Freud: A Very Short Introduction

This is one of the best (and definitely among the longest) of the books that I have read in the Very Short Introduction series. I have to confess at the outset that I'm not a fan of Freud. Over the years I've dipped into his work from time to time, but each time have found him off putting and many of his ideas counter intuitive. It was helpful for me to realize that many others, including psychologists like Anthony Storr, also find much of what Freud wrote to be either wrong or in need of considerable emendation. I was always sceptical that our dreams (or at least my dreams) had the kind of structure that Freud insisted that they did. And I felt his reasoning about the sexualization of desires of very small children implied a vastly more sophisticated understanding of sex than I possessed as a young child. I have found the object-relations school to be infinitely more persuasive than Freud on child-mother or child-father attachments, and not just because that school actually saw a major role for the mother compared to Freud. I was also hurt in my explorations of Freud by reading what Storr argues are his worst books, things like MOSES AND MONOTHEISM, which I frankly found absurd, or his book on jokes.So, my impression over the years was that Freud was borderline silly. I credited him with causing us to take more seriously child development and to acknowledge the centrality of sexuality in our lives, but I found the general contours of his thought to be quite unhelpful in understanding my own life. I must admit that I was also put off Freud by a host of writers who misused psychology in exploring everyday life. I once was talking to my professor at Yale, Paul L. Holmer, about W. Jackson Bates's great biography of Samuel Johnson. He thought it one of the truly great books on Johnson, but was uneasy with Bates's tendency to attribute Johnson's fundamental beliefs to one or another psychological cause, in particular his religious beliefs. Holmer argued that the biographer was justified in examining why someone might wash his or her hands 30 times a day, but had missed the point in attempting to use Freud to explain why someone believed in God.So, while I understood just how large Freud loomed in our culture, I never found him to be that impressive as a thinker. I still don't. However, Storr did manage to make a case for Freud on many levels while at the same time fairly and soberly pointing out his legitimate achievements alongside his unfortunate failures. He clearly admires Freud while still not hesitating to acknowledge where he went off track. He also does an exceptionally fine job of making clear Freud's main ideas. I came away from the book with a clearer and fuller picture of Freud than ever.I'm now at the point where I actually want to read more by and about Freud. I have long owned a copy of Peter Gay's celebrated biography as well as his large selection of Freud's writings published by Norton. After reading Storr I'm far more likely to do so. But Storr also provides an absolutely splendid annotated list of suggestions for further reading. One of the best aspects of the Very Short Introductions series are the bibliographies and this may well be the best one that I've seen yet. If I do go on to read more about Freud, Storr's Further Reading will certainly guide me.

Freud is now somewhat unfashionable, and stands on the periphery of current psychological thought and practice. Yet the very people who denigrate his work do so using terms and concepts that owe a great deal to that work. To be a 'Freudian' today makes as much sense as being a 'Newtonian', but that should not blind us to the importance of his contribution. Storr adopts just the right approach -- he begins each topic with a summary of what Freud said, then offers criticisms of it. He talks more than once of the need to 'separate the wheat from the chaff'. Freud was once revered as a kind of Messiah. Now he is reviled. As usual, the truth lies somewhere in between. Given the brevity of this book, it is remarkably comprehensive, and is an ideal introduction to the man and his work. I read Schopenhauer: A Very Short Introduction before reading this book and I would recommend doing that. There is an obvious indebtedness, although Freud specifically denied it.

Over the years, I suppose I have read a dozen different introductions to Freud's work. This is by far the best.The author (a psychiatrist himself) manages to write clearly and directly while attending to the nuances of Freud's thought and noting how Freud's conceptualization of key ideas changed over the course of his very long professional career.In addition, Storr appears to be very fair-minded in pointing out the shortcomings of some of these ideas and ways in which they have not proved out in clinical practice.If you want to follow up with a bit more about Freud's life -- or if you refer a more visual approach -- I suggest you pick up a used copy of Freud for Beginners by Appignanesi & Zarate (Pantheon Books).

I'd be more inclined to rate this a 2.5. The writing was blah enough to make the topic itself meh overall. Worst yet, it isn't a really short introduction. While far from thorough, the "really" really must go. At 155 pages of small type with nearly non existent margin you're getting a 200+ page book's worth of information. This isn't a complaint until you factor in the first part of the review at which point the entire enterprise is drudgery. Starting in on the Marx sibling of this series today I hopes of a better experience.

I am going to be honest: I came to read this book with a very negative image of Freud from a scientific point of view. I come away with a different image of Freud and his ideas altogether after reading it. This book portrays a very balanced view of his work. I'd easily recommend it to anyone interested in a clear explanation of his main ideas and his contributions to humanity.

