The Essential Jung [Paperback]

C. G. Jung (Author), Anthony Storr (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 14, 1999

This volume presents the essentials of Jung's thought in his own words. To familiarize readers with the ideas for which Jung is best known, the British psychiatrist and writer Anthony Storr has selected extracts from Jung's writings that pinpoint his many original contributions and relate the development of his thought to his biography. Dr. Storr has prefaced each extract with explanatory notes. These notes link the extracts, and with Dr. Storr's introduction, they show the progress and coherence of Jung's ideas, including such concepts as the collective unconscious, the archetypes, introversion and extroversion, individuation, and Jung's view of integration as the goal of the development of the personality.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is by far the best introduction to the work and thought of Carl Gustav Jung now available [1983]. I wish it were possible to require that every teacher and critic, cleric and cocktail-party magus who takes the name of Jung upon his tongue should have read Anthony Storr's admirable compilation at least once, for untold misunderstanding and unwarranted assumption would be saved thereby.... Once again, thanks and praise to Anthony Storr, clinical lecturer in psychiatry in the University of Oxford, for a masterly achievement. -- Robertson Davies, The Globe and Mail



This is the best introductory book for the serious reader. Add it to the autobiography and The Freud/Jung Letters and one has the beginning of a lifetime's serious entertainment. -- J. D. O'Hara, Virginia Quarterly Review



A lively and succinct introduction. -- The Economist



A commentary that is admirably clear and unfailingly level in its tone. -- The Sunday Times



Dr. Anthony Storr has undertaken the formidable task of selecting essential extracts from the huge outpouring of Jung. . . . He starts well with a lively and succinct introduction. . . . The book is then neatly compartmentalized into the main stages of Jung's thought. -- The Economist

Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 456 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press; Revised edition edition (December 14, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691029350
• ISBN-13: 978-0691029351
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #282,086 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good survey of Jung's writings, but ..., July 14, 2003

By 

Robert Anderson (Pacific Northwest) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Essential Jung (Paperback)

if you're unacquainted with Jung (as I was) and are looking for an introduction and overview of his contributions to psychology, then this is going to be a tough read and probably not what you want.

Essentially this book contains various writings of Jung which are a sampler, if you will, of the important ideas that he contributed to psychology such as the concepts of the collective unconscious, archetypes, personality types, syncronicity, mandalas, dream interpretation, etc.

Be aware that in these writings, Jung is addressing himself to his contemporaries who are well versed in the jargon of psychology.

Overall, I learned quite a bit about Jung and his ideas by reading this book but I also feel that I would have benefited more if I had already read some type of layman's guide to Jung's ideas before tackling this book.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you haven't yet time for the Collected Works, March 17, 2006

By 

OAKSHAMAN "oakshaman" (Algoma, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Essential Jung (Paperback)

_Some years ago I chose this excellent volume to round out my understanding of Jung's work. I had been exposed to the basics of his theories, as well as having read several of his complete works, but I didn't want to be accused of "picking and choosing" among his entire body of work. While I would one day like to read his complete 18 volumes of Collected Works I didn't have the time or resources back then. I found this to be a well-selected, comprehensive sampling. It not only rounded out my knowledge, but it both served as a good review for what I already knew, while pointing me to further study in areas that I was previously only vaguely aware of.

Part 1: Jung's Early Work
Part 2: Jung's Involvement with Freud and His Divergence from Freud's Theories
Part 3: The Development of the Idea of the Collective Unconscious and of Archetypes
Part 4: Archetypes: Shadow, Shadow, Anima, Animus, the Persona, the Wise Old Man
Part 5: Psychological Types and the Self-regulating Psyche
Part 6: The Development of the Individual
Part 7: Integration, Wholeness, and the Self
Part 8: Self and Opposites: God and the Problem of Evil
Part 9: Unus Mundus and Synchronicity
Part 10: Man and his Future

_The table of contents makes it clear where each selection was drawn from. Moreover, each selection is prefixed with the exact page numbers referenced to the Collected Works. There is an appendix of the Chronology of Jung's Life and Work. Further, there is a very useful glossary of Jung's terminology. This is followed by a detailed bibliography. There is a full index. There are several black and white pages illustrating mandalas.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Jung is an essential read., May 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Essential Jung (Hardcover)

Stor has done a wonderful thing in presenting Jung's voluminous works in a single volume. Although the content may at times be intimidating, the sections flow easily enough. If you are going to read any book this year, then this should be the one. Jung makes it absolutely clear the challenge that faces the modern mind, caught between reason and faith. In the last section he gives due emphasis to the struggle between the individual and the state. In short, this book is true wisdom for all to meditate upon.