Dream

The Art and Science of Slumber

By: Scott Carney

Narrated by: Scott Carney

Why do so many of us have trouble falling asleep? Why do our thoughts spin in wild directions after dark? More important: why do we dream?

In this groundbreaking new book, investigative journalist and anthropologist Scott Carney sets out to discover how the sleeping world reverberates in the waking one. Unlock the power of the immune system at the same time you dig deeply into the source of creativity. Discover the evolutionary process that forges both memory and emotions.

Equal parts cutting edge neuroscience and ancient wisdom, this short and elegant book leads to the inescapable conclusion that we are what we dream.

©2024 Scott Carney (P)2024 Scott Carney

Interesting book

This was an interesting book. I don’t need help falling asleep but I could see where this book could help people that do. I was more interested in the dream topics.

Brilliantly conveys the importance of understanding consciousness.

It was well conveyed without drilling too much into academia, it helped me understand the true need to prioritize the processing and healing and rejuvenating that happens in an unconscious state.

A balanced book on that phenomenon we take for granted

I became obsessed with dreams at a young age. I had my first “out of body experience / astral projection / sleep paralysis” or whatever you want to call it when I was 8 or 9 years old.

Since then, I have found a deep interest in the phenomenon on dream. My studies took me through the REM theories of Michel Jouvet, the autosuggestion of Emile Coué (day by day in every way…). But otherwise, it seemed like most texts that I found were bastardized versions of Jungian symbolism, arbitrary interpretations from Neo-pagan culture, or scientific approaches leaving out the magic and impossible which can manifest in the dream state.

This book is short. It’s digestible. But he covers all the bases. And I wish I found this book after my first encounters with dream phenomena which made me question the nature of this odd thing we all experience day to day.

Scott explores the role of dreams, the function of dreams, and HOW to effectively utilize sleep.

This book has something special that I have found lacking in other books. He comes at it with curiosity. He doesn’t give parochial belief systems that the reader needs to adopt. He explores alongside the reader, provides practical suggestions for leveraging “work” with dreams. And even provides tried and true methods such as Yoga Nidra for effective transition into the dream state.

I write this as a lifelong insomniac. Someone who dreads bed time at many points, out of concern for yet another restless night. This book made me feel excited for tonight’s rest. A refreshing take on the beauty of the unconscious mind.

Scott Carney has come to be one of my favorite non-fiction authors / journalists. My only criticism is the length of the book. I wish it was longer. But I anticipate revisiting this one time and time again. Especially for that guided Nidra…

Are we ever not dreaming?

Somewhere between realities lies the world of dreams. In this book, Scott Carney takes a relatively deep dive into sleeping and dreaming.

I really enjoyed how direct this book is. It's not very long and no one can narrate it better than the author. This is a fun ride, weaving together science, history, mysticism, and consciousness. It's sure to make you think more about something you may not think much about.

I have a history of sleeplessness and sleeping disorders, and I had an incredible experience with one of the exercises in the book. Something I really like about Scott's books is that he prefers experience over research and is willing to be the guinea pig. He put a lot into this book and I'm sure it was hard to keep the page count down.

I didn't know what to expect when I started it. By the time it was done, I couldn't wait to try out it's exercises and get done great sleep with excellent dreams. I succeeded in both.

very interesting

Interesting topic. It's definitely not very scientific at all. It's more spiritual. If you're looking for something a little more science based I would recommend On Intelligence. In both books they use use the analogy of catching a baseball. this book says our brains are able to time travel travel, whereas On Intelligence says that our brains simply predict based on how we perceived the world. I tried the yoga meditation portion the night I read the book. I fell asleep, and I definitely felt weird listening to it, but I'm not sure if it was because I was extremely tired or not. Planning on doing that again. Definitely a good read if you're open to a more spiritual side of sleep and not just scientific.

Don’t need author’s political opinions

Got 3 minutes in and why does he need to bring up his political views?

Not what I thought

This is not what I thought this book would be about and the last 30 minutes was basically the narrator trying to calm your mind for sleep. I was listening to this book in the middle of the day, so that was helpful. And I'm sure not going to try to listen to that part again right before bed. In my opinion, don't waste your time with this book.