Dream-Time: Some Chapters from the Sixties

I borrowed this book from a friend who had never read it. It seemed to come out of nowhere - had never heard of the author, never heard of the book, but I read the first chapter and was intrigued. I really had no idea where the book was going, but by the midway point I was pretty sure it was one of the best books I'd ever read. Since I didn't grow up in the 60's, I can't really say how "accurate" his portrayal of it is, but I do know that it is the most poetic and true sounding description of the decade I've ever read. It's difficult to describe what the book is really about; part memoir, part novel, part criticism, he addresses the shortcomings of the decade by writing about its dreams. And sometimes you don't really know what he's talking about: he's describing the halo around the image, and in doing so portrays the image more clearly than had he just gone straight to it. Despite the difference in style and form, Dream Time reminds me of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. But O'Brien captures a sympathy and a tenderness that Thompson didn't. While both works deal with the American Dream (and the American nightmare), I prefer O'Brien's genuine voice to Thompson's gonzo-irony. However, the books do make an interesting companion piece and I would recommend that they be read in pairs. All in all, Dream Time is an excellent book. I wished for a bit more in the ending, but the body of the work more than makes up for it. Definitely worth a second read.

This is a terrific book, and I am delighted that it is back in print. He nails down the elusive spirit of the sixties with a precision I have never encountered before.

From Lester Bangs's review of a Van Morrison record called BEAUTIFUL VISION: "When COMMON ONE was released in late 1980, I called up fellow rockcrit Greil Marcus and raved about it: 'This is it! The ultimate Van Morrison we've been waiting for all these years!' 'No', he said, 'it's a facsimile of the ultimate Van Morrison album. Van acting the part of the "mystic poet" he thinks he's supposed to be: "Didja ever hear about William Blake?" Well, yes, Van, I did ... so what?' ... In a way Greil was right: lines like 'James Joyce wrote stream-of-consciousness books' and 'Wordsworth and Coleridge were smokin' up in Kendal' are pretty silly, especially repeated over and over. But it makes absolutely no difference (in fact, I like it) because the context is so gorgeous: rapturous quarter-hours that pass like vast moments ... Van was making holy music even though he thought he was, and us rock critics had made our usual mistake of paying too much attention to the lyrics." Well needless to say, the same thing can be said about Geoffrey O'Brien (alias Gob). He's just a little bit too much aware of the fact that he's the greatest writer since Lester Bangs. But Gob's self-knowledge in no way diminishes his status. He is "The It Boy". And he darn well knows it. And so be it. May his fine quality entertainment continue apace. DREAMTIME wouldn't be complete without an obligatory description of the difficulty inherent in writing about the lysergic experience: "Obviously what they had experienced should be kept alive. However, they soon started slipping backward. It was extremely difficult even to remember what had taken place that night. To describe it was to lose it. The mechanisms of language and memory were not designed to cope with such phenomena--in fact, they were designed to obliterate them. Ordinary consciousness survived by erasing whatever perceptions did not fit its pigeonholes. Jack and Jane were thus conspiring to circumvent the brain's filing system. It turned out to be a little like trying to sneak up behind yourself. Finally they developed a theory that what they were trying to remember could by its nature not be remembered. Nostalgia was forbidden. If it wasn't happening, it was as if it had never happened. It could only be experienced. That was what made it special."