Review: "people are symptoms of dreams"
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 26, 2014
This novella has the intriguing concept of a time when insomnia has become endemic.  A human can only live 20 days without sleep, a fact known because of a true genetic disorder that causes permanent insomnia in a small isolated population.  In the book, doctors have found a way to give donated sleep from the healthy to the stricken, and the problem has grown to the point infant dreams are mined.  The visions of the sleep starved  stumbling through the days are striking.  The point of helplessness can be shared by those who have visits from this illness today.This is a stunning book which does trickle off after the premise is established.  In the end, the cure is shockingly personal and the despair of the many dulls even the deeply empathetic who try to help.