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The Interpretation of Dreams

by Sigmund Freud

3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 · rating details · 18,338 ratings · 308 reviews

Freud's discovery that the dream is the means by which the unconscious can be explored is undoubtedly the most revolutionary step forward in the entire history of psychology. Dreams, according to his theory, represent the hidden fulfillment of our unconscious wishes.

Hardcover, 630 pages

Published September 15th 1994 by Barnes & Noble (first published 1899)

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Mar 23, 2013 Jacob marked it as will-not-read

Why I'll never read this book:

I think it was Freud, slippery fellow, who said that when we dream about flying we're really dreaming about having sex (a claim which caused Dream, of Neil Gaiman's Sandman graphic novels, to ask "then what does it mean when you dream about having sex?"). So it must say something that most of my dreams have me stuck fast to the ground, immobile, as if wading through mud. My legs feel enormous and heavy, and I can barely move--I certainly cannot fly.

But once, several...more

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Aug 25, 2011 samar salman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: e-books, philosophy

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ينظر فرويد للأحلام على أنها أمور قد جرت في طفولتنا
أو رغبات لم يعرها شعورنا اهتماماً في النهار السابق
لتظهر لنا حلماً يجمع في داخله
أمور عدة قد لا تتصل بعضها ببعض
وقد تشير في تحليلها إلى أكثر من استنتاج
ومن منطلق بسيط يصف لنا فكرة
الحلم من أساطير القرون السابقة
حتى الإستنتاج الحقيقي له ليدخل بنا في
عوالم عدة منها : نسيان الحلم
و تشوه صورته و إيقاضه لنا أيضاً في سبيل تحقيق
الرغبة اللاشعورية التي تُكبح فينا

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May 27, 2011 Haifa Ibrahim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

" أما أن الأحلام كوة نرى منها لمحة من الغيب والمستقبل فذلك باطل .. لأن الحلم إنما يصور الماضي ويصدر عنه ويعبر
عن مكنوناته المطويه أو المنسيه " فرويد

يعتبر فرويد أن الأحلام مجرد أثر لأحداث النهار السابق و محاولة لأرضاء رغبات كامنه في اللاوعي ولا علاقة لها بالغيبات مطلقًا
فيحاول أن يربط بين الحلم وبما يرتبط بهذا الحلم في الواقع ومن ثم يبني أستنتاجه على ذلك .
في الكتاب إجابة للعديد من التسأولات حول الأحلام ( لماذا توقظنا؟ ,لماذا ننساها؟ ,.ولماذ تتشوه؟ ...)

حقيقةً أنا لم أقرأ الكتاب الأصلي وإنما قرأت...more

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Oct 14, 2012 Lona rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

لست من الأشخاص المهووسين بتفسير أحلامهم، لطالما كان الحلم بالنسبة لي مجرد ظاهرة نفسية صحيَّة وكفى، ولا تستدعي مني الوقوف عندها، ولهذا قرأت هذا كتاب بنيَّة "للعلم فقط بمحتواه" نظراً لشهرته، لكني بعد أن انتهيت منه اعترف أني استمتعت كثيراً بمحتواه التي ترك أثراً في نفسي على عكس مما توقعت تماماً

هذا الكتاب يعتبر أشهر ما كتب "سيجموند فرويد" الذي قال عن كتابه :- ( إنه يحوي أثمن الكشوف التي شاء حسن الطالع أن تكون من نصيبي؛ فمثل هذا الحدس لا يأتي العمر مرتين) ..

يستهل "فرويد" كتابه بذكر نظريات الأحلام...more
لست من الأشخاص المهووسين بتفسير أحلامهم، لطالما كان الحلم بالنسبة لي مجرد ظاهرة نفسية صحيَّة وكفى، ولا تستدعي مني الوقوف عندها، ولهذا قرأت هذا كتاب بنيَّة "للعلم فقط بمحتواه" نظراً لشهرته، لكني بعد أن انتهيت منه اعترف أني استمتعت كثيراً بمحتواه التي ترك أثراً في نفسي على عكس مما توقعت تماماً

هذا الكتاب يعتبر أشهر ما كتب "سيجموند فرويد" الذي قال عن كتابه :- ( إنه يحوي أثمن الكشوف التي شاء حسن الطالع أن تكون من نصيبي؛ فمثل هذا الحدس لا يأتي العمر مرتين) ..

يستهل "فرويد" كتابه بذكر نظريات الأحلام والملخص الذي خرجت به هو أن الحلم أشبه بفترة جنون مؤقتة يعيشها الإنسان، ويفعل بها ما يريد لأن الرقابة وملكة النقد الحاضرتان في اليقظة معدومتان في الحلم .. .. وأن الحلم إما أن يكون مصدره حسي من خارج أو داخل الجسم، أو مصدر عضوي باطني ، أو آثار نفسية خالصة .. ..وأن الحلم قد يكون نبوءة وكشف للمستقبل .. .. يُطيل "فرويد" في المقدمة ليكون القارئ على علم بالنظريات المطروحة وليستعد لطرحه الجديد والمختلف كلياً

