Philippines

`Afascinatingtext,whosehighlypersonalexplorationoftheauthor'spassionforcertainbooksopensontoaconsiderationoftherelationshipbetweenreadingandchildhoodingeneral.'MaireadHanrahan,UniversityCollegeLondon`Readthisenchantedbookbeforeitistoolatetolearnthatchildhoodisindispensablefortruereading,thatthetrutharrivestoolate,andthatthroughtheprisonbarsof"toolate"liesthepath-thetelepathicpath-tohappiness.Eachstepcounts.'SarahWood,UniversityofKentPhilippinesisHeleneCixous'sreverieor`truedreaming'whichintertwinesFreud'suneasyviewsontelepathy;autobiographicalmemoriesconflatingAlgeriaandParis,childhoodandadultlife,sharedwithherbrother`Pete';andliteraryevocationsfromProustandGeorgeduMaurier'sforgottennovelPeterIbbetson.Amidtelepathicconversations,realorimagined,andlifeeventsuncannilyansweringoneanotherfromadistance,Cixous'sdense,evocativejourneyceaselessly`returnstoitsstartingpoint'and,likethetwinalmondsinoneshellevokedbythetitle,revealsintimate,secretbondsbetweenscenesandbeings,realandfictional.ItsinterpretativesharpnessdeliveredwithstylisticeleganceandcandourmakesthisstudytypicalofCixous'sart,whichpliesbetweenliteratureandcriticism,appealingnotonlytoscholarsandcriticsinterestedinpsychoanalysis,autobiographyandtheactofreading,butalsotoabroaderreadershipcaptivatedbythehallucinatorycoincidencesbetweenlife,dreamandfiction.When`Realityisthedream.Thedreamisthetruereality.'