Review 702: The Mind At Night

The Mind At Night: The New Science Of How And Why We Dream by Andrea Rock
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



The subtitle perfectly explains what this book was about...the science of dreaming. It starts with the discovery of the rapid eye movements (REM) sleep correlating with the time during sleep of dreaming. Eugene Aserinsky wasn’t particularly interested in sleep research, but that was where he found himself in 1951 while working on his degree. His lab subject was his eight-year-old son. Other subjects were studied and with his mentor they published their findings that REM sleep correlated with dreaming in the journal Science in 1953. This was the beginning of dream research as a science, as opposed to the psychological aspect, such as Freud.

Freud and his dream theories are mentioned off an on, yet mostly in the way of not accepting that everything is sexual based. Often the book points out ways that proves this is not the case.
The book states the 60’s were the “golden era” of dream research, meaning in the United States, where federal funding started drying up in the 1980s. Then dream research was more of a side-benefit of sleep disorder research.

The book ends with stating there are two main theories of why we dream. One is to work out our emotional states for emotional regulation. The other is dreaming is a way of enhancing memory so as to solidifying learning. More likely it is both.

Although at the time the book was published the research was new, I’ve had this book for a couple of decades so that is no longer the case. The first few chapters the writer wrote some corny lines, like attempts at humor or something. It was awkward reading. But by the end of the book the writing solidifies better, those attempts are gone and just reporting the facts has he found them, and the writing was smoother and worked better.

Review 701: Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Much has been said about this classic, and my thoughts won’t add anything. For starters, didn’t like it very much. Generally I do enjoy classics, but not this one. I found most of the characters disagreeable (not that I need to like characters to enjoy a story, but it does help). I did like Nelly Dean, the woman narrating the story, I liked how she comported herself. She is the frame, telling the story to Mr. Lockwood who is a newcomer. He is renting out Thrushcross Grange and wants to hear the story of his landlord and the people residing in Wuthering Heights. Being ill he needs something to occupy himself. Thus this story, told in incredible details so many years later, you must suspend disbelief.

Heathcliff is a horrible person, not a news flash. Not the only one either. Then there are the whiny characters. And this was back when marrying cousins was completely acceptable. So many cringey moments in this book, but the ending was completely satisfactory. Just took a lot to get there and glad I stuck with it.

Review 700: The Secrets of Catspraddle Village

The Secrets of Catspraddle Village by Callie Browning
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was so short I almost didn't add it in.

This was a very short book of 5 short stories. The setting is Barbados, where the author is from, but set in a small fictional village called Bajan. They are all light-hearted, bit of humor and somewhat quirky. I found it a nice short break from some of the longer reads I've been working on. The audio book is barely over an hour, so it didn't take long to get through the book. 

Review 699: The Christian Watt Papers

The Christian Watt Papers by Christian Watt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Christian Watt grew up and lived in Fraserburgh, located on the eastern side of Scotland, north of Aberdeen. She was born in the 1830s and lived a long life, although about half was in a mental asylum. It seemed like a home that looked carefully after their wards, and Christian was able to leave at times. It was there during her time living there it was suggested she write down her history, which is how the books pages came about.

Christian grew up very poor, the only girl in a large family of brothers, then many died in a boating accident. There were two left, but later those two also died. She had many losses in her life, too many. When she was a little older and married she ended up with having ten children and struggled to get by. At one point she says, if only one of my brothers had lived.

After her husband died in the sea as well was when Christian’s mental troubles started. Trying to manage all on her own became too much. The doctor suggested a rest in the asylum in Aberdeen. After a time she came back home but was shunned by many in the community, they would no longer buy fish from her. Christian said this was when she found out who her true friends were.

Christian had a great memory, remembering all the many people in her family and in the village, and this is all told in the book. It was at times a difficult read due to all these names of people, but to get a sense of what it was like during this time in that place, the book is excellent.

This is an edited autobiography, with the editor adding commentary and explanation to the text. Looking at the included family tree it appears that the editor is a Sir and related to Christian as well.

Review 698: A Swim in a Pond in the Rain

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life by George Saunders
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This would be a great book if you are looking to improve your story writing skills. I’m not. I had hoped it would be useful as a reader, and it was that, but not as much as I hoped. The book is really geared towards fictional writers.

However, I did get to listen to seven, no, eight stories by classic Russian writers. The audiobook included a bonus story. For these stories and the bit extra, it was worth my time. My rating reflects what I expect how it would help writers.