Published by: Cranthorpe Millner
First, I would like to applaud
Derek Allen for the subject matter of this book, as I have always found dreams, especially
my own, fascinating. I only wish I could
remember them with more clarity and in more detail when I awake from them.
A Collection Of Dreams comprises nine individual stories which are unique in themselves and very different to
each other. They detail night dreams
plus day dreams which are often overlooked.
The meaning of dreams has long
been a captivating subject for many and I know people who, as soon as they
wake, rapidly write down all they can recall from a dream they’ve had during
the previous night’s sleep. I don’t do
that personally but I do try to re-live my dreams and make some sense of
them.
Recurring dreams are the hardest
to make sense of. Why does it
happen? Is it something deep in the
subconscience which is troubling us and we need to form some logic from? Or
are our dreams just a hotchpotch of our thoughts and have no significance?
Scientists estimate that we have
roughly three to six dreams in one night and around 95% of these dreams are
forgotten the following morning. When
dreaming takes place, daytime thoughts continue in symbols and metaphors
instead of in words. Through the
dreaming process, we are continuing our thoughts about our day, our mistakes,
our achievements and our hopes for tomorrow.
It seems if a day journal is kept
in tandem with a dream journal, connections will be noticed between dream
imagery and daily struggles and achievements.
I was intrigued to find out by
reading the book, how different other people’s dreams can be and it was
interesting to learn how people interpret dreams.
Some of the dream stories included
were somewhat sexualised and it seems this is very common. Often people play out their fantasies in
dreams which they are too inhibited to do in everyday life. Equally, as the book cover explains, as we
have no control over the images, sensations or emotions our dreams create, they
are therefore unpredictable.
The stories are varied, some
dark, some light-hearted and comprise of a wide-ranging collection of tales
including: a university professor seemingly trapped on the London
Underground taking an endless journey involving time travel and a mysterious
girl in white; a former top QC suffering
from dementia, recounting incorrect memories of writers and street car dealers; the weird and dark thoughts of a top politician; interdimensional travel - a
radio station taking the minds of its listeners to a fantastic library where
they can explore imaginary worlds and hidden messages; and a nightmare involving
royal infidelity and a gory execution. My favourite is the penultimate dream
story entitled Amanda, detailing extra-marital affairs and revenge of an ex.
The collection is an enjoyable
read which I would rate as 4 out of 5 stars.
It is interesting to note that
psychiatrists John Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley theorised that dreams don’t actually mean anything. Instead they’re
merely electrical brain impulses that pull random thoughts and imagery from our
memories. They suggest that humans
construct dream stories after they wake up in a natural attempt to make sense
of it all. Or do we?
Reviewer - Anne Pritchard.
Many thanks for the positive review, glad you enjoyed the read. In most of the stories I had to provide a context via some form of back story, otherwise they would have been so surreal I feared I would lose the reader.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed this book. Will he buying copies for Christmas gifts :)
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