Jung: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) 
asked by officefan on October 29, 2006 10:51 PM
Though he was a prolific writer and an original thinker of vast erudition, Jung lacked a gift for clear exposition and his ideas are less widely appreciated than they deserve. In this concise introduction, Anthony Stevens explains clearly the basic concepts of Jungian psychology: the collective unconscious, complex, archetype, shadow, persona, anima, animus, and the individuation of the Self. He examines Jung's views on such disparate subjects as myth, religion, alchemy, `sychronicity', and the psychology of gender differences, and he devotes separate chapters to the stages of life, Jung's theory of psychological types, the interpretation of dreams, the practice of Jungian analysis, and to the unjust allegation that Jung was a Nazi sympathizer. Finally, he argues that Jung's visionary powers and profound spirituality have helped many to find an alternative set of values to the arid materialism prevailing in Western society.
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A professional with no training in psychology, yet long fascinated by Jung. fluent in German, having read Jung's Memories Dreams & Reflections several times, possessing his collected works and having read a substantial portion of them, I picked up this little book wondering what it could tell me and was amazed at the author's superb job of comprehensively summarizing, sympathetically yet critically, and very clearly and readably Jung's life and his work in what is but an evening's read. I learned things I didn't know and gained something from the bird's-eye view. This book is a tour de force. Hats off!
reviewed by ivan on November 2, 2006 12:34 PM
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I'll pile on with what everyone else has said. I read this one and the VSI to Freud and they're both excellent......and a nice pair to read in sequence. Everything you probably want to know about Jung is here and it's all explained very clearly. A truly fascinating character and a great book.
reviewed by iconfess on November 14, 2006 10:28 AM
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Books in the 'Very Short Introduction' series almost always do a solid job of introducing their topic. Some, however, do it better than others - and this particular volume, about the important 20th-century psychiatrist and philosopher Carl Jung (1875-1961) is one of the better in the series.
Anthony Stevens, himslf a respected Jungian, gives a relatively thorough overview of Jung's life, and then proceeds to examine important topics of Jung's thought in depth - topics such as the collective unconscious, dreams, and psychological types.
Interestingly, the book also features a chapter on "Jung's alleged anti-Semitism" - a chapter which is a bit too defensive.
All in all, this book is clear, lucid, and accessible, although occasionally the author has a tendency to rely a bit too heavily on psychoanalysis when discussing the issues, for example by saying that "Those who continue to press [anti-Semitic] accusations against Jung... [may] have not worked sufficiently on their own repressed Fascist, anti-Semitic, or anti-Christian shadows." Also, he occasioanlly reverts to overly technical language. Some bias appears because the author is a Jungian analyst, but it doesn't really detract from the value of the book.
Still, a solid work, one of the few really accessible introductions to Jung, strongly recommended.
Anthony Stevens, himslf a respected Jungian, gives a relatively thorough overview of Jung's life, and then proceeds to examine important topics of Jung's thought in depth - topics such as the collective unconscious, dreams, and psychological types.
Interestingly, the book also features a chapter on "Jung's alleged anti-Semitism" - a chapter which is a bit too defensive.
All in all, this book is clear, lucid, and accessible, although occasionally the author has a tendency to rely a bit too heavily on psychoanalysis when discussing the issues, for example by saying that "Those who continue to press [anti-Semitic] accusations against Jung... [may] have not worked sufficiently on their own repressed Fascist, anti-Semitic, or anti-Christian shadows." Also, he occasioanlly reverts to overly technical language. Some bias appears because the author is a Jungian analyst, but it doesn't really detract from the value of the book.
Still, a solid work, one of the few really accessible introductions to Jung, strongly recommended.
reviewed by spiderman on November 15, 2006 11:14 PM
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The task of creating a concise, well-rounded, and very readable introduction to life and teachings of Carl Jung seemed impossible to me until I read this book. This book is a true work of love written by someone intimately familiar with the subject. This is not surprising, considering that Anthony Stevens is a practicing psychiatrist and Jungian analyst who wrote several good books on the subject as he has been developing ideas of Carl Jung in the last thirty-plus years.
If you need an excellent short introduction to Jungian thought, look no further.
If you need an excellent short introduction to Jungian thought, look no further.
reviewed by scanner on November 21, 2006 5:13 PM
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This is a great book with a lot of information compacted in a small source.
reviewed by siriusfanboy on November 25, 2006 7:00 AM