The Department Store of Dreams Of Lee Mi-ye (Mondadori, translation by Lia Iovenitti) is a Korean bestseller which celebrates the mysterious power of dreams. South Korea’s best-selling book in 2021, it adds to the line of several great successes from the East.
Pennythe protagonist of the novel, she has just been hired at the department store. He has to extricate himself from the numerous tasks entrusted to her while, day after day, he learns how dreams and dreamers choose each other almost out of necessity.
Neither The Department Store of Dreams we find many elements of a fantasy worldsuch as the Noctiluca, mythological creatures who hasten to throw pajamas and dressing gowns for those dreamers who have forgotten their clothes, but the real and the imaginary chase each othersupport and complement each other.
He is alone via dreams purchased at the warehouse (and paid for with a small amount of euphoria) that a woman will in fact find the courage to declare her secret love, a boy will meet a lost person again through his last message and a musician will regain the confidence to take care of his talent.
Lee Mi-ye he tells with a crystalline style one of the deepest mysteries of human nature. The dreamlike dimension as a fantastic space for reunification with ourselves. The characters who busied themselves in Dollagut’s enterprise are always ready to sell the most disparate dreams, but the truth is that every shadow knows which dream to choose. For those who are more confused, or simply frightened, Mr. Dollagut, the leading expert on the subject, will always be able to give the right advice.
Dreams connect the little pieces of life lived like invisible bridgesrelax the twisted threads of thought and put the most beautiful memories in their place, in protected display cases.
The author uses the narrative ploy of the Warehouse to reflect on the unique moment of rest. The dream time itself is narrated, a time that has no unit of measure and no direction, because it is neither past nor future.
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Lee Mi-ye play with the comparison between the subconscious and the conscience. The shadows that roam the warehouse are moved by simple emotions, almost instinctive needs. So they hurry through the four floors of the warehouse to look for the dream they need, almost never disappointed.
In the morning, however, the dreams disappear, the warehouse dissolves and what remains of it is kept in the one who awakens and life, in the end, blossoms from the dream.
