Book review: "The Lucid Dreamer", by M. Godwin

I just finished reading “The Lucid Dreamer”, written in 1994 by British author and artist Malcolm Godwin. I thought I’d write a few words about it.

It’s a beautiful 250 page book, and the hardback edition (which I picked up second-hand but in very good condition) contains a great many very beautiful dream-related paintings and images from a wide variety of cultures and periods.

This is not a “how-to” manual about attaining lucidity (for this, nothing I’ve read beats LaBerge’s EWOLD). It’s more about the dreams themselves: the historical and cultural chapters are fascinating and go back a long way (a lot is said about the Tibetans, whose contribution to LDs is immense). The book also contains a lot of good ideas about practical applications for self-discovery and self-help.

I would say that this book would be of most interest to people who would like to explore lucidity’s more mystical aspects. The author himself spent a lot of time in India meditating, and has a lot of highly interesting things to say not only about the nature of dreams, but about the nature of reality itself.

Some of it can seem speculative, but when dealing with the frontiers of knowledge and experience, we won’t get far if we don’t indulge in some speculation. At least Malcolm Godwin is a highly educated speculator, which makes the read very worthwhile.

thanks for that review
i might check the book out myself
but now im more tempted to get the EWOLD one

Sure, that makes sense: I'd say that LaBerge's EWOLD is an absolute must-read, before anything else!

Thanks for the review. I'm reading a couple of just general dream books but then I'll check that one out. I need to get my foundation of dreaming solid then explore new lucid books
:D

I myself have never picked up any of LaBerge's readings or any dream related literature however that is not to say that I never I simply....... havn't gotten around to it :P but I do hope so. This book which you have reviewed does seem like a good find and since it's from 1994 it is quite recent (Or Sort Of) and does seem like a good find for those who are interested in literature pertaining to dreaming and it's counterparts.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KuRoSaKi

I myself have never picked up any of LaBerge's readings or any dream related literature however that is not to say that I never I simply....... havn't gotten around to it :P but I do hope so. This book which you have reviewed does seem like a good find and since it's from 1994 it is quite recent (Or Sort Of) and does seem like a good find for those who are interested in literature pertaining to dreaming and it's counterparts.

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I've read 3 of stephen laberge books and EWOLD twice. Sometimes they are nice to revist and they are good refeshers, perhaps visit some skills you forgot you could try etc.

Currently reading: Dreaming the Lotus
Dreaming Souls

Thanks 3&4, you're always turning us on to good stuff.

Wow! That was the first book I read about LD'ing after I had read all of the Castaneda books and became aware of the possibility of becoming aware within the dream. Back then (1995) there was no LaBerge or Munroe Institute or anything else like that. That Godwin guy was ahead of his time with that book. I'm going to re-read it now that you mention it. Thanks for the reminder!!

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/...FL._AA240_.jpg

im going to have to check that out...
sounds good

I'd also recommend it. I was loaned a copy about 6 months ago and really liked it.