Modern Classics Penguin Freud Reader (Penguin Modern Classics)

This is an absolute must-read if you are interested in Freud and the evolution of modern Psychology.A well-curated sampling of some of Freud's writings and most prolific concepts. I purchased this for a course in the conjunct study of Freudian thought in Hitchcock's films.

I owe part of my life to him. I cannot say I understand all of his writings, but many of them I read with deep appreciation.

No glossary in the back, no ability to cross reference for research.

I was exposed to Freud as a college student and had fun saying things before my brain could be coy about the implications of whatever popped out of my mouth. My literary life as been as inappropriate as my contacts with social reality. People who are getting the full treatment have no appreciation of Freud unless they would like to rank him among an intellectual elite that includes Georges Bataille, Nietzsche, Heine, Lenny Bruce, John Lennon, Warren Zevon, Liz Phair, Aimee Mann, Dostoevsky, Mikhail Bakhtin, Richard Brautigan and the greatest psychiatric case of the Vietnam war, Daniel Ellsberg.My official diagnosis of schizoid personality disorder might have been hysterical if I had been a Jewish woman in Vienna when Freud was being recognized as a professional thinker. In spite of his professional goals, I expect to gain some insights from the Penguin Freud Reader on the topics fetishism, negation, melancholia, lapses, transference, Narcissism, repeating, screen memories, and humour. I expect to bring some humorous satisfaction to whatever creative subjectivity is lurking like the monetary incestuality that sustains electronic communication.

This selection of Freud's writings, drawing from new translations under the editorship of Adam Phillips, claims to offer a more modern anthology of his works, in effect replacing Peter Gay"s The Freud Reader. In fact, whatever the merits new translations might offer, this anthology falls short of its ambition. The introduction by Phillips, while it might serve as a wordy and somewhat convoluted essay on Freud as a writer, does little to orient the reader to either Freud or the works contained in this anthology. Moreover, each piece is without any introductory notes, an index, and missing are important selections that would better represent a cross section of Freud's opus. Peter Gay's The Freud Reader, while dependent on the Standard Edition whatever its limitations, is a far better anthology of Freud's writing and at meeting the needs of providing a clear introduction, notes on each selection, index and still worthwhile bibliographical essay.

Excellent selection of Freud's work. One ought to read Freud with appreciation to his nuances and uncertainty. Too often, Freud is seen as a maniac who always linked some situation back to the Mother or some phallic imagery. People remember these parts of Freud, the sections upon which he is adamant on his writings. However, plenty of people fail to recognize the sections that he devotes to voicing his doubt and uncertainty of such situations and his own judgments.One ought to approach Freud with an open mind and indulgence towards his incredulity - his assertions are at times prescient, other times completely absurd.

Freud with this book changed my life, the way I perceive myself and the society. If all the concepts I went through are actually confirmed in modern psichoanalysis the man taught me a great deal. However don't expect a light reading (at least after the first few chapters). Freud really liked writing and his concepts are both revolutionary but very hard to grasp. This book has been written for other doctors (I'm just a lay man) but it's a life-changing experience.

I bought this book because I wanted the humour essay. In addition to this it contains a good range of other writings which give a thorough introduction to Freud's work. I gave it 4 stars because I'm not sure why an intoductory reader of this nature would use the german es, ich and uber-ich, rather than the latinised Id, Ego and Super Ego which is more normal in English language studies of Freud, the rest of the work is translated so why not the subject specific terms.

It is a very good book.Well written and exoplained.