Memories, Dreams, Reflections [Paperback]

C.G. Jung (Author), Aniela Jaffe (Editor), Clara Winston (Translator), Richard Winston (Translator)

Book Description

Release date: April 23, 1989

In the spring of 1957, when he was eighty-one years old, C. G. Jung undertook the telling of his life story. At regular intervals he had conversations with his colleague and friend Aniela Jaffé, and collaborated with her in the preparation of the text based on these talks. On occasion, he was moved to write entire chapters of the book in his own hand, and he continued to work on the final stages of the manuscript until shortly before his death on June 6, 1961.

This edition of Memories, Dreams, Reflections includes Jung's VII Sermones ad Mortuos. It is a fully corrected edition. 

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Jung,s single-minded humility, his passion to unearth truth, is one of the loveliest impressions to emerge from this absorbing and many-sided book., The Times 'He was on a giant scale ... he was a master physician of the soul in his insights, a profound sage in his conclusions. He is also one of Western Man,s great liberators., J. B. Priestley, Sunday Telegraph 'Can sometimes rise to the heights of a Blake or a Nietzsche or a Kierkegaard ... like any true prophet or artist he extended the range of the human imagination ... to be able to share Jungian emotions is surely an almost necessary capacity of the free mind., Polly Toynbee, Observer --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 430 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; Revised Edition edition (April 23, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679723951
• ISBN-13: 978-0679723950
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (86 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,300 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( J ) > Jung, Carl
  • #6 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Behavioral Sciences > Behavioral Psychology
  • #6 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Social Scientists & Psychologists

More About the Author

Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, an influential thinker and the founder of analytical psychology (also known as Jungian psychology). Jung's radical approach to psychology has been influential in the field of depth psychology and in counter-cultural movements across the globe. Jung is considered as the first modern psychologist to state that the human psyche is "by nature religious" and to explore it in depth. His many major works include "Analytic Psychology: Its Theory and Practice," "Man and His Symbols," "Memories, Dreams, Reflections," "The Collected Works of Carl G. Jung," and "The Red Book."

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

208 of 216 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Myth of the Man, Look elsewhere for Biography March 21, 2001

By Elderbear VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

"What we are to our inward vision, and what man appears to be sub specie aeternitatis, can only be expressed by way of myth. Myth is more individual and expresses life more precisely than does science... Thus it is that I have now undertaken, in my eighty-third year, to tell my personal myth. I can only make direct statements, only "tell stories." Whether or not the stories are "true" is not the problem. The only question is whether what I tell is _my_ fable, _my_ truth." (C. G. Jung, p. 3)

If you're looking for a book "about" the life of Carl Jung, keep on looking. This is not so much a biography as it is a window into the process of Jung's experience. Think of this as Jung's "case summary" of his life. We don't read many of the amusing anectdotes, or "objective" critical insights that other biographies offer in abundance. Instead we get to experience Jung's auto-mythos for ourselves.

Jung reveals much, imparts wisdom, offers us early memories, and paints the canvas of his life for us. It's an incredible gift from a wise and self-reflective man. Jung was not without his faults, as other biographers have pointed out, he had many--some quite appalling! More than one of his analysands became his lover--behavior that would cost him his license today. But again, this is material you should look elsewhere for. Here he ponders his fears, his weaknesses, the ones that he has already accepted and worked with.

I recommend this book for people who have never read Jung before. It teaches more about his approach than any of his other books. It finds the meaning in his own life, viewed through his approach to life. "Meaninglessness inhibits fullness of life and is therefore the equivalent to illness. Meaning makes a great many things endurable--perhaps everything." (p. 340)

276 of 295 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book February 9, 2001

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

This book is less complicated than most of Jung's other writings and really explains the man Carl Jung. I highly recommend the book to anyone studying Jung. I would also recommend the book an Encounter With A Prophet.

162 of 183 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wisdom from the inner life in Jung's own words December 7, 1999

By Jackie M. Sthilaire VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

These writings come straight from Jung's own inner experience and it is his last book before his death in 1961. I have read and re-read this work because at different times in my life I needed to re-evaluate where I was and where I was going.

Other books by Jung are more intellectual and scientific, whereas, this autobiography has the wisdom of a person in the later part of life and it was written not so much to teach but to leave with us his legacy.

Having myself had a near death experience, I was especially re-affirmed by Jung's own near death experience and his dealings with this phenomenon. His acceptance of his own humanity and his returning from this state to share with us his knowledge and vision is a gift to all of us.

It is not easy to return to our humanity and deal with the sufferings we encounter but growth is the only evidence of life. We have to come down from the mountain top and work in the valley.

This brings to mind two books written by Hannah Hurnard called Mountains of Spices Mountains of Spices and Hinds Feet in High Places Hinds' Feet on High Places. Allegories about living our lives with others and not in solitude.

Solitude is a wonderful place but if we stay too long we become self-centered, afraid to reach out to others. Another author who gives a good perspective on life is Henri Nouwen and his books Out of Solitude Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Lifeand Reaching Out Reaching Out.