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18th out of 118 books
—
78 voters
Memories, Dreams, Reflections
by
C.G. Jung
In the spring of 1957, when he was eighty-one years old, C. G. Jung undertook the telling of his life story. At regular intervals he had conversations with his colleague and friend Aniela Jaffé, and collaborated with her in the preparation of the text based on these talks. On occasion, he was moved to write entire chapters of the book in his own hand, and he continued to w...more
Paperback, Vintage Books Edition, 430 pages
Published
April 1989
by Vintage
(first published 1961)
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Mar 02, 2008
Jon
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone who thinks Reason is king
Shelves:
favoriteclassics
I delved into this book, a Christmas present from a friend, to learn more about Jung's psychological concepts, namely the collective unconcious; the anima and animas; the shadow; mandalas; the Self. About twenty pages in, though, I amended my purpose. I sought not facts but an answer to this question: Should I, Jon Medders, let myself be more like C.G. Jung?
See, Jung's narrative demonstrates a way to live one's life that I have often suspected might work well for me: minimize one's tendencies...more
See, Jung's narrative demonstrates a way to live one's life that I have often suspected might work well for me: minimize one's tendencies...more
This is an amazing book, from a truly amazing man. Some of the concepts that we toss around that came from Jung:
* The concept of introversion vs. extroversion
* The concept of the complex
* Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) was inspired by Jung's psychological types theory.
* Socionics, similar to MBTI, is also based on Jung's psychological types.
* Archetype concept, as an element of the archaic common substratum of the mind, or Collective Unconscious mind.
* Synchronicity idea, as an alterna...more
* The concept of introversion vs. extroversion
* The concept of the complex
* Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) was inspired by Jung's psychological types theory.
* Socionics, similar to MBTI, is also based on Jung's psychological types.
* Archetype concept, as an element of the archaic common substratum of the mind, or Collective Unconscious mind.
* Synchronicity idea, as an alterna...more
Dec 24, 2012
Erik Graff
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Jung fans
Recommended to Erik by:
no one
Shelves:
biography
Jung's autobiography was not really written by Jung. As the cover says, it was "recorded and edited by Aniela Jaffe" between 1957 and his death in 1961. She therefore deserves much credit for producing a readable narrative which is quite entertaining, though not to be completely trusted.
I reread the book and indexed it when taking a course on Jung with the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University Chicago during the first semester of 1982/83. Ironically, although the copy of the first e...more
I reread the book and indexed it when taking a course on Jung with the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University Chicago during the first semester of 1982/83. Ironically, although the copy of the first e...more
If you read anything by Jung, read this book. This deals with his psychological theories in a much more personal way than his other work, and, as it is written in the twilight of his life, he has no fear of academic or personal reprisal. His analysis of Freud is particularly revealing- both damning and humanizing. It also gives a very powerful insight into the way that myths can be opened up for personal growth & analysis. Of course, if you want to get the most out of this book, it may help...more
This is Jung's autobiography, which overall, I really enjoyed. Some of it is a little out-there for me, such as his belief in alchemy and spirits and other such things; I've heard he may have been a tiny bit unhinged. His spiritual views are beautiful, however, and I found them very inspiring. I was also very impressed with his incredible drive- he felt that his life had a realy purpose that he was destined to fulfill, and he worked extremely hard to accomplish his goals. This ambition made me f...more
Feb 08, 2013
Derek Davis
added it
I can't give this book an overall rating because I so dislike Jung as he presents himself here (or it may be the way the material was assembled by his editor). Also, I've read none of his salient scientific/psychological/philosophical work – nor am I likely to after this.
He strikes me as an arrogant blowhard much of the time, even considering he was in his mid-80s when he allowed this personal material, for the first time, to be put in autobiographical form. I've heard that Jung had quite a sen...more
He strikes me as an arrogant blowhard much of the time, even considering he was in his mid-80s when he allowed this personal material, for the first time, to be put in autobiographical form. I've heard that Jung had quite a sen...more
Though not as weird and raw and startling as his secret the Red Book, this memoir is a wonderful primer on Jung's own journey of thought and "psychic realities."
As the title suggests, he wades through memories, dreams, and reflections, starting in his childhood, moving through his career as a psychiatrist (including his traumatic break with Freud), his building of his own house (where inner and outer worlds meet), his travels, and, in old age, his surprise and uncertainty at his life.