يقول "فرويد" أن الأحلام ليست بالتفاهة التي نعتقد ولا تشتغل بتوافه الأمور ومهما كان الحلم بريئاً فإنه عكس ذلك تماماً لو تجشم المرء عناء تحليله

الأحلام تنشأ من "منطقة اللاشعور" وتخضع لعملية تكثيف مركزة .. .. ولهذا لمعرفة اللاشعور في الحياة النفسية للأشخاص فإن تفسير الأحلام يعتبر أحد الطرق الفعَّالة

الحلم تحقيق "لرغبة مكبوته" غالباً من مرحلة الطفولة، ولكنه لا يكون حلم صريح، بل غالباً ما يشوبها التشويه

أما سبب هذا التشويه هو "الرقابة" .. نعم الرقابة التي قال من سبقه من العلماء أنها غير موجودة فإن "فرويد" يقول هي سبب التشويه الذي يحدث لأحلامنا .. .. فالرقابة لا تختفي أثناء النوم بل تقل حدَّتها وعندما نستيقظ فإنها تستعيد قوتها وهو السبب الرئيسي لنسيان أغلب أحلامنا

ومادة الحلم التصويرية (التي تتحول بها الأفكار إلى صور) أساسها المشاهد الثانوية التافه التي لا تلفت انتباهنا أثناء يقظتنا وليست الأحداث الجوهرية، ومرحلة الطفولة إحدى المصادر الرئيسية لمادة الحلم التي يحدث لها تشويه كبير ولا تأتي صريحة كما قلنا سابقاً بسبب الرقابة التي تصل إلى حدود اللعب بالألفاظ والجناس اللغوي والمعنوي المتقن والرمزية العالية .. .. ولتفسير الحلم فإن أحداث اليوم السابق لها أهمية كبيرة فالحلم يستغل هذه الأحداث ليلمح للرغبات التي أغلبها تعتمد على خبرات الطفولة

أما بالنسبة لكون الأحلام أساسها مصدر تنبيهي جسدي أحيانا فيقول "فرويد" عكس ذلك .. .. فيمكن استغلال المنبهات الجسدية فقط إذا كانت تخدم الحلم في تحقيق الرغبة .. .. ويعرض هنا ظاهرة وجدتها غريبة جداً وهي "ظاهرة المراجعة الثانوية" التي يشرح فيها ن بعض الأحلام جاهزة في منطقة اللاشعور وتنتظر فقط المنبه الخارجي لتنطلق (مثل أن يحلم شخص بالإعدام بقطع رأسه بالمقصلة وعندما يستيقظ يجد لوحاً من السرير سقط على رقبته) فسقوط اللوح استغله الحلم للخروج، وخاصية التكثيف الشديد التي يتميز بها الحلم هي سبب عدم إدراكنا لهذه الظاهرة

أما كون الأحلام نبؤه للمستقبل فهو شيء لا يوافق عليه "فرويد" ويقول إن الأحلام تحيطنا علماً بالماضي، فالحلم فرع من الماضي بكل معنى من المعاني .. .. ويسلك بنا جهة المستقبل فقط بكونه عمل على تحقيق رغبات مكبوتة

يفرد "فرويد" جزءاً كبيراً في الكتاب بالأساس الجنسي لأغلب الأحلام بكونها أكثر الرغبات المكبوتة (كلما زاد المرء اشتغالا بحل مشكلة الأحلام زاد استعداده للتسليم بأن غالبية أحلام الراشدين تعالج مادة جنسية وتعرب عن رغبات عشقيه .......... فواجبنا عند تفسير الحلم ألا ننسى أبداً هذه القيمة " فما من غريزة لاقت منذ الطفولة مثل الكبت الذي لاقته الغريزة الجنسية") ..

عيب الكتاب كثرة الهوامش التوضيحية أسفل الصفحات كانت مزعجه جداً بالنسبة لي (خصوصاً أني مُبتليَّه بقراءة نسخة إلكترونية) فأنا من الأشخاص الذين يتشتت انتباههم بكثرة الهوامش على الرغم من هدفها التوضيحي، فكان تجاهل أغلبها الحل الأنسب لي

كتاب دسِم (بكل ما تحمله الكلمة من معنى) .. .. انصح بقراءته على دفعات لغير المختصين فكل خلية عصبية في الدماغ سوف تستنفر أثناء القراءة .. .. ولمن يريد أخذ فكره مختصره عن الكتاب دون الغوص فيه يمكنه قراءة النسخة المختصرة التي ترجمها الدكتور نظمي لوقا في 192 صفحة (لم أقرأها للأمانة) عوضاً عن 662 صفحة.. ..ولكني أنصح بخوض تجربة قراءة هذا الكتاب كاملاً .. .. أيضاً الترجمة كانت متقنة "لدرجة الإزعاج" بالنسبة لي، وساهمت في زيادة الكتاب "دسامةً" .. .. كان من الممكن أن تكون أقل شدَّة، لكن ربما ثِقل الكتاب يستوجب هذا الإتقان

ملاحظة أخيرة: "فرويد" يقوم بتفسير ( الأصح "تحليل") الأحلام ضمن جلسات طويلة جداً يبدل فيها مجهود كبير ليصل لنتيجة وهو المتَّضح من خلال قراءة هذا الكتاب .. .. لكم أتمنى أن أرى ردة فعلة على من يقومون بتفسير الأحلام من خلال مكالمة هاتفية لا تتجاوز الدقائق

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Mar 18, 2012 Ameera H. Al-mousa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

قبل الإطلاع على مـأدبة فرويد وحله للغز الذائع الصيت في تفسير الأحلام .

