Picking up a book in the furthest corner of a
book-case, I came upon "The Oxford Book of Dreams", chosen by
Stephen Brooke for the Oxford University Press, 1983.
The Contents were outlined under:
Introduction, Prologue, Three parts ( I. From Birth to Death;2. Earthly
Things; III. The Dreamworld), Conclusion, Acknowledgements;
Index.
Not only was I surprised to find VN quoted in the
Book of Dreams, but to see that there were four references to dreams related by
him on pages 2, 45-6, 206-7, 243. With the exception of the first, all the
others came from "Lolita".
Nabokov's short sentence from "Perfection" came
already in the Prologue.
("Human dreams do not easily
forget old drudges").
Next, on Part I ( From Birth to Death, item Love
and Sex), with a dream taken down by Humbert prefaced by a bit of
day-dreaming. Nothing on Item II, but then again on Part III ( The Dream
World, items The Absurd and Interpretations) with Humbert's dream about Lolita
disguised as Valeria or Charlotte, also the everpresent attack on psychiatrists
with H's "never allowing them the slightest glimpse of one's
real sexual predicament".
In his Introduction, Stephen Brook wrote that
"the dreams in this book are instances of the literary exploitation of the
dream experience...the dream as a literary device is bound up with the use its
creator chooses to make of it. The invention of a dream is in itself an act of
interpretation" He closes his preface noting that "this book has
been devised as entertainment, not as thesis or
instruction".
I don't know if this sighting has already been
described in our List, but I thought that it might still be worthwhile
to bring it up, either for the first time or as a repetition. The dreams quoted close to those of VN's offer an interesting
link bt. him and the other authors. VN's written dreams, stemming from
Lolita, are almost "sober" if we compare the selection with dreams
inside dreams and mixed with day-dreams, reminiscences and hallucinations, as we
find in ADA...