Dreams, Reading, Virtual Reality

I do not dare delve into a discussion of virtual reality, primarily due to the fact that it requires its own mammoth web and I do not wish to go that route. But isn't it fair to say that to a certain extent, our ability to dream represents the earliest and most powerful example of VR? (I don't even dare define virtual reality... you know what it means to you, that's enough for me). (Of course, if your definition doesn't somehow overlap with mine, you might not see how I drew a parallel between dreams and VR. Oh well.)

Anyway, it is fascinating that Ockert equates "reading" and "dreams" in that he seems to be declaring, albeit after I've skewed the meaning a bit, that the novel is a form of virtual reality. That is, the escapism he speaks of is merely an escape from the physical reality to an alternate reality. And this alternate reality could be (should be?) construed as a form of virtual reality.

So where exactly is this going?