لابد من الإشادة عن ما كان يتردد في تقويم وتقدير شعوب العصور الكلاسيكية للأحلام حيث ما هو مسلم به لديهم بأن للأحلام علاقة بعالم الكائنات فوق الإنسانية التي كانوا يؤمنون بوجودها , وأنها – أغني الأحلام – تحمل كواشف من عند الآلهة والجن .

كان يدخل في اعتقادهم فوق ذلك أن الحلم يأتي الحالم لمقصد ذي خطر هو في القاعدة الكشف عن الغيب .

فيرون في الحلم نتاجاً يصدر عن النفس النائمة بل وحياً من الجانب الإلهى يرسل الى النائم تحيراً له أو تبصي...more قبل الإطلاع على مـأدبة فرويد وحله للغز الذائع الصيت في تفسير الأحلام .

لابد من الإشادة عن ما كان يتردد في تقويم وتقدير شعوب العصور الكلاسيكية للأحلام حيث ما هو مسلم به لديهم بأن للأحلام علاقة بعالم الكائنات فوق الإنسانية التي كانوا يؤمنون بوجودها , وأنها – أغني الأحلام – تحمل كواشف من عند الآلهة والجن .

كان يدخل في اعتقادهم فوق ذلك أن الحلم يأتي الحالم لمقصد ذي خطر هو في القاعدة الكشف عن الغيب .

فيرون في الحلم نتاجاً يصدر عن النفس النائمة بل وحياً من الجانب الإلهى يرسل الى النائم تحيراً له أو تبصيراً بالمستقبل .

فرويد تفطن من بعد ذلك إلى الدافع الأساسي في تكوين الحلم الذي يعنى تحقيق الرغبات , وذلك من تحليله لبعض أحلام مرضاه فوصل في فهمه للعمليات النفسية التى تشكل بناء الحلم إلى مدى بعيد .الأحلام تنشأ لتحقيق رغبة .

الكتاب هذه يحتوي على مقدمات لثمانية طبعات , وفي الفصلين الأولى تناول نظرية الحلم للفيلسوف شتروميل وآراء علماء أُخر , يتفقون على أن العلل المزعجة للنوم أي مصادر فعل الحلم قد تتعدد أنواعها وأن المنهبات الحسية والتهيجات الجسمية قد تعمل على السواء عمل الحوافز إلى الحلم وتنصب في تكوين الحلم يجتمعون في حصر منابع الحلم ل1- منبهات حسيه- خارجية 2-منهبات حسية ذاتية 3- منبهات جسمية باطنية عضوية 4- مصادر نفسية خالصة للتنبيه .

في الفصول الآخيرة تطرق لعلاقة الأحلام بالهستريا ومرض العصاب واللاشعور والصلة بين رغبات الزنا بالمحارم والرغبات المكبوتة بالحلم ,.

هذا المؤلف ضخم وضحل معلوماتياً لنظريقة الحلم وتفسيره ، أنوي اقتناءه ورقيا ل، مرجع غني جداً .

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Feb 16, 2012 Dimitri rated it 4 of 5 stars

Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud is filled with Freud’s theories about the connections between dreams and real life that he has discovered through his research. Freud covers everything from the content within dreams to the strategies needed to interpret them, as well as diving in to the finer aspects such as memory in dreams and connections to everyday life. Freud often quotes the extensive research that has already been done in the field of the analysis of dreams but points out that al...more

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Jul 23, 2010 mah marked it as to-read · review of another edition

تعبیر خواب تعبیر خواب فروید

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Jan 06, 2013 Nicholas Spies rated it 4 of 5 stars

Whatever you think of Sigmund Freud's theories, you have to admit that (at least in English translation) he is a very good and persuasive writer. That he was a very important influence on the history of the 20th century is an understatement, particularly since his nephew, Edward Bernays, is known as the Inventor of Advertising.

Bernays essentially created the consumer culture that has dominated the US and much of the Western world for the last 80 years or so. He did so by changing the basis by wh...more Whatever you think of Sigmund Freud's theories, you have to admit that (at least in English translation) he is a very good and persuasive writer. That he was a very important influence on the history of the 20th century is an understatement, particularly since his nephew, Edward Bernays, is known as the Inventor of Advertising.

Bernays essentially created the consumer culture that has dominated the US and much of the Western world for the last 80 years or so. He did so by changing the basis by which consumers judge products. Before Bernays, products were presented in a factual manner, emphasizing their virtues, dimensions, capacities and whatever, allowing the consumer to make a relatively rational and dispassionate choices between the products of different manufacturers. (This manner of product presentation can be found in Sears & Roebuck catalogs of the 19th century.)