Though, o...more
As the title suggests, he wades through memories, dreams, and reflections, starting in his childhood, moving through his career as a psychiatrist (including his traumatic break with Freud), his building of his own house (where inner and outer worlds meet), his travels, and, in old age, his surprise and uncertainty at his life.
Though, o...more
This book gave me insights into Jung the man and enabled me to relate to him and his quest personally. He started out with an interest in the paranormal, and in early adulthood needed to choose a career so chose medicine. It was only later that he became interested in psychiatry. His first love was what we might call spiritual phenomena or paranormal events that signalled spiritual change or guidance. A very interesting individual, someone who brought us an amazing system for understanding the h...more
This a good read for a type of autobiography and educational content on Carl Jung's life and some of his work. In this book, Jung shares some of his chidhood memories, university years, his work with Freud and his eventual break away from this friendship, as well as his own work with his patients, dreams, and the unconscious. There are some great deciding points in his life about the path he decided to take and explains that without his pursuing and understanding some of his inner images, he cou...more
Why Memories, Dreams and Reflections is meaningful for me.
I shall begin by telling you of an event that occurred to me at college but which had its genesis four years earlier and the subsequent consequences of which remain to be completely known.
One evening when I was 14 years old I went to bed much as I always had done. Sometime later after falling to sleep I awoke. To my astonishment at the foot of my bed and somewhat elevated into the air were two personages. An elderly man with the wrinkles...more
I shall begin by telling you of an event that occurred to me at college but which had its genesis four years earlier and the subsequent consequences of which remain to be completely known.
One evening when I was 14 years old I went to bed much as I always had done. Sometime later after falling to sleep I awoke. To my astonishment at the foot of my bed and somewhat elevated into the air were two personages. An elderly man with the wrinkles...more
I love Jung. I love him so much I bought the t-shirt. Seriously, for my birthday I got a t-shirt with Jung's big white face on it, and I wear it all the time. He looks pretty serious. I want people to know that Jung is watching them, so behave.
Sometimes I wonder, Am I a Jungian? Not really. But I could be. Everytime I read Jung I feel a greater part of myself converted. I do have a compulsive interest in dreams. Murakami's short stories do strike a chord with me. As skeptical as I am about every...more
Sometimes I wonder, Am I a Jungian? Not really. But I could be. Everytime I read Jung I feel a greater part of myself converted. I do have a compulsive interest in dreams. Murakami's short stories do strike a chord with me. As skeptical as I am about every...more
I really love when respected scientists get to finally say the things that they realize they may not have the time to prove, but have an instinctual belief in. This book is an example of that and a fine one. Really gives you an idea of what a special person Carl Jung is and how his many contributions are a true asset for society. The book details how his theories differ from those of his contemporary Sigmund Freud (for whom Jung was friends until professional disagreements got in the way).
Mar 25, 2013
Jalice
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Jung enthusiasts, philosophers, theologists
Shelves:
all-time-faves,
philosophy-spiritual
This (controversially) edited autobiography speaks frankly of his personal experiences with the unconscious, spirituality and philosophy. He's good at allowing for the complexities of life and honest about his work. It barely mentions anything about his personal relationships, his wife etc. It was slow in the beginning but overall I loved it because it REALLY got me thinking. This book actually changed my perspective on life and my personal philosophy about the sacred and divinity.
This is a fantastic book which although a biography is not REALLY about Jung's physical, day-to-day life. Instead, it is a trip through his psychic life and how he came to delve into the groundbreaking work he championed. I cannot say he discovered it because it is obvious that what he talks about was in practice by ancient shamans. However, we can say he classified it and brought it up to the light of modern scientific scrutiny. It's an amazing book about an amazing man.
It was odd finding this...more
It was odd finding this...more
Everything seems to be taking me through the intersection of the dream world and my individuality. I simply hate to read Jung when everything seems to cry out synchonicity--it's all too obvious. I'm currently re-reading Finnegans Wake, a treasure trove or archetypes and everything else for that matter.
