44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
As Gripping As A Novel, July 17, 2007
This review is from: The Jung-White Letters (Hardcover)
This book will probably appeal to a much wider audience than is normal for the writings of C.G.Jung. It is the real-life story, seen through their exchange of letters, of two men whose characters prevented them from realising the full potential of their relationship. It is a story of friendship, misunderstanding, betrayal and the struggle between fulfilling a public role and personal belief.
The Jung-White Letters (JWL) contains almost all the letters exchanged between Jung and White, in sequence. It is a complete conversation, rather than the one-sided discourse in C.G. Jung Letters, as it includes 75 letters from White to Jung, an additional 16 letters previously unpublished by Jung to White, and 30 or so letters exchanged with associates.
This book is most unlike other of C.G. Jung's writings. Whilst there is some deep debate in this book, it reads more like a novel. There are two central characters, with others playing small but important cameo roles, and there are plots and sub-plots.
The main story line revolves around the developing relationship between two intellectual giants: from the polite and formal introduction it blossoms into a great friendship, but then deteriorates rapidly. For Victor White, the story is one of wrestling between, on the one hand, what he is required to teach and affirm as a Catholic Priest and, on the other, what through his personal reflection and Jungian psychology he has come to understand is the truth. For Carl Jung, initially there is great satisfaction in finding someone who is able to interact with him on the same intellectual plane and who understands the real relevance of analytical psychology for the Church. However, as the relationship deteriorates it seems that Jung feels betrayed and even starts to question himself ("I.. with all my experience of nearly eight decades must admit that I have found no rounded answer to myself").
This book can be read on many levels. There are some letters that provide further clarification or insight into Jung's writings. There is philosophical debate on the nature of good and evil. But what makes the book most entertaining is the conflict of characters, as they wrestle with each other's and their own flaws. As such, it is a gripping read.
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32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Discussions between a psychologist and a theologian, November 28, 2005
Pre-publish description:
This book, being partially funded by the Philemon Foundation, edited publication of the correspondances of C.G. Jung and the English Dominican priest Fr. Victor White. The fully annotated work will illuminate the development of Jung's views on Christian symbolism and doctrine through the exchange which was made between these two friends. Though their friendship, like the one between Freud and Jung, would eventually unravel because of their philosophical differences, which would culminate in Jung's Aion (1951) and Answer to Job (1952). Unlike the Freud-Jung story however, some amount of reconciliation would be found just before White's death, which occured a year prior to Jung's. The book should give some interesting new insight on how Jung's perception of the religious experience differs from the mainstream. Edited by Dr. Ann C. Lammers, and assisted by Dr. Murray Stein and Adrian Cunningham.
The Philemon Foundation is an organization dedicated to the eventual publication of Jung's Complete Works, which will include multiple volumes of unpublished writings, lectures, and other works. It has been conservatively estimated that the Foundation will publish 30 volumes beyond the 20 volumes comprised in the Collected Works. Furthermore, the Foundation will comission a new translation of the Collected Works once the newer publications are completed.
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