Bernays, in constant contact with his uncle, saw an opportunity to apply Freud's ideas of the subconscious origins of behavior and the primacy of sexual desires, to essentially change the customer from the rational decision maker of classical economic theory to a malleable zombie, whose decisions are based on the presentation of products as being sexy or assuring popularity and the like--separating the desirability of products from their actual function. This proved to be so highly effective that it has been adopted by virtually all retail sales, turning customers into consumers. In the process, Bernays used Freud's ideas to hand irrational consumers over to wealthy corporations, whose products were no longer judged on their efficacy but on extraneous irrational presentations.

This has become most obvious in television, were what is actually happening is that the viewers are the 'product' being sold by various commercial TV outlets, for a great deal of money paid to the TV outlets by advertising agencies, who are in turn paid highly by manufacturers for the attention given to the persuasive 'messages', which are essentially uninformative propaganda having nothing much to do with the virtues of the products or services being shilled.

As Noam Chomsky has pointed out, the work of advertising is to destroy markets, which are defined in classical economics as the meeting place of rational sellers and buyers of products at a price that is mutually agreeable. Bernay's application of his uncles theories to manipulate buyers' decisions, puts the buyers at a considerable disadvantage relative to the sellers, as consumers can no longer compare products on their merits on the one hand, as the products have been imbued with many irrational properties, and the considerable costs of all these deceptions is simply added to the price that the consumer must pay.

As products cannot be compared on their actual merits, the competition that occurs in real markets is removed; this not only only retards product improvement by sellers, who no longer compete on the actual efficacy of their products, but it cuts loose the pricing of products from the cost of making them, again because real competition is eliminated, and consumer's decision are, by definition, irrational.

To return to Freud's book, although it is fascinating reading it is rather feeble scientifically, a problem always faced by visionary prophets whose predispositions often get in the way of a more dispassionate approach. Although Freud and his 'sex symbols' have long been the butt of public derision, their influence on the mid-20th century cannot be easily dismissed, despite their merit as 'science'.(less)

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Jan 28, 2008 Jana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: theory, psychology

This was one of those books I tried to read on my own back as a young college student. It wasn't a part of any coursework, so I didn't have anyone to help tie it to larger ideas. If I remember, I think I ended up making my own wacky meaning out of it... which was some sort of Jungian collective UNCS thing or another.

But then I re-read it in grad school in the context of Freud's other work and it began to make a bit more sense. I liked his hypothetical "primal language" because it suggests the e...more

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May 23, 2011 SmarterLilac rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is one of the books that helped me understand Freud's genius, as well as the value of psychoanalysis. It hurts me so that fewer and fewer people want to understand or appreciate Freud. Yes, I realize that the Freudian perspective, especially on things like dream interpretation, has limited value in non-Western cultures, and that for some, dream interpretation itself may not be the most insightful way to understand the subconscious.

Still--come on. This book changed Europe, and the course of...more

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Apr 05, 2013 Ala rated it 4 of 5 stars

Wait a second. Why did I even pick up this book? Wasn't Freud like ... insane? Wasn't he absolutely and helplessly fixated on sex? Does he or does he not, label developmental stages words such as 'anal'?

Oh, that's right, I major in psychology. Typical lunatics, us psych majors.
It saddens me, that unless you have taken psychology courses or have done a fair amount of research into the field, you hold a very narrow view of Dr. Sigmund Freud. A doctor, with a medical degree from the University of V...more

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Jan 10, 2013 Alexia rated it 2 of 5 stars

Written with scientific denseness, but lacks scientific rigor or clarity. Can be tedious, vague and confusing. Freud will say he's going to do something (like not use personal examples) only to forget he said that and do it anyway. Or he'll acknowledge the flaw with his approach and then do nothing to correct it (which is better than not admitting it, I guess). For example, he uses his patients, "neurotics", for analysis and comments on how how that makes his conclusions not drawn from a represe...more

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Mar 25, 2012 Trevor rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: psychology

This was a much more interesting book than I thought it might be. The nature of dreams is something that is hard not to find fascinating. The thing is that we spend quite a bit of time dreaming – not the third of our lives we spend sleeping, but enough time to make us wonder why we dream at all. It seems incomprehensible that our dreams would be completely meaningless. But then, they can be so bizarre it is hard to know just what they might mean.

Freud starts with a quick run through how dreams...more This was a much more interesting book than I thought it might be. The nature of dreams is something that is hard not to find fascinating. The thing is that we spend quite a bit of time dreaming – not the third of our lives we spend sleeping, but enough time to make us wonder why we dream at all. It seems incomprehensible that our dreams would be completely meaningless. But then, they can be so bizarre it is hard to know just what they might mean.

Freud starts with a quick run through how dreams have been interpreted in the past – from Aristotle on. Aristotle is a good place to start, as he says we dream about things that have been left unresolved from the day – and this is a core idea that Freud also includes in his theory of dreams.

Essentially, Freud sees dreams as playing a key role in helping us to process stuff that happened during the day. But dreams are a truth that likes to hide. Their meaning covers itself in remarkable allusions and images that are often amusingly apt, but sometimes it is as if we are determined to hide the true meaning of our dreams even from ourselves.