Jung seems to have an extraordinary direct access to unconscious material thoughout his life. I was pretty deeply plunged into Jung's abyss (as James Joyce would put it, I was "jung and easily freu...more
Jung seems to have an extraordinary direct access to unconscious material thoughout his life. I was pretty deeply plunged into Jung's abyss (as James Joyce would put it, I was "jung and easily freu...more
This book surely makes you wonder. More than learning about his life, which is of course extremely interesting, it makes you think about concepts and ideas. There are things which I am convinced of: that one should treat psichiatric patients individually, by listening to their life stories and trying to understand what was it in that life that made them get where they did; that there are myths and archetypes which we need and to which we relate instinctively throughout our lives; that a person i...more
Perhaps I harbor a certain bias towards Jung because he's an INFJ or maybe I just have a deep romanticism for the underdog but Jung is forever one of my favorite people. In him, I see a bold and yet quiet spirit who was unashamed to stand by his beliefs, however far fetched, despite all the odds. He was a respectable doctor and a man (men who were not part of the church holding such strong spiritual beliefs was and is somewhat of a rarity; spirituality is largely regarded as a "feminine" pursuit...more
Jung was evidently extremely reluctant to compose a memoir of his life, and thus in this autobiographical volume there persists a conspicuous hesitancy to comment on the outer trappings of his life, with barely a word mentioned about his marriage, and not a single one about his association with the General Medical Society for Psychotherapy, from which he resigned as it became increasingly swayed toward Nazism. Instead Jung concentrates far more on his inner life, especially during his formative...more
... Much of what Jung concluded about the unconscious and the human condition was the fruition of his research into alchemy and the paranormal. Trips to India and Africa and friendships with the likes of Freud and I Ching translator Wilhelm only served to galvanize his beliefs. This book is at times a dense and academic read. But it reveals a side of one of the greatest thinkers in the history of the world that is often intentionally overlooked and trivialized: a deep and abiding interest in Ros...more
THIS BOOK is SOOOO Powerful!
Jung had the courage to disown Freud's idea that the unconscious was merely a cause of mayhem for the ego. Rather the self, the archetype of wholeness, both guides the ego to its highest fulfillment and presents it with demons in the form of dreams and fantasies. Ideas we take for granted today originate here: The idea that there is a symbolic language that connects all minds which he dubbed the collective unconscious. That men have an inner feminine life and vice ver...more
Jung had the courage to disown Freud's idea that the unconscious was merely a cause of mayhem for the ego. Rather the self, the archetype of wholeness, both guides the ego to its highest fulfillment and presents it with demons in the form of dreams and fantasies. Ideas we take for granted today originate here: The idea that there is a symbolic language that connects all minds which he dubbed the collective unconscious. That men have an inner feminine life and vice ver...more
I really, really, really, really, really enjoyed the first part of this book. I developed a strong crush on Dr. Jung due to his extreme sensitivity, reflection, and openmindedness displayed naturally from a very young age. We often fall for those who've been through the same fundamental inner experiences; I related so hard to his battle with religious doubt as a pre-teen and teenager. I highlighted so much of the section of this book in which he explains his thoughts about God, as I'd had the sa...more
Wow. This book was quite an experience. You won't find any contemporary psychiatrist that writes a book like this one. Jung basically chronicles his life and addresses various topics that he has learned through his experiences. He discusses at great length the human psyche and the need we all have to understand it in order to really understand this world. I learned a great deal. Jung discusses many of his dreams and their interpretations, which I found very interesting (in fact, I've been inspir...more
I could probably learn something new each time I read this book, although, I might need a few years before I pick it up again. The book became tedious for me toward the end. I think his protege and successor Marie-Louise von Franz distills and presents Jung's ideas with more clarity. But maybe that’s just me.
This is a different sort of autobiography because its focus is more internal than external. In the prologue to Memories, Dreams, Reflections, Jung wrote, "In the end the only events in my l...more
This is a different sort of autobiography because its focus is more internal than external. In the prologue to Memories, Dreams, Reflections, Jung wrote, "In the end the only events in my l...more
Strange and lovely; an unexpected pleasure to read. Jung looks back over his life as an old man, remembering the psychological moments that changed him. I particularly loved his recollections of childhood. Once as a child he has a vision of God pooping and feels he will surely be damned for it, only be struck with a sudden revelation of God's grace and forgiveness. In the famous "Confrontation with the Unconscious" chapter he describes his journey into the treacherous deeps of his own psyche. Hu...more
So difficult for me to get through, honestly. I'm not a psych major or terribly interested in psychology and my professor at BYU tries to make all of Mormon theology fit within the confines of jungian philosophy - not the way I prefer to see my religion. It took me forever to read and gave me some killer headaches trying to think through it all. The concepts of jungian philosophy are not very linear of easy to pull out of this text as was demanded of me as a student.
