Customer Reviews

Introduction to the Work of Melanie Klein

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Klein's own writing is not the hardest style to read and comprehend in terms of the words themselves (unlike, for example, Bion, her student). However, she has a very stark and literalist feel to her that can be dismaying and can put you off your supper, so to speak. At first I could not really take Klein in very easily, except to recognize that she (along with some others) was responsible for a lot of modern developents in psychoanalysis once her ideas were elaborated by others. That said, this plainly worded summary of the basic points of Klein's theorizing is excellent and really helped cement my understanding. For example, the clarification of the term 'instinct' alone was worth the price of admission. This aided me in getting over my puzzlement and revulsion at the concept of a so-called 'death instinct,' although further reading of other authors really has made the 'life' and 'death' instincts merely useful labels at this point. (Segal clarifies that the word 'instinct' is essentially a mistranslation or difficulty in translation, so that 'instinct' does not really imply a completely hard-wired behsvior as in animals, but merely a strong behavioral tendency. 'Tendency' and 'instinct' overlap, but are quite different). At any rate, this is a wonderful introduction to Klein by one of her own students.

This is a short volume that distills the thought of one of the great psychoanalytic innovators into a quickly accessible but sophisticated account--accessible to a student, valuable to an experienced clinician. Like brandy from champagne.
Gregory T. Lombardo, MD, PhD