Freud makes it clear that this will not be a book of off-the-shelf interpretations – ‘oh, you dreamt of a lion last night, that means you should have been born Leo and spent time chasing gazelle’. To Freud it is impossible to understand and interpret dreams from a list of standard symbols. This doesn’t mean that if you are going to interpret dreams you don’t have to know a lot about symbols and their common meanings – but this knowledge is never enough. Symbols develop their own meanings within the text that is the dream. Just as in Blake’s The Sick Rose the rose can be read to mean anything from nature, to the Christian Church, to female genitalia, so in dreams the interpretation is meaningful within the context of the dream and to the life of the dreamer. And the dream is relevant to the immediate life of the dreamer. It is generally a response to what happened that day – even if the imagery used may well refer back to the childhood of the dreamer so that the deeper significance is a life's work.

The other remarkable conclusion Freud draws is that dreams are wish fulfilments. Now, this seems anything but obvious. Sure, when we have dreams we are having sex with super-models it is pretty obvious that Freud is onto something. But these aren’t the only dreams he sees as being wish fulfilments. Even dreams where loved ones die are seen by Freud as being fundamentally the realisations of wishes – but again, the dream isn’t always as easy to interpret as it might initially seem and the wish may not be as easy to understand as might be immediately apparent from what happens in the dream. The fact we wake screaming and shaking from a dream may not mean there is no wish involved in the thing that terrifies us – although, I would have to say I don’t think he dealt with nightmares nearly as well as he ought to have.

It is here that Freud discusses the Oedipal Complex – how our first sexual attraction is toward the parent of the opposite sex to ourselves and therefore we desire to remove one parent from the scene so as to take their place. While we are children the full implications of this desire are obscure to us – but as we grow older the taboo associated with this desire helps suppress our recognition of these desires, or repress them, rather – but only from the conscious mind. The subconscious mind still remembers what we might prefer to forget and so uses these images, as the first images of our awakening desires, as potent images in our dreams. The meaning of the image may not be anything like that we want to kill our father and have sex with our mother – it might actually refer to an awakening of sexual interest in someone else we have only recently meet – but the dream uses this ‘primal’ image as something to help it make sense of our current world and desires, even if the image then goes on to confuse the hell out of us.

Time for a story. I once worked with a woman called Frances Nolan. She was really lovely, one of the nicest people I’ve ever worked with, but I didn’t really fancy her. I mean, she was pretty and incredibly nice, but she was quite a bit younger than me and I just wasn’t really all that interested in her in that way. But every morning I would be walking to the train station and when I got to a certain part of Church Street she would suddenly jump into my head as large as life. I was starting to think that I must have been starting to fall for her – it was the strangest feeling, and quite confusing. Until one day I realised that there is a shoe shop in Church Street that is called Frances Nolan Shoes – and the sign is huge and I would walk under it every day. I really struggle to believe I didn’t consciously notice this sign in all the time I had walked up that street and imagined I was falling for poor Frances.

This book is interesting as I had assumed it would be a much harder read than it turned out to be – I also thought it would be a much sillier book than it turned out too. It is extremely well written. I don’t think I agree entirely with Freud, but he makes a very strong case. My main problems with his theory have to do with Sherlock Holmes. Because that’s what a lot of this sounded like to me. Someone has a dream and Freud does the whole ‘Elementary, my dear Watson’ thing. It even gets to the stage where he says that sometimes things mean the opposite of what they seem to mean in the dream. When that is the case then any interpretation is basically about imposing ones preconceptions on the meaning of the symbols in the dream.

I tend to think that dreams probably don’t mean nearly as much as we like to think they do – but what they do do is throw up lots of random images, images which we try to make sense of and it is that ‘making of sense’ that says interesting things about us. And whether it is dream images or tarot cards or ink dots on paper – our making sense of random images says interesting things about us. But we should go gently into this stuff. We should go on tip-toes. Because stories have lives of their own and we are weaker than a good story and always will be.

I once read a book called Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. I think in that book she says that lines have a momentum that is very hard to control – but controlling the momentum of lines is a large part of what drawing is about. Stories also have a momentum that is very hard to control. The narratives we tell about ourselves are one thing – the narrative we tell about our dreams are quite another.

Personally, I think I prefer Freudian readings of novels to Freudian readings of people – but I can certainly see why this book made such an impact. If the problem with the book is Freud playing Holmes, it is only a problem because he is so damn clever he gets away with it. I’m surprised I’m going to do this – I would never have thought I would have when I started reading - but I think I would recommend this book. It is a fascinating read, even if it has left me somewhat less than convinced.
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Feb 16, 2012 Daniel Islas rated it 4 of 5 stars

Daniel Islas
2/15/12
Interpretation Of Dreams
The Interpretation Of Dreams is a book made up of Frueds innovative thoughts on phsycoalaysis, that changed the way the medical world looked at mental ailments forever. From the beginning of the book Frued uses his own dreams as a way to prove his theories true. He tried to show through this text, how every dream is like a wish fufullment, coming true. He possed that dreams had differenct classifications and that everything in a dream has a purpose a...more

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Feb 16, 2012 Kevin Zavala rated it 4 of 5 stars

Interpretation of Dreams is wild, to say the least. Freud goes into the depths of our unconscious and explains our dreams and unconscious thought with clear reasoning, he evaluates the processes of our everyday lives and their influences on our dreams. He goes into the different sources of dreams, such as dreams as wish-fulfilment's, Freud talks about distortion in dreams and the small details such as dreams about being naked or dreams about death or speeches in dreams. Overall, Freud lays down...more

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Sep 06, 2011 Kolagani Paramahamsa rated it 5 of 5 stars

This one took me more time than any other book, notwithstanding the fact it is not one of the large books I have read; took me around 4 months reading only a couple of books in the meantime. Yet, this was one of those books where I wanted to read very slowly in the end, just to extend my time with the book.

Written in archaic language, complicated sentence formation with intense content in each and every one. This is more close to a scientific publication than a novel. Although I knew that psycho...more This one took me more time than any other book, notwithstanding the fact it is not one of the large books I have read; took me around 4 months reading only a couple of books in the meantime. Yet, this was one of those books where I wanted to read very slowly in the end, just to extend my time with the book.

Written in archaic language, complicated sentence formation with intense content in each and every one. This is more close to a scientific publication than a novel. Although I knew that psychology is a branch of science, I was of the assumption that it was more of a non-exact science, more of calculated predictions, of combination of chances, but was surprised to learn from this book how much of an exact it is, the way Freud zeroed in some certainties deducing from empirical studies. The more complicated a theory looked, the more time it took to grasp the paragraph, there was more hidden in it to learn, to revel.

From a writing perspective, it was interesting to read it like reading a scientific paper which has a tinge of storytelling, filled with case studies at appropriate places. There was very less redundancy despite highly intense content in each and every sentence of the more than 500 page book. Since when first writing this book Freud wrote it for himself, it has condensed ideas, and took me to reread several times to grasp what I was reading; loved this since I would prefer rereading than reading ideas spread out into several pages. Looking in a different way, the book doesn't assume the reader to be naive person, there is some level of inherent respect that the reader is treated with. Also, as I went on reading the book, the rate of reading didn't improve like it happens with every other book, since here although you one gets to feel the author's writing style, the level of ideas keep on increasing, so the speed of reading essentially remains the same. Consequently, the rate of rereading also remained the same.

It should be mentioned that to read this book one doesn't need to know anything about the field of psychology, but one would need a taste for analytical thinking. On the negative side I was irritated somewhere in the middle of the book when Freud tries to illustrate the significance of symbols in the dreams, he seemed to have consumed a good number of pages which it didn't deserve, and adding to that the over-generalization in it when the point has already been adequately illustrated. Later, I learned that this part of the book was added later after the first edition, probably when he was not in his prime.

Like Freud emphasizes in this book, we would do better to analyze our own dreams than to follow the book blindly, it was amazing when I tried that, I am trying that every once in a while, thanks to the help from this book which makes one dwell into the beautiful world of dreams, the royal road to Ucs (Freudian Unconscious).

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Jul 04, 2010 Venus added it · review of another edition

From the point of view of science we must necessarily make use of our critical powers in this direction, and not be afraid to reject and deny. It is inadmissible to declare that science is one field of human intellectual activity, and that religion and philosophy are others, at least as valuable, and that science has no business to interfere with the other two, that they all have an equal claim to truth, and that everyone is free to choose whence he shall draw his convictions and in what he shal...more

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Mar 07, 2011 Nikolaus Geromont rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy, psychology, non-fiction

The Interpretation of Dream (in this case the eighth and last edition published in 1930), a theory on the possible meaning and construction of dreams written by Sigmund Freud early in 1899, is the first psychological/philosophical book I've read, and it is most definitely the most difficult book I've ever come across in my life... so difficult, in fact, that the author even states that he doesn't expect his readers to understand his theories, and admits to their utter complex nature (Chapter 7E)...more The Interpretation of Dream (in this case the eighth and last edition published in 1930), a theory on the possible meaning and construction of dreams written by Sigmund Freud early in 1899, is the first psychological/philosophical book I've read, and it is most definitely the most difficult book I've ever come across in my life... so difficult, in fact, that the author even states that he doesn't expect his readers to understand his theories, and admits to their utter complex nature (Chapter 7E).

This is the only reason why I refrain from giving this book a total of five stars. It is said that Freud wrote this elephantine book (just look at how long it is) mostly for himself, which would explain the major flaws of this book: the manner in which he expresses his theories, the poor arrangement of the book, how he likes to keep the reader in the dark, and leaving off his explanations for (literally) hundreds of pages. You see, the length of Interpreting Dreams has nothing to do with the difficulty of this book; it is only the actual presentation of his theory that causes our frustration at failing to comprehend certain aspects of it.

Nonetheless, The Interpretation of Dream is a phenomenal book. Following the previous attempts by different philosophers to interpret the phenomenon of dream, Freud developed the simple theory that dream is nothing other than wish-fulfillment for the individual's unconscious... and somehow managed to develop it into this monster of a book. He provides complicated arguments (and theories) to sustain his belief, countless examples of dreams (including those of the author), and analyses of said dreams. Initially, Freud appears to cover every aspect and type of dream within these pages, judging by the length of his book. This, however, doesn't prove to be the case.

