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The Secret Life of Sleep Kat Duff 9781582704685 Books

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The Secret Life of Sleep Kat Duff 9781582704685 Books

I'm writing this review so that if my past self had read it, he would have avoided the purchase --- not so much because the book is bad or anything, but it is definitely not what I was expecting.

To put this in context, I went on a little reading binge on books about sleep. Understandably, they covered a lot of the same material (but not exactly the same) and each one had a distinctive style to it. For comparison here are the books I read (in order):

1) The Secret World of Sleep: The Surprising Science of the Mind at Rest by Penelope A. Lewis
2) Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep by David K. Randall
3) Sleep: A Very Short Introduction by Steven W. Lockley and Russell G. Foster
4) The Secret Life of Sleep by Kat Duff

I was looking mainly for scientific information, in conjunction, perhaps, with interesting anecdotes. Dreamland by David Randall was the closest to what I thought I was looking for and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in sleep. The Secret World of Sleep by Penelope Lewis and Sleep: A Very Short Introduction by Lockley and Foster were a little more purely scientific. However, among these two I strongly preferred the no-nonsense style of the Lockley and Foster book. By comparison, The Secret World of Sleep felt like an academic paper that had been hastily modified by a copy-editor to read like a popular science book. The result is not-very-exciting writing that is larded with "accessible" descriptions and analogies. The amygdala is referred to at least a dozen times by the epithet "almond shaped". The first time was fine, the fifth time was patronizing. But I powered through.

Then, I got to Kat Duff's book, The Secret Life of Sleep. It starts out with a personal anecdote and promises to take a more anthropological approach. You might say that this book was aiming to leaven the science with a touch of the humanities. However, I found very quickly that the author had gone to far for my tastes. In particular, the author's description of hypnogogic hallucinations concludes with an apologia for occult interpretations. The section "The Spirit Sent to Suffocate Sleepers" begins by stating that "throughout history and across the globe, people have reported encounters with beings that watch, threaten or attack when the sleeper is awake but unable to move." It then goes on to report that "while these experiences appear to have a biological basis, they are difficult to study because they...cannot be made to appear upon command in a sleep lab." It continues, "Despite this limitation, most researchers agree with the scientific speculation that sleep paralysis occurs when the mechanisms of dream sleep have paralyzed our voluntary muscles while we are awake, usually when falling asleep or waking up." There then follows a full page or two recounting some of the cool science done on the topic, including a 2006 study that used electrical stimulation on the left side of a patients head that *did* replicate in a lab the feeling of a "shadowy presence". But then, immediately following this engrossing description of the science, Duff concludes by writing "Given what is known at this time, we cannot rule out the possibility that there are spirits who find us when we are most vulnerable, as most of the world's people believe. Perhaps these beings, if we can call them that, are always around, but we are only able to sense their presence when we are slipping between states of consciousness. Maybe they coalesce or come into being only under the extraordinary conditions of near sleep. Most cultures provide practices -- prayers, amulets, locks, or communal sleeping arrangements -- to ward off visitations in the borderland between waking and sleeping, for the nearness of sleep dismantles our daytime defenses, and renders us naked and vulnerable."

If, like me, this sounds like poppycock to you, then you might try one of the other three books instead.


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The Secret Life of Sleep Kat Duff 9781582704685 Books Reviews

1) The level of understanding and insight in “The Secret Life of Sleep exceeds, I think, most dream/sleep books, but like those others, it views its subject through a psychological/spiritual lens. In fact, Duff’s conclusion that it is dreams that shape life is certainly correct if one accepts her inward framework. But don’t our dreams demand a wider view, one that must also include the social, cultural, and political? Do the dream patterns of those living in poverty begin to resemble those of the privileged classes? Are women’s dreams in accord with those of men? Isn’t anxiety, which is so central to repetitive dreams, often attached to oppressive lived experiences--in the world? How does a ahistorical, archetypal approach to dreams begin to address the deep social roots of horror and panic dreams? And finally why is dreaming the one human activity that is made exempt from socio-political implications?

