Freud: The Interpretation of Dreams

I resolve to finish reading this book, which I've had for almost 40 years (wow-that's a shock) in my Great Books set, and have started to read or scan probably dozens of times. Maybe I should look harder for reviews, and I will, but I hope members will share their reactions, both to this Freud book and the general concept (I inadvertently typed conceit--is that a Freudian slip?) of dream interpretation.
When I tried unsuccessfully to enter the book specifically into my library (as a separate volume), I couldn't find it listed, although most of the other 50+ volumes are listed. Worse (or even more to my surprise), although my volume has Interpretation in 264 pages, I find other volumes listed at 1688 pp, 527pp, 388pp, 316pp, 1514pp, 692pp...and more, although perhaps thankfully I was rescued by a message that I must search elsewhere...but don't panic...this is usually the result of a problem at the library. I'm calm, but...
I'm wondering, could my volume be abridged (I see no specific indication). My volume has a structure of Contents of seven sections, consisting of a total of 29 chapters? Could someone please comment on how this compares with yours?

I find myself enjoying Freud (the translation in the Ency Brit volume is highly readable), but I'm frequently distracted by strong doubts whether there can be much value in the writing of a man who wrote so often atheistically, even though sometimes he seemed more agnostic. And much of his life he spent gravely ill, bordering on insanity, in dread of Nazi persecution. Apparently many modern psychiatrists consider him to have been substantially obsessed by sexuality, although this seems to a serious occupational hazard, as well as a disturbingly growing modern ailment, especially in the communications/entertainment media.
Can you please suggest better sources both pro and con on the significance, if any, of dreams?

>2 eschator83: For a fact-based account of Freud's life, you might look at Peter Gay, Freud: A Life For Our Time. As for his theory, if there's any hope of understanding it, one must learn it from the inside first without pre-judgment. External, ad hominem critiques such as >2 eschator83: "I'm frequently distracted by strong doubts whether there can be much value in the writing of a man who wrote so often atheistically..." are easily dismissed as ill-informed. Moreover, this statement >2 eschator83: "And much of his life he spent gravely ill, bordering on insanity, in dread of Nazi persecution" shows a lack of historical insight. The Nazis rose to power in 1933, when Freud was 77 years old; the Anschluss occurred in 1938.

If you're serious about understanding the significance of dreams in early psychoanalytic theory, I would recommend you read the following, in order:

Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis, chapters II-IV (on "parapraxis")
The Interpretation of Dreams (1900)
"Screen Memories" (1899) http://complit.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/Screen_Memories_COL1000.pdf
Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905)
Dora: An Analysis of a Case of Hysteria (1905)

I appreciate almost all suggestions, but your display of presumption of superiority is disappointing, albeit amusing. Did you not notice any of Freud's many references to having been appalled at anti-Semitism as a child, and never feeling comfortable in German/Austrian cities? I used the Nazi reference to avoid the implication that all or most Germans were anti-Semitic.
It seems clear that drug use alters both dream and conscious perceptions, and I hope you'll comment on your reading and other experience.