In order to understand absolutely everything on Freud's theory, one has to know all the functions and origins of the human psyche, as the author explains. Only after one is familiar with the relations and purposes of consciousness, the pre- and the unconscious; the id, the ego and the superego; his self-developed "psychical apparatus"; the origins of arousal and psychical charges; etc. etc. and etc.; can one fully grasp the concept and full meaning of dream. The Interpretation of Dream is far from complete, as it excludes (thankfully) a lot information about the psyche that Freud would only later voice in subsequent publications.

Which leads me to my main point. The highlight of The Interpretation of Dream is not, strangely enough, the phenomenon of dream itself; this book is amazing due to the light it has shed on the human psyche as a whole. As a matter of fact, when I finished Freud's "masterpiece", it felt like the author merely used the dream as a macguffin in order to give us the perfect introduction of the human mind and its functions (see also The Joke and its Relation to the Unconscious). Freud was able to explain the phenomenon of dream via observations on his hysterical and neurotic patients (believe it or not), and it is indeed amazing how clearly hysteria and dream relate to each other. You could say that dream is in fact a variation of hysteria (or vice versa, I'm not sure). Via dream and neurosis, Freud was able to penetrate the workings of thought, and give the reader a more comprehensible view not only on the mind, but also on many other philosophical problems.

The Interpretation of Dream is thus the perfect introduction to Freud's works, despite its length. Not only does he give us a rough (albeit complicated) draft on the workings of our minds; he also introduces certain theories for the first time (notably the infamous Oedipus Complex), and gives us a foretaste of his subsequent works. Yes, it is a difficult read, and it deserves many re-reads to be fully understood (especially the seventh and last chapter, "On the Psychology of Dream-Processes). This book will, however, change your perspectives not only on dreams, but also, more importantly, on your actions, thoughts, social relations, mind and self. This is a book which will, if its theory does prove true, give you a better understanding of yourself.

"Interpreting dreams is the royal road to knowledge of the unconscious in the life of the mind"

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Aug 24, 2012 LonelyRose rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

مبدئياً الكتاب نسخه ملخصه و مختصره ... سهل للقارئ غير المتخصص... ربما أرجع للنسخه الكامله لاحقاً
بالنسبه ليا الكتاب ما أضافش كتير ...معظم أفكاره معروفه و بعضها بديهي

فيها يلي ملخص لبعض ما ورد في الكتاب

ليه بننسى معظم الأحلام بعد ما نصحى؟؟
لأن العقل الواعي مش عاوزنا نفتكرها, محتاجين فرويد علشان يطلعه من العقل الباطن :)

ليه أوقات إحساسنا في الحلم بيكون متناقض مع أحداث الحلم (يعني نشوف حادثه أو حد بيموت و منهتمش أو حتى نفرح و العكس, إن شيء تافه يفزعنا أو يفرحنا بدون سبب منطقي)...؟؟
لأن المعنى الحقيقي للح...more

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Mar 20, 2012 Jamie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: classic, philosophy, psychology

Being of the psychology-oriented crowd, I knew I had to/wanted to read this at some point in my life. I've studied Freud (to a degree), and though almost no one agrees 100% with the man, you have to admit that he was a genius. Misguided? Maybe. Too deterministic? Probably yes. Quality ideas and well thought out theories with real life experience to back them up? Definitely.

I really liked the first half of this book. Freud's insights into the nature of dreams, dream interpretation, accompanying p...more Being of the psychology-oriented crowd, I knew I had to/wanted to read this at some point in my life. I've studied Freud (to a degree), and though almost no one agrees 100% with the man, you have to admit that he was a genius. Misguided? Maybe. Too deterministic? Probably yes. Quality ideas and well thought out theories with real life experience to back them up? Definitely.

I really liked the first half of this book. Freud's insights into the nature of dreams, dream interpretation, accompanying psychoanalysis, etc. was excellent. Though I am one who normally "forgets" my dreams, and/or "doesn't dream" (which Freud claims is impossible), I have to admit that after reading the first half of this book, I tested some of the interpretation strategies out, amd surprsingly, (or maybe not so surprisingly) I remembered them fairly vividly when I was focusing on doing so. Also surprisingly, Freud's theories were remarkably accurate for me. I was able to interpret (to my own personal satisfaction) several dreams with results that astonished me once a few of the pieces fell into place. I was a little flabbergasted and a lot impressed. Some may attribute this type of analysis down to coincidence, but I honestly feel that Freud has something here. No one's psychology is perfect. Ever. But these ideas have merit.

Some of Freud's lesser known points about dreams: (most everyone knows about the "everything boils down to sex" idea, and Freud is often highly criticized just for this)

-Tonight's dream deals with material from the immediately preceding day
-Dreams are symbolic often because the mind is combining two or more ideas/feelings/etc. into one by using a third symbol that somehow incorporates them both
-Symbols are used mostly because the ideas represented are uncomfortable, repressed, or downright unacceptable by the dreamer

Sadly, the second half of the book degenerates into a highly technique "proof" of why Freud's ideas are correct, sustainable, etc. It was boring for me, and I like that stuff.

Overall, worth reading for the psychology oriented person, maybe not the best choice for those who aren't.(less)

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Jul 30, 2012 Gregory Koprowski rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reflection

Having read so much about Freud's ideas in textbooks there wasn't really anything here that I found enlightening or inspiring. I found myself skimming the last half of the book even though I chose to read this book for my own enjoyment. Freud speaks like a man who was profoundly introspective and that is definitely a good point for anyone doing therapy (and inventing thearpy). But I do have to raise a point that several other critics have already made. He speaks only from his own limited experie...more

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May 31, 2012 Derek J. Santos rated it 4 of 5 stars

Well done, Freud, well done. The Interpretation of Dreams is most definitely a book worth reading. Four stars and six hundred pages ago, I expected to find myself regretting my decision to even look at the book. Instead, I found myself unable to put it down. Freud's insight regarding the connection between memory and dreams was intriguing to say the least. I was captivated by the man's ability to seemingly draw you in to his own mind and put all of his theories on display like a psychological ar...more

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Dec 25, 2011 Carlos rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Tras Freud el psicoanálisis es pura fábula y su novedad se agota ya en él. Pero él es imprescindible tanto como autor y como figura central de la cultura de un siglo. Más allá de su hinchada influencia sobre el siglo XX, tan categórica y pretenciosa como un intento de nueva teología, en este libro se pueden valorar tres cosas: la originalidad de su visión, acaso indulgente consigo misma, la exquisita erudición de Freud y su talento para la la escritura.

Freud y su psicoanálisis son el análogo vi...more

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Apr 18, 2009 Gerardo added it

As I was reading this book, I ran into this church follower in a MUNI car in San Francisco. This follower was eager to be explained about why I was reading this book. I tried to explaine to him that I was reading it because I do believe that dreams can be interpreted and these have a great impact in our lives. We argued until we reached down town as we began our journey in Daly city. he couldn't convice me and I couldn't do anything to change his mind. It was a really good argument in which scie...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Marzan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Trying to explain Freud is difficult in a few words. Extraordinary, brilliant, crazy, mad, genius are all thrown in the mix. In understanding the psychology of dreams, Freud draws distinction between the consciousness and the unconsciousness of our mind. His focus is mainly upon the repressions of our thoughts, needs of wish-fulfillment, various childhood memories that cause conflicting regressions, etc. as the main elements which cause our minds to represent them in the form of dreams, be it co...more

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Apr 29, 2012 Mark rated it 3 of 5 stars

Fascinating. I never know what to make of Freud, monumental genius or self-deceiving doofus. Interesting discussion of his children's dreams, including his later to be famous daughter. Interesting review of previous 19th century work on dreams in the first chapter. Basically, he describes the dream, then he states that it seems meaningless without analysis. Then he gives the analysis. Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: "Thus we can see that these authors had worked out their conclusions fa...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Humaira Khatoon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Interpretation of Dream published in 1930), a theory on the possible meaning and construction of dreams written by Sigmund Freud early in 1899, is the first psychological/philosophical book I've read, and it is most definitely the most difficult book I've ever come across in my life. Introducing the id, the superego, and their problem child, the ego, Freud advanced scientific understanding of the mind immeasurably by exposing motivations normally invisible to our consciousness. I have used m...more

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Mar 11, 2012 Katie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Freud is an awful writer! He rambles on and on instead of stating his point. His "research" is subjective, although he treats it as scientific work. Freud worked off the basis that everything can be explained, even in the most obtuse, disjointed and associative way. This desperate desire to find deep, innate, therapeutic meaning in everything becomes ridiculous... Sometimes a rock is just a rock. I wish he would have approached his dream-work from a more philosophical and literary standpoint ins...more

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May 08, 2009 austin rated it 2 of 5 stars

Interpretation of Dreams is a great primer for those interested in Moravian Sigmund Freud. Unfortunately, with such complex psychological theories described in his native German tongue, Freud's original epic can seem too long and difficult to understand. Interpretation of Dreams offers a much more concise, much more intelligible account of the observations that would become the benchmark for dream theory. Still, the material is incredibly complicated, particulary the theories in Chapter 7 regard...more

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Mar 20, 2009 Phillip rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: psychology

while freud certainly broke open the egg of the unconscious for all to marvel, it's probably a cliche these days to say that these early interpretations of various dream states are rather clumsy. nonetheless, that's how i see them. what freud failed to realize is that the author of the dream alone is the one that holds the key to meaning, and that outside sources, while being able to guide the subject to discover their own readings, can never offer a meaning that is free from their own bias and...more

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About Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud, born Sigismund Schlomo Freud, was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology. Freud is best known for his theories of the unconscious mind and the defense mechanism of repression. He is also renowned for his redefinition of sexual desire as the primary motivational energy of human life which is directed toward a wide variety of objec...more

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Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis (Penguin Freud Library)

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“The virtuous man contents himself with dreaming that which the wicked man does in actual life.” — 73 people liked it

“Properly speaking, the unconscious is the real psychic; its inner nature is just as unknown to us as the reality of the external world, and it is just as imperfectly reported to us through the data of consciousness as is the external world through the indications of our sensory organs.” — 36 people liked it

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