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"Of course, one remembers some dreams, but there must be others one completely forgets, of which nothing remains but a mysterious mood, a curious numbness."

Atmospheric and haunting! Schnitzler's novella is a perfect Dream (or dream-like) Story. He doesn't create the kind of dream world that is engineered by hanging two moons from the ceiling. His world only consists of realistic things and events and yet it is shadowed by something intangible and unsettling. He simply colors the world his characters inhabit with a hypnotic quality that seduces the reader into the dream-scape. And how subtly he does that! Little details - one elusive gesture, one innocent-looking piece of the setting, one fleeting thought - all come together beautifully to create the atmosphere.

The novella explores the intimate life of a married couple. Schnitzler digs into the psyche of his characters by gently leading them to a space where their hidden thoughts, desires and anxieties find the freedom to manifest themselves. He lets the characters assess what constitutes truth and reality for them. And once the spell breaks, they can go back to continue living the illusion of real life they create for themselves.

"I have gained the impression that you have learned through intuition � though actually as a result of sensitive introspection � everything that I have had to unearth by laborious work on other persons." - Freud in a letter to Schnitzler (Wikipedia).

Whether the events in the novella happen for real or was Schnitzler only staging an illusion - I will leave that for you to decide through your own reading. Perhaps it won't even matter.

"Just as sure as I am that the reality of one night, let alone that of a whole lifetime, is not the whole truth."
"And no dream," he said with a slight sigh, "is entirely a dream."

Best read in a sitting or two.