Project Gutenberg 2010-06-17 Public domain in the USA. 76 Stockham, Richard Freas, Kelly 1922 2005 Freas, Frank Kelly Perchance to Dream Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net "Perchance to Dream" by Richard Stockham is a science fiction novella written in the mid-20th century. The narrative explores themes of existential despair and the search for meaning within a meticulously controlled dystopian city. The story follows the life of a worker, known only as Twenty-three, who grapples with a profound sense of emptiness as he dreams of escape and a more vibrant existence beyond the confines of his machine-driven reality. The plot centers on Twenty-three's struggles within the oppressive environment of the city, where individuals are conditioned to control their dreams using a prescribed dream machine. As he experiences increasingly troubling dreams, he begins to question the purpose of their monotonous toil and the life they are living. The arrival of alternative dream cards from a mysterious man offers him a glimpse of hope and freedom. Driven by a desire to escape, Twenty-three embarks on a journey of self-discovery that culminates in a desperate act to break free from the dream machine—ultimately leading him to a richer, more fulfilling existence beyond the city's walls, where life and nature flourish in stark contrast to the sterile environment he has known. Through Twenty-three's awakening, the novella contemplates the value of individual dreams and the importance of pursuing true freedom. (This is an automatically generated summary.) http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32859/32859-h/images/cover.jpg en Science fiction Short stories Dystopias -- Fiction Dreams -- Fiction PS Text Browsing: Literature Browsing: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Browsing: Fiction 61789 61798 2024-09-14T04:49:48.905939 2023-09-14T09:42:34.280571 text/html text/html 58235 2021-01-06T18:38:21 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 137724 2021-01-06T18:38:21 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 145172 2024-09-14T04:49:50.986893 application/epub+zip 144201 2024-09-14T04:49:49.413959 application/epub+zip 79082 2024-09-14T04:49:49.147987 application/epub+zip 181149 2024-09-14T04:49:52.422883 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 173413 2024-09-14T04:49:50.725895 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 108598 2022-09-15T06:37:51.447147 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 53557 53461 2024-09-14T04:49:48.752923 2023-09-14T09:42:34.142582 text/plain; charset=us-ascii text/plain 53438 2021-01-06T18:38:21 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 20399 2021-01-06T18:38:21 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 19357 2024-09-14T04:49:52.554902 application/rdf+xml 26451 2024-09-14T04:49:49.216939 image/jpeg 4509 2024-09-14T04:49:49.181964 image/jpeg 138013 2024-09-14T04:49:48.916971 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia