'Insomniac Dreams: Experiments with Time by Vladimir Nabokov' was an interesting read that fulfilled my expectations in most cases but failed other times.

Looking back at the non-fiction books I read (only 35 since 2012), they are either amazing or a fail. There seems to be no middle ground. However, this book was though to rate. It consists of five parts - an explanation of the theory (An Experiment with Time by John Dunne), followed by the dream journal and extracts of Nabokov's works and letters that also fit the description. Truth be told, I was curious to see how the book will be and I had high expectations.

When I first started reading it, my aim was to get to know the author better. I've got this notion for a while now that I want to read more Russian literature. Nabokov is an author I encounter a lot on my hunt for new books but I haven't read any of his works.
I love to know more about an author before I pick up the book because I believe this to be a possibility to see more in a book than just the story. I definitely learned a lot about Nabokov - seriously, I don't want to publish a dream journal. Dreams are in my book a rather personal topic that I wouldn't want to share with everyone but it's certainly a chance to see a new side to a person. Barabtarlo did an awesome job to flesh out the rather short diary entries with explanations from Nabokov's life. He seems to be an authority when it comes to Nabokov - it certainly takes a lot of time and effort to embed Nabokov's experiment into a bigger picture.
Having said that, I expected to enjoy this read although I haven't read a single Nabokov book. This might be true for the first half of the book but then, instead of dream journal entries, extracts from Nabokov's works were used as examples. Honestly, this was tedious to read because if you don't know a book and there's a random extract there's only that much you can understand without being frustrated. This was a let-down that I feel sorry for because the book could have been great if I either had known his works or Barabtarlo had spent some time explaining the context.

I never expected to convince me to believe Dunne's theory. The first part of the book did a decent job of explaining the theory but I remain unconvinced. Dreams and their meaning is a subject I like to think about although I never tried to see my dreams as the image of something that already happened because time can be reversed. Sorry, this was a little too much but I don't mind because I never expected it to be otherwise.

I love that they included pictures of the original index cards Nabokov used to write down his dreams. In fact, I believe the whole experiment to be quite fascinating although I can't imagine writing down whatever I remember about a dream first thing in the morning. Maybe this gets easier with practice.

All in all, the book is easy to read and interesting (maybe more so if you are actually interested in the theory of Dunne's thinking), it offers a great insight into Nabokov's life (mainly in the 1960s) but I missed the big picture. I remember liking the first half but the last part was rather dull as there was just information after information and I had no clue what to do with it.

In 1964 Vladimir did a Dream Experiment. Upon waking he wrote on index cards his dreams from the night before. This books Includes those index cards and the author connects those dreams to his later novels. I enjoyed the biographical background and reading the dream index cards. Since I have read a lot of Nabokov I would have preferred more criticism than just long passages from the books. Anyone with an interest in learning more about Nabokov and his later books will enjoy this book. Enjoy

A fascinating read of never seen before material, all excellently explained to those unfamiliar with the concepts Nabokov was employing. Excellent use of primary material and commentary by the editor.

Insomniac Dreams is an unusual book, one that focuses on dreams and Nabokov in his own words and through Gennady Barabtarlo’s commentary and notes. It is the publication of Nabokov’s dream diary kept as an experiment to see if later events can influence earlier dreams alongside other of his personal and published writings relating to dreams and commentary on Nabokov in relation to dreams and time. There are images of some of the original notecards Nabokov used for this dream diary and an initial explanation of the book (An Experiment with Time by the British philosopher John Dunne) which inspired the experiment.

Nabokov was testing the theory that dreams can be precognitive and Insomniac Dreams is certainly a fascinating look at how Nabokov recorded this and then how dreams feature in his novels, particularly later ones such as Ada or Ardor. Many of the dreams written down by Nabokov do sound like they could come from his novels and Nabokov scholars and fans will likely find it very interesting to consider the consequences of this experiment in dreams and time. Despite the philosophical connections to the experiment, the book is straightforward and readable to a general reader and the discussion of rereading Nabokov in relation to time not running forwards may spark readers to want to give this a go (or to chart their own dreams, indeed).

This is an interesting look into one of Russia's best writers. I enjoyed this look into the world of Vladamir Nabokov's dreams, through his diaries and writings. I would recommend this book to fans of Nabokov and dream work as well.