What did you think of the book’s title? Did you figure out its meaning before it was revealed toward the end of the book? Do you think the phrase is apt?
I have not completed the book yet. I am on page 91. Reading the book was becoming cumbersome for me after reading about Chia’s varied relationships. The content began to sound too familiar. Coincidentally, I glanced at the title again and said to myself, yes Now I understand why the book is titled “Dream Count”. The title fits the content once you realize that the women in the book count their dreams of relationships that don’t seem to work out the way they would like themn to.
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I did not figure it out until the end. It does seem appropriate that the women (particularly Chia, not as much with Omegdolor) counted their relationships as dreams. The dream perhaps of finding “the one” and settling down.
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I did not think that the title matched the content and quality of the book. I still wonder if they are referring to the number of dreams each woman had about the man she will find or the number of dreams she must give up on fulfilling.
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Carolyn_L, I too was put off a bit with the first section on Chia’s relationships with men due to her choices and the need to have a man to feel whole. I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue. This is when I figured out what the title “Dream Count” meant to me at this point… how many relationships do I go through to find the one. I have not yet finished the book, so I will see if I feel the same upon finishing. This is a cultural thing I believe Nigerian women feel, to have a man and family at a certain age and if not, your life isn’t fulfilling.
I had an inkling before the end of the book. I was struck by one passage, “Why do we remember what we remember? Which reels from our past assert their vivid selves and which remain dim, just out of reach?” I think the phrase “Dream Count” is apt. It’s also possible that in ten more years the memories of the women about their relationships will transform and be re-assessed for meaning. I find that happens with age and reminiscences-and maybe with more distance and wisdom and self-reflection.
I figured it out immediately. There was nothing deep involved.
Like Carolyn_L, I found Chia’s section very slow going, deeply unsatisfying. I could not relate to wanting a “dream” relationship so badly for its own sake, that she would live in denial for years with someone who did not respect her—when unlike many women in all cultures, she had the freedom and the means to leave.
I think the title may be apt, but also trivializes the novel. which is about a lot more than romantic dreams clouding a woman’s judgment.
There is so much else going on here—the politics of colonialism, conflicts between tribal cultures, the ways that America does not live up to its welcome to immigrants who really are tired and poor…I could go on.
Really it was hard to find one major theme. Perhaps “dreams” in the title can be thought of as encompassing our larger human dreams of freedom, including freedom from want, being able to feel safe and treated with respect, to be part of a community and find self-fulfillment.
I realized the meaning of the title towards the end of the book. The title seems more related to the character of Chiamaka. She recounts how many relationships she went through without finding the right one. It seems at time, she was making the wrong choice, specifically with Darnell who was cold, critical and emotionally abusive. The “Dream Count” novel seems more about Chiamaka and her relationships with her cousin Omelogor, her friend Zikora and her housekeeper Kadiatou. Even though each one of them had their own dreams. Chiamaka opens the first chapter and closes the last chapter.
I did not figure it out til the end!
I had no clue until the meaning of the title was spelled out at the end of the book! I like the phrase, but I do not like that it was applied seemingly only to relationships.