Private Myths, Dreams and Dreaming, by Anthony Stevens (Penguin, £8.99 in UK)

You probably will expect an orgy of Freudianism, but the approach of this book is as much literary/symbolic as psychological

You probably will expect an orgy of Freudianism, but the approach of this book is as much literary/symbolic as psychological. Inevitably, Freud and Jung do figure a great deal, but the attitudes and sayings of writers and philosophers over the centuries, including Blake, Heraclitus and Lichtenberg, are also central to its theme. The old idea that certain dreams are a kind of mediumistic "possession" is explored with courage and sense, and almost unavoidably there is a detailed consideration of the nature of consciousness itself.