A review by lottiewoof
Dream Story by Arthur Schnitzler

4.0

A book that I enjoyed greatly, but that left me scratching my head. I almost felt as though I had missed the point somehow, and found myself researching it online as soon as I finished, in an attempt to find some hidden analogy that I may have missed.

But, no. Apparently feeling baffled is an entirely natural response to Schnitzler's prose. You see, following Dr Fridolin through Vienna was much like falling into a dream in itself - as the events of no more than 48 hours become more and more ludicrous, so the reader is dragged further into the absurd.

Spoiler

The journey begins with the familiar mundanity of comfortable family as a child is put to bed. Then a more extreme, but still relatively commonplace scene when the Doctor is called to a deathbed. From here to a prostitute's rooms - perhaps a little scandalous but not unheard of. And then, almost out of nowhere, our protagonist dives into a bizarre hidden world of secret societies, upper class orgies, depravity, and even murder.

This sudden escalation, akin to event progression in a dream world, left me clinging on for dear life, convinced that I had missed an important detail or key event. It felt like stepping off the shelf of a tiered swimming pool, to find oneself inexplicably out of ones depth.

So yes... a curious read. But thoroughly entertaining, and executed with great intelligence; an interesting follow-up to my previous read 'The Virgin and the Gipsy'. Two interesting literary explorations of sex and human relationships.