Customer Reviews

The Red Book

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In 1913, a 40 year old world renowned psychologist suffers recurring dreams and visions of world catastrophe. His expertise as a psychiatrist working with incurable psychotics forces him to conclude that he is on a course to madness. His training as a scientist compels him to meticulously document what he imagