Customer Reviews

C.G. Jung and Hermann Hesse

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I picked this up because I had read several books by Hesse and was interested in Mr. Serrano's personal experiences with the Master. I found his writing to be quite engaging, and felt as if I had met Hesse myself. The section on Jung piqued my interest enough for me to search for his, The Undiscovered Self, which I loved as well. I also went on to read Mr. Serrano's, The Ultimate Flower. Unfortunately most of Serrano's other works are out of print. Get this before it goes o.o.p. too. You won't regret it.

_This is the second time that I have read this remarkable book. Both times I found myself envying the author for having established friendships with two of my greatest heroes, two of the greatest sages of modern times, Hermann Hesse and C.G. Jung.

_This is not some collection of trivial exchanges- from the first meeting with both men the tone of the conversations were deep and significant. As the author says, it was like he had known both men before and they were resuming an old discussion. Hess himself commented on it and said that, "Here, only the right guests meet. This is the Hermetic Circle...." Sounds rather like Jung's concept of synchronicity, though Jung also speaks of Hermetic links with past and future in these discussions.

_While both sections cover a remarkable amount of the core meaning of the life work of both men, there is also a personal sense here. You feel like you are meeting them yourself, are also guests in their houses. Not that the ideas are all rehash either- here and there something new pops up. An example would be how in one of the interviews with Jung the discussion turned to how both the ancient Greeks and the Native Americans both thought from their hearts and not their heads. Thinking exclusively from one's head is the result of dissociation between ego and Self- and sets up a tension that may tear a person or culture to pieces. In any case, you feel that you know both men. Of course, Hesse's novels were autobiographical in the deepest sense (and it is reaffirming to know that he actually was an accurate reflection of his characters- it wasn't just a show.) As for Jung, he states outright that he wrote primarily for his own process of individuation and that the fact that so many others read him made him frankly uncomfortable.

_I was glad to see that my own perceptions of these often misunderstood and misinterpreted men seem to have been accurate from the start. For me too it was like a conversation with old friends- relinking with the Hermetic Circle.

Serrano was a writer and diplomat who sought out 2 masters as a spiritual/philosophic seeker. Fascinating biography, mixed with Serrano's own fixations.

Serrano later fixated on Adolph Hitler, so there certainly seems to be a germanic bent that he followed. Read "Black Sun" to see the strange path MS took after his encounters with Hesse and Jung.

I discovered this book during a bleak time in late 2002, and magic and mystery returned to my life as a result. The book inspired me to make the pilgrimage to Chile to visit the author, just as he himself had visited Hesse and Jung decades earlier, and I will always cherish the memory of the afternoon I spent with him in Santiago in March 2005.

Unfortunately Serrano has now passed beyond this world, but his spirit lives on, forever part of the Hermetic Circle he writes of in this wonderful book.

Frank McShane, who was a friend of Serrano, has rendered it brilliantly into English, but despite its accessibility few will ever read it, partly for reasons Serrano himself mentions on the very first page: "Even today, I would go half-way round the world to find a book if I thought it essential to my needs, and I have a feeling of absolute veneration for those few authors who have given me something special. For this reason I can never understand the tepid youth of today who wait for books to be given to them and who neither search nor admire."

Today, of course, few even read at all, and especially not writing like this, so saturated in meaning and magic, and filled with synchronicity, from the bee sting that caused Hesse to be at home when Serrano first visited him to the lightning bolt which struck Jung's favourite tree the night of his death.

People who believe the universe is a dead machine will laugh at this book...but let them. Serrano already mentions them in a chapter called 'The Dream': "They were untroubled by doubt and had no concern for vital essences. [...] The last exponents of a world of flesh and blood had departed and, with their concern for a living earth with gods and demons, were considered by this new generation of anti-men as romantic idealists, the product merely of a decayed bourgeois society..."

Serrano's book, on the contrary, belongs to that living earth of gods and demons. Just read it and immerse yourself in the magical atmosphere of Bremgarten and the great world of dreams, and the essence of a Legend beyond time or space.

Steven B. Herrmann, PhD, MFT
Author of "William Everson: The Shaman's Call"

It has been said by many Jungian's that Jung's attitude was not aesthetic, but with the recent publication of his Red Book, it is clear that he was a skilled artist, a calligrapher and also a poet. The early misunderstanding by Jungians about his basic psychological attitude towards art has much to do with Jung's own judgments towards the products of his active imagination experiences. He did not view them as art. Miguel Serrano was one of the first friends of Jung who saw through his empirical and scientific attitude to the artist underneath. He thought that Jung passed beyond the frontiers of science when he said to Serrano in a reverie: "Somewhere there was once a Flower, a Stone, a Crystal, a Queen, a King, a Palace, a Lover and his Beloved, and this was long ago..." In this marvelous book, which I loved reading many years ago, Serrano says that Jung spoke these words "as though he were in a trance." "Nobody understands what I mean," Jung said to his friend, "only a poet could begin to understand...." (60). Moved by what he had heard, Serrano told Jung: "You are a poet" (61). After his interview with Jung, Serrano began to wonder if there was a "second language" in the process of individuation described by Jung that is "waiting to be discovered" by one of his disciples, an "underlying language" which "is already there as a palimpsest" (64). Serrano felt this hidden aspect of Jung's works needed only to be interpreted by "a priest, a magician or a poet" (64). Serrano captured this latent shamanic meaning in Jung's works, and although he may have mislabeled it as the achievement of a poet, many of Jung's works border on poetry. For this reason I find Serrano's Record of Two Friendships to be a first attempt to arrive at a synthesis between a scientific and aesthetic view of Jung. With the recent publication of the Red Book, the preponderance of evidence that he was indeed an artist and a poet is leading towards a more balanced view that shows how prescient Serrano was. This is a beautiful book, one that will be of interest to anyone interested in Serrano's writing, in Jung, and in poetry and literature.

I agree with the other critic Ben. Serrano interjects himself way too much into the story. His ego takes over the story telling. The interviews were excellent reading. This was my first introduction to Hesse so that was helpful.

Carl Jung and Hermann Hesse unplugged in a fascinating and accessible way. The reader is a fly on the wall during Serrano's visits to these spiritual giants over the years. In my memory now, I almost feel like I was at a series of small dinner parties- Jung, Hesse, Serrano and me. Serrano has helped Jung and Hesse become 'companions' in the background and trajectory of my life. And these are some friends to have! Imagine that...

While I enjoyed this book, it fell short of the other reviews posted here. I'll preface my review - my readings of Jung are more limited than Hesse. I would rate the Hesse portion 2 stars, and the Jung Section 4 stars.

Serrano romanticizes both Hesse and Jung to the point that they are portrayed as spiritual leaders. Serrano reminded me of a wide-eyed traveler who enjoyed idealizing the East, never really becoming entrenched in the culture. Spirituality isn't found by moving to India as much as Serrano alludes. It is possible my cynicism is a result of a recent trip to Asia where I encountered many travelers that reminded me of Serrano's worldly immaturity, although his later fascination with Nazism lends itself to my analysis.

I was looking forward to the linkage between these authors and East theology/philosophy, but I think Serrano came up short. Some ideas he purports came from Jung or Hesse were around long before either author was born, and I do not think either author would say otherwise.

Serrano fixates, at times, on himself a bit too much. Maybe some readers find Serrano interesting, but I was reading the book for insight into Hesse and Jung.

Serrano wrote about Hesse as if Hesse were the Buddha. If you are interested in spiritual guidance I'd search elsewhere. Personally I think Hesse led a life of greater inner turmoil than Serrano lets on in this piece. I can appreciate the other reviewer's comment about people misunderstanding Hesse, however I found reading Hesse's "Wandering" more fruitful than this work.

I did enjoy the Jung section. Serrano focuses less on himself in the Jung section and has more detailed accounts of interactions which I found fascinating. However, my readings of Jung are somewhat limited so the section may not actually offer much insight compared to other works.

I'd recommend reading the book for the Jung section, but maybe get this book from the library rather than buying it.