Interestingly, I did find my...more
Interestingly, I did find my...more
I did like this book and found it a very interseting insight into the conflicting ides of major streams of psychology. I found the outherwordly or strange and weird experiences he writes about believable enough. having had plenty of such experiences myself, and I do believe myself, most of the time, though one must be cautious if one is currently very afraid of something, or under the influence of ... love, drugs, propaganda, hypnotism, a carismatic dick, whatever. Your memeory and your senses d...more
Finally read this after many years on the bedroom shelf. Had a huge impact on my dreams. Jung was no doubt a flawed character (as we all are, face it), and he completely skirts around his many documented philanderings - which I would have imagined as informing a significant aspect of both his inner and outer life - but his candour and reflection on matters psycho-spiritual gave me many moments of recognition and furious agreement. His account of his famed relationship with Sigmund Freud was utte...more
Life as you know it and have always known it...will die.
This book...if you allow the Universe to do it...through your free will,
will not just change and transform your life...you will be totally reborn.
This is not to say the Jung was perfect; not by any means; but he eventually
realized many of his early choices and thoughts and views in life were wrong.
And he changed.
I've taken the stuff he expresses that work for me and have been reborn because
of those choices I made in my life.
Give it a chance...more
This book...if you allow the Universe to do it...through your free will,
will not just change and transform your life...you will be totally reborn.
This is not to say the Jung was perfect; not by any means; but he eventually
realized many of his early choices and thoughts and views in life were wrong.
And he changed.
I've taken the stuff he expresses that work for me and have been reborn because
of those choices I made in my life.
Give it a chance...more
Un libro lungo, prolisso e per lo più noioso. Per essere un’autobiografia, (forse volutamente) non ci dice proprio nulla o molto poco della storia personale, professionale o dello sviluppo del pensiero psicologico di Jung: non sappiamo né di un amore, di amicizie, di malattie. Tolte poche pagine che suscitano un certo interesse come le poche dedicate a discutere il valore della psicoterapia e alla descrizione di alcuni originali casi clinici o le riflessioni religiose in cui si pone l’eterna que...more
Carl Jung dedicated his life to deciphering the subconscious. In this volume he explores his own and comes up with a fascinating narrative. Here is a quote from his preface: “Life has always seemed to me like a plant that lives on its rhizome. Its true life is invisible, hidden in the rhizome. The part that appears above ground lasts only a single summer. Then it whithers away--an ephemeral apparition. When we think of the unending growth and decay of life and civilizations, we cannot escape the...more
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Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychologist, influential thinker, and founder of analytical psychology.
Jung's unique approach to psychology was influential in countercultural movements in Europe and the United States in the 1960s. He has emphasized understanding the psyche through exploring the worlds of dreams, art, mythology, world religion and philosophy. Although he was a theoretical psychologis...more
More about C.G. Jung...
Jung's unique approach to psychology was influential in countercultural movements in Europe and the United States in the 1960s. He has emphasized understanding the psyche through exploring the worlds of dreams, art, mythology, world religion and philosophy. Although he was a theoretical psychologis...more
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“As a child I felt myself to be alone, and I am still, because I know things and must hint at things which others apparently know nothing of, and for the most part do not want to know.”
—
350 people liked it
“The acceptance of oneself is the essence of the whole moral problem and the epitome of a whole outlook on life. That I feed the hungry, that I forgive an insult, that I love my enemy in the name of Christ -- all these are undoubtedly great virtues. What I do unto the least of my brethren, that I do unto Christ. But what if I should discover that the least among them all, the poorest of all the beggars, the most impudent of all the offenders, the very enemy himself -- that these are within me, and that I myself stand in need of the alms of my own kindness -- that I myself am the enemy who must be loved -- what then? As a rule, the Christian's attitude is then reversed; there is no longer any question of love or long-suffering; we say to the brother within us "Raca," and condemn and rage against ourselves. We hide it from the world; we refuse to admit ever having met this least among the lowly in ourselves.”
—
134 people liked it
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Dec 09, 2012 09:32am