Paprika

My clingy sissy and I were at National Bookstore one time, carefully choosing which ones to prioritize, say one book each, but we ended up buying six! :))) We were hesitant to buy Paprika at first, because it's expensive. Haha! Kakuriputan attack. Buuut the cover and the synopsis were just to interesting to be ignored. Plus, it's the only stock left! or it's the one and only stock they had. Meant for us :p

The story revolves around Atsuko Chiba who's a senior staff at the Institute for Psychiatric Research. Doctor Chiba worked hand in hand with Tokita in developing prototype models for a dream-invading device. With the desire for (more) power, the Vice President of the institute and his lover exploited the capability of the new device, slowly driving people insane. With Doctor Chiba's alter ego, Paprika the dream detective, she endeavored the dream world to save her real world.

The first part of the novel is gripping and fascinating as Atsuko/Paprika treats her patients by analyzing their dreams. She made psychology even more interesting for me :)

"The Wise Old Man. An old man in a dream is someone who teaches us how to act appropriately. It's supposed to be a personification of the unconscious wisdom inside us."

"Reason within a dream means thinking you can do something jut because it's a dream. The inhibition that prevents you from doing it is what I call 'dreason' - dream reason."

"Sometimes we convince ourselves of certain things in childhood, and thereby create an illusion of truth that remains with u even as adults. However illogical it may seem."

"Anxiety is born of human relationships, and either evolves or disappears within that framework."

Part two is more adventurous and imaginative. I understand Tsutsui's intention of blurring the line between dreams and reality but I didn't like his execution. It became quite dragging, yet still intriguing.

"The best that she (Atsuko) could achieve would be an abstract hypothesis that would reaffirm the unfathomed power of  dreams. For although they were merely messengers from the realm of dreams, these apparitions had the power to cause death or leave lasting scars in the real world."

"We share good and evil in our dreams. That's why you feel nostalgic about evil. That's precisely why all sorts of evil are as familiar to humans as God is. It's because there's evil that good exist, because of the devil that God exists."

Paprika reflects  politics, aspirations, love, femininity and society in general. The compelling plot would engage any reader and let one's mind wander.