Dreams

[Miss Shelf]

I'm wondering, just how much credence do you give stories that are written in the first person ("Last night I dreamed...") and are full of detail including entire conversations?

I do remember some of my dreams but as the day wears on I'm hard-pressed to recall exactly what they were about, much less word-for-word conversations. Most of my recollections are in the lines of "it was dark", "I was in my house but it wasn't my house, if you know what I mean", etc. I find it hard to swallow stories or sections of books dealing with a dream someone has that plays out like real life, even with bizarre twists, like dreams have. Are you willing to go along with artistic license in these cases, or do you feel "that can't possibly happen"?

 

[leckert]

I'm wondering, just how much credence do you give stories that are written in the first person ("Last night I dreamed...") and are full of detail including entire conversations?

I do remember some of my dreams but as the day wears on I'm hard-pressed to recall exactly what they were about, much less word-for-word conversations. Most of my recollections are in the lines of "it was dark", "I was in my house but it wasn't my house, if you know what I mean", etc. I find it hard to swallow stories or sections of books dealing with a dream someone has that plays out like real life, even with bizarre twists, like dreams have. Are you willing to go along with artistic license in these cases, or do you feel "that can't possibly happen"?

I think I may have mentioned before, but when I pick up a book, I make a deal with the author:

I will suspend my disbelief and will allow nearly any contrivence (?) of your imagination, if you will entertain me and not make me feel stupid.

So, I usually allow that the author is trying to express something, and let it go, unless he has violated the agreement by not entertaining me.

 

[Mari]

Even first-person narratives that claim to recount waking events require suspension of disbelief. No one could remember as much dialogue as fills most novels.

My favorite retelling of a dream is in the second chapter of Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison. The images from the dream are rich, but no dialogue is retold. However, the narrator is quoting the person who had the dream word for word, recounting his long monologue from memory. That's the part that seems impossible, but the reader (this reader, anyway) ignores that.

 

[G4G]

I have a problem with dream sequences in books, as a lot of the time they just seem to be padding out the book.

Leckert said:

"I will suspend my disbelief and will allow nearly any contrivence (?) of your imagination, if you will entertain me and not make me feel stupid."

I think I'm going to have to remember this for future reads - seems like a good way of looking at this type of thing.