The Book of Daniel

I found the first portion of The Book of Daniel to read like a Greek Myth. The plot was entertaining and there seemed to be some type of moral the reader should learn after Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream; however, I found that moral to simply be a pious call for more god worship. The story would have meant much more to me if it had stopped after the first dream, but the continuation of excruciatingly-specific dreams took away from the impact of the first. Daniel's dreams are specific guidelines as to what the "time of the end" will look like, but they are initially represented through simplistic metaphors relating to the amount of horns on a beast's head. I found it very interesting how many times Daniel specifically references himself in his telling of the story or his dream relations. I wonder what the purpose of the repetition of his name is, if any. I found it refreshing to read a quasi-religious text where the author tells the story in first-person format, because I find the ubiquitous third-person narrative style of Genesis to be almost unreadable in its lack of captivating storytelling. Daniel's dreams are very symbolic and, on the surface, I believe dream-interpretation to be a fascinating endeavor. When the subconscious, dreaming mind is able to formulate complex situations that offer symbolism to the mind of the dreamer, I find that to be a very, very cool experience. Dreams are powerful things and The Book of Daniel is certainly a proponent of that notion.