norah Black: Alice's sister. Stephen: Alice's estranged lover, an Australian academic. Stephen also travels to Paris, unbeknown to Alice, pursuing his research. Mr. Sakamoto: An elderly Japanese man with a passion for researching the lives of famous inventors.