It seems to me that an introduction to someone's work should spend more ink explaining that work than trashing it. Anthony Storr makes a good case that Freud was wrong about a good many things and that he (Freud) failed to meet current standards for scientific inquiry. Unfortunately, I bought the book because I wanted to understand Freud's theories; so I was disappointed.

I need this book for class and it came in a timely manner and I just enjoyed the ease of reading this book. It is straightforward and to the point.

Excellent !

This Very Short Introduction provides a really excellent overview of Freud's thought, his methods, his contribution to the development of psychoanalysis and the legacy that he has left to Western society. Anthony Storr, the author, is clearly an authority on Freud and provides a very easy to read introduction to his subject. He covers Freud's life and character; the place of trauma and phantasy in psychological illness; the role of the past in the neuroses experienced by individuals; the place of free association, dreams and transference in the psychoanalytic method; the role of the ego, super-ego and id in human psychological structures; issues associated with agression, depression and paranoia; jokes and the psycho-pathology of everyday life; Freud's views on art and literature; Freud's take on culture and religion; Freud's role as a therapist; contemporary themes in psychoanalysis; and, in a final short chapter, a brief overview of the enduring appeal of psychoanalysis. If you are looking for a commanding and accessible introduction to Freud, this book is the place to start: highly recommended.

Anthony Storr's books always offer humane and down to earth accounts of human psychology from a psychoanalytical viewpoint, in the broadest sense. His books on creativity, music, solitude and gurus are remain excellent places to acquaint oneself with various theories of human nature.This book on Freud is no exception, and will not disappoint, giving a wonderfully concise overview of his achievement. Freud's view of the unconscious and sexuality, his ideas such as the superego, id as well as the Oedipus complex are all discussed here, and critically assessed. It also summarises Freud's ideas on culture, jokes and anthropology and explains their influence.Storr always was a qualified admirer of Freud, having trained in the Jungian tradition. Hence he is not frightened to be critical. But at the same time he also conveys what was important and great about this great thinker.Having recently needed to an essay of psycho-dynamic ideas, this short book also provided an excellent reference point from which to navigate myself around Freud's thinking. My one criticism is referencing of quotations. It would have more been useful to know that one was lifted from say "The Interpretation of Dreams" rather than volume "x" of the "Standard Edition" which students are less likely to have access to.That apart, this is remains of the best introductions to Freud anywhere with some interesting photographs together with the text.

... but everything to do with storytelling. And thankfully, storytelling is an area our author Athony Storr is pretty amply skilled in.The book itself is divided into twelve chapters, which handily break down some of Freud's hefty ideas into bite-sized, single-sitting nuggets. They cover (roughly) five areas; firstly, a vague psychoanalytical portrait of the man himself; secondly, early influences and works; thirdly, the major theories from internal mental structures to the neurotic's potentially delusional construct of an acceptable external world; fourthly, the wider cultural implications of his ideas as hit on in `Civilization and its Discontents'; and then lastly a brief synopsis of where Freud stands now.Given the VSI's pop remit, there are obvious hits and misses, which ultimately break down to editorial constraints. So early on we're told that, "Freud himself, as one might expect from the character sketch given, concentrated on anal traits", which lends a chuckle, but nowhere are we told about Freud's personal experiences of psychological distress, which contributed so much to his own creative process.Most importantly though, the clear message from this book is that no matter what you think of the Freudian paradigm, and opinions range wildly, Freud's influence in creating a non-judgemental theatre where an individual can freely associate with themself, and develop along the way a "greater understanding of their own strengths and limitations", validating their own "individual subjective experience", is something of unquestionable significance and relief for many people given the "feeling's of helplessness" that modern Western culture is so often guilty of seeding.Good solid introduction, go buy.

I recently read the VSI on Kafka and found it a bit over Freudian so I read this book to remedy the situation. It’s an excellent exposition of Freud’s life and work but it’s also highly critical without diminishing his status.

I found this book to be a superb introduction not just to Freud but to the core concepts of psychoanalysis as a whole. Don't be fooled (or put off) by the title saying it is a "short" introduction, there is nothing short or shallow about this book. Thanks to the fairly small print it actually contains a huge amount of information.The balance between factual information about Freud's life and also explanations of psychoanalysis basics is spot on. And all of this presented in a writing style that is layperson friendly without overly dumbing it down.If you have a thirst to find out about the subject or about Freud himself I cannot imagine any better book than this.