2) Duff’s first book, “The Alchemy of Illness” which similarly steers clear of politics is nevertheless the more convincing--I think for being more directly personal, intimate, and direct. The particular here seems to dominate over the sense of study, or covered topics--and over the circular, drifting thought that troubles Duff’s spiritual perspective on dreams. A main difference might be that “Alchemy” is written for a specific reader, and “Sleep” written for the general reader.

3) Gael Greene’s “Insomnia” (read recently) is less rarified and thus more broadly conceived. While “The Secret Life of Sleep” hovers above the social world, Greene’s cast of mind is set by real world concerns. And although both books spend a lot of time surveying their subject, one does this primarily through scientific studies and academic conferences, while Duff chooses to buttress her points principally through quotes from famed literary figures, philosophers, and psychologists.

4) This final point is no more than a stumper Duff clearly states that there are “only two kinds of sleep REM sleep and S-wave sleep.” She then on the same page states that only 25% of persons over 50 continue to experience S-wave sleep. So, does this mean that the sleep of old people is exclusively REM in nature, or is Duff just leaving out some third kind of sleep? And how is it that she could abruptly end this discussion given she herself is over 50. A minor flaw, I guess, but a curious one.
I'm writing this review so that if my past self had read it, he would have avoided the purchase --- not so much because the book is bad or anything, but it is definitely not what I was expecting.

To put this in context, I went on a little reading binge on books about sleep. Understandably, they covered a lot of the same material (but not exactly the same) and each one had a distinctive style to it. For comparison here are the books I read (in order)

1) The Secret World of Sleep The Surprising Science of the Mind at Rest by Penelope A. Lewis
2) Dreamland Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep by David K. Randall
3) Sleep A Very Short Introduction by Steven W. Lockley and Russell G. Foster
4) The Secret Life of Sleep by Kat Duff

I was looking mainly for scientific information, in conjunction, perhaps, with interesting anecdotes. Dreamland by David Randall was the closest to what I thought I was looking for and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in sleep. The Secret World of Sleep by Penelope Lewis and Sleep A Very Short Introduction by Lockley and Foster were a little more purely scientific. However, among these two I strongly preferred the no-nonsense style of the Lockley and Foster book. By comparison, The Secret World of Sleep felt like an academic paper that had been hastily modified by a copy-editor to read like a popular science book. The result is not-very-exciting writing that is larded with "accessible" descriptions and analogies. The amygdala is referred to at least a dozen times by the epithet "almond shaped". The first time was fine, the fifth time was patronizing. But I powered through.

Then, I got to Kat Duff's book, The Secret Life of Sleep. It starts out with a personal anecdote and promises to take a more anthropological approach. You might say that this book was aiming to leaven the science with a touch of the humanities. However, I found very quickly that the author had gone to far for my tastes. In particular, the author's description of hypnogogic hallucinations concludes with an apologia for occult interpretations. The section "The Spirit Sent to Suffocate Sleepers" begins by stating that "throughout history and across the globe, people have reported encounters with beings that watch, threaten or attack when the sleeper is awake but unable to move." It then goes on to report that "while these experiences appear to have a biological basis, they are difficult to study because they...cannot be made to appear upon command in a sleep lab." It continues, "Despite this limitation, most researchers agree with the scientific speculation that sleep paralysis occurs when the mechanisms of dream sleep have paralyzed our voluntary muscles while we are awake, usually when falling asleep or waking up." There then follows a full page or two recounting some of the cool science done on the topic, including a 2006 study that used electrical stimulation on the left side of a patients head that *did* replicate in a lab the feeling of a "shadowy presence". But then, immediately following this engrossing description of the science, Duff concludes by writing "Given what is known at this time, we cannot rule out the possibility that there are spirits who find us when we are most vulnerable, as most of the world's people believe. Perhaps these beings, if we can call them that, are always around, but we are only able to sense their presence when we are slipping between states of consciousness. Maybe they coalesce or come into being only under the extraordinary conditions of near sleep. Most cultures provide practices -- prayers, amulets, locks, or communal sleeping arrangements -- to ward off visitations in the borderland between waking and sleeping, for the nearness of sleep dismantles our daytime defenses, and renders us naked and vulnerable."

If, like me, this sounds like poppycock to you, then you might try one of the other three books instead.