Customer Reviews

Perchance to Dream (Coronet Books)

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Fittingly I picked up this book at random at a forgettable stall in second hand market I'd found entirely by accident (and perhaps never found again). Its a great selection of haunting, provocative, memorable short stories exploring the nature and role of dreams, which mixes what I later learnt were classics - The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge being an exemplar of its type - with the thought provoking - Under The Knife - the humorous and the affirmative - Kiplings Brushwood Boy being my favourite. Probably the best aspect of the selections is the dreamlike qualities of teh writing and styles, varying from story to story but each distinctly dreamlike in quality. Its all old stuff, probably nothing newer than the early 60's, but consider that a positive - having just watched Inception its amusing how the ideas in these stories are every bit as fresh and challenging as the most contemporary fiction.

Its a book I hunt out frequently, especially when other fiction dulls and disappoints, and I was delighted to see it was still in print. I'd begun to wonder if mine was the only copy...... or if I'd just imagined it.....

12 fine stories based upon the theme of dreams: James Thurber: A Friend to Alexander. Graham Greene: The End of the Party. Henry Kuttner: Dream's End. Ambrose Bierce: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. H.G. Wells: Under the Knife. Dostoevsky: The Dream of a Ridiculous Man. Kipling: The Brushwood Boy. Maugham: Lord Mountdrago. Conrad Aiken: Mr. Arcularis. John Collier: Interpretation of a Dream. Fritz Leiber: The Secret Songs. Borges: The Circular Ruins.