The Oxford Book of Dreams (Oxford Books of Prose) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0192803859 ISBN 13: 9780192803856

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2003

Synopsis

Dreams have been a source of delight and terror for as long as people have kept records of their thought. Whether dreams are the key to the unconscious, as Freud proposed, or a way of wiping clean the mental slate, as Dr. Francis Crick's theory suggests, they have filled the pages of numerous diaries and been an integral part of literary masterworks such as The Divine Comedy and Finnegan's Wake.

In this rich anthology, Stephen Brook has collected hundreds of dreams recorded by authors, poets, psychologists, and everyday dreamers since pre-Christian days. Ranging from Artemidorus's crude, 2nd-century analysis to Freud and Jung's dream psychology, and including works by Coleridge, Yeats, Tolstoy, D.H. Lawrence, Joseph Heller, and many other authors, The Oxford Book of Dreams offers an intriguing and varied sampling of humanity's collective unconscious. It explores the inexhaustible fascination of dreams and their power as a great source of literary inspiration.

About this title

About the Author:

Stephen Brook has worked for publishers in both England and the United States, and is now a full-time writer. His books include New York Days, New York Nights, Honky-tonk Gelato: Travels Through Texas, and The Dordogne.

Review:

`Review from previous edition A rich fabric of dreaming ... from Latin poets to Louis MacNiece and Yeats ... A truly remarkable assembly'
Elizabeth Jennings, Spectator

`a splendid collection ... Stephen Brook could hardly have done the job better'
Rosemary Dinnage, TLS

`an ideal companion for the bedside'
Time

`Anthologies which transcend themselves and can stand as organic books making serious statements about life [are] very rare, but Stephen Brook's Oxford Book of Dreams is of their number.'
Paul Binding, New Statesman

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0192803859
• ISBN 13: 9780192803856
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288
• Editor: Brook Stephen