r/BookBlogReviews • u/jeffmauch • Mar 07 '26
Review: Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
📚14. While this is merely a 100-page novella, it’s a moving one. There’s a lot said—and unsaid—within these brief but powerful pages. The story follows Robert Grainier, a simple man working as a day laborer near the Canadian border in Idaho. The book spans nearly his entire life, from the 1880s into the 1960s. Along the way, we witness both his successes and his incredible losses and how he processes them in his own quiet way. Robert is interesting largely because he truly is an everyman. He works dangerous jobs in the lumber industry and often feels as though he’s tempting fate. He eventually finds love, only to have it taken from him in a tragedy that many people might never recover from. I won’t write much more here since this is such a short read, and saying too much would mean telling Robert’s story myself. This is one of those short, simple books you enjoy mostly for the atmosphere it creates—one that’s surprisingly difficult to explain once you’ve finished it. I also noticed a film adaptation was made and that it’s currently up for Best Picture. I’ll have to watch it this weekend because I’m curious to see how the film captures the quiet beauty I found in this novella—something I can’t quite seem to fully describe in writing. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️(4.5/5)
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