The Dreaming Jewels was my first experience with Theodore Sturgeon. I picked the book up a few years ago, read it, and loved it. But for some reason I didn't pursue Sturgeon's other work until more recently. Upon my first read I was struck by how succinct Sturgeon's prose was, and I thought his ability to illustrate pathos and horrific situations was incredible. And now, after a more recent re-read, I am even more impressed with this short novel. Having a deeper understanding of his themes and having been exposed more to his craft has led me to appreciate the book even more.
The Dreaming Jewels tells the story of a young boy named Horty Bluett. Horty is caught doing something gross at school, and once again finds himself the victim of his step-parents' abuse. Sturgeon never shied away from presenting his readers with dark and twisted events and characters. On the contrary, he often dove head-first into such territories. The first couple of chapters here are harrowing; violent physical and emotional child abuse is depicted bluntly. While Sturgeon never candy-coated his portrayals of nastiness, he never utilized unnecessary shock value.
In desperation, Horty does what many young boys in his situation dream of doing: he, along with his toy Junky, a jack-in-the-box with jeweled eyes, runs away and joins a traveling circus. His new family consists of: a deaf and mute alligator-skinned man named Solum; a fat little midget boy named Havana; an albino girl named Bunny; and a tiny little woman named Zena. Horty and Zena quickly develop a strong bond; their relationship matures and becomes passionate without being romantically active. They are like mother and son, brother and sister, and lovers all at the same time. Zena soon learns of Junky's jeweled eyes and she tells Horty to keep them hidde from the circus ringleader, a dark and mysterious man known as the Maneater.
The Maneater is fascinating, one of my favorite literary villains. Sturgeon paints him with disturbing detail; he is more than a mustache twister and more than a mere monster. This is especially true in his origin chapter, where we learn of the passion that drives the Maneater, and in which we first learn of the strange crystal jewels at the vortex of the narrative. The Maneater is a jewel hunter, and has devoted his life to capturing and experimenting with the strange crystals to unlock their true potential. Sturgeon presents the Maneater's lust in a vibrant and fearful way, and the obsession found in the character makes for an interesting and frightening antagonist.
The Dreaming Jewels is Sturgeon's most straightforward novel. Where he sometimes had the tendency to be didactic, and to really examine his motto (“Ask the next question.”), The Dreaming Jewels is basically a straight up, dark and fantastic, twisted little thriller. It contains elements of SF, horror, and coming of age story all wrapped up in a short, action packed, and extremely well written novel. The novel's pacing is relentless, and, like To Marry Medusa, it moves along in a whiz-bang fashion. There is a lot going on within the narrative, and Sturgeon packs the pages with details.
What I found most fascinating is how the narrative evolves. It starts out as one kind of story, and slowly morphs, organically, into something else. Sturgeon builds an elaborate and nuanced tale and examines a number of fascinating ideas here, all while keeping the plot focused and moving. Like a slowly budding flower, as each chapter is read, the story opens up to reveal something more mysterious until the center is finally exposed and the reader truly understands the narrative's nature. This really is an expertly crafted story, and it makes sense that Ray Bradbury is so jealous of it's allure and of Sturgeon's craft.
Now that I've read all of Sturgeon's major SF novels, I am actually kind of sad. I still have a ton of short stories to devour, but I will never again be able to read a Sturgeon novel for the first time. I enjoyed coming around full circle, and rereading the book that introduced me to this amazing author. I can't recommend The Dreaming Jewels enough; it is fascinating, intelligent, thrilling, emotional, and a finely crafter novel. I would love for many more people to pick this up, I think it is a fantastic entry point for anyone longing to start a great literary journey.
