The Interpretation of Dreams (Penguin Freud Library)

"While I see little point in reviewing the book itself, it being undoubtably one of the pillars of both 20th century thought and culture, a seismic shock which decimated the academic psychology of its time and sent ripples through every sector of society, touching each and every one of us whether we requested it or not; modern advertising, essentially being initiated by Freud's nephew, being a case in point here.

However the reason I write this review is simply to warn the buyer that this edition is HIGHLY abridged; Wordsworth have cut the book down from over 700 pages - spanning two volumes in the vintage edition - to a mere 450. In addition to this it doesn't have any index which, personally, I found extremely irritating.

Lastly, although its certainly a matter of opinion, the introduction (written by one Stephen Wilson contrary to what Amazon state above) is a little suspect. Presumably its written so as to present Freud to a general readership, but in it the author claims that Freud is out of touch vis-a-vis modern science, that he is logically contradictory, that his system doesn't hold up. I think that this is somewhat offensive for a number of reasons:

(a) Wilson measures Freud up against contemporary neuroscience and cognitivism. Barring the odd dubious reference to the neurological knowledge of his day (which are spurious in this work) Freud's theories are as far removed from the scientically positivistic viewpoint of today as they were in from that of his own. It's apples and oranges...

(b) The Freudian revolution essentially opened the way for fresh criticism of scientific positivism. All of the so-called postmodernist theories rarely move beyond either Freud or criticism of Freud based on Freud. Thus whether one agrees with it or not, Freud lies at the foundations of a great deal of contemporary continental philosophy.

(c) The logical contradictions of Freud still dog contemporary psychology, especially that which applies itself therapeutically, either explicitly or implicitly. Simply put: in the realm of the human sciences (and increasingly in the realm of the hard sciences) you can always find contradictions if you look hard enough.

Freud is as controversial today as he ever was and I think that its unfair to slap an introduction onto his masterpiece which purports to give the reader a glimpse "beyond Freud" when it really seems to prefer to point down a path completely foreign to him...

"
~ Written on 2008-05-23

"reading this volume will stir your own dreams, and make them more significant for you - Freud's journey into his own psyche is compelling reading and full of saucy and dark elements that will resonate with any reader who is honest with themselves - a bestseller once it was recognised in its time (in the first year it sold maybe 100 copies), it is strong narrative and Freud succeeds in shaping the book so we start before he recognises that dreams and their interpretation can provide insights into the human personality - a page-turner, and not technical - written early in his career, he had not developed the specialist language of his later writings. He won prizes for literature, and this is one sample of his deftness. highly recommended."
~ Written on 2006-04-11

"Freud's seminal work 'The Interpretation of Dreams. This is probably Freud's most popular work and, if we maintain Freud's own logic that what is remembered is most important, it perhaps also his most important work. Freud presents numerous case studies of patient's dreams and takes the reader through his process of interpretation. The work not only suggests how we might interpret dreams themselves but also reveals Freud's fundamental understanding of the structure and functioning of the psyche; the primary processes of condensation, distortion, and representation and figurability as well as secondary revision. These processes not only affect dreams but all memory and experience."
~ Written on 2001-08-03

"Freud's investigations into the question of motivation in our lives form the basis of much of psychopathology today and this book provides a readable introduction to his theories about dreams and what they can tell us about our waking lives. Each chapter has several dreams (including Freud's own) and detailed analyses of them to demonstrate how we are more affected by thoughts and concerns than we like to admit to ourselves. Not only is it an interesting read, but it's quite accessible, the reader doesn't need to be familiar with any of Freud's more complicated concepts in order to be able to understand what he's writing about. His style is thorough and thought-provoking, even if you don't find yourself agreeing with everything he writes. It's easy to criticise his theories without knowing too much about them, so this book provides a welcome introduction."
~ Written on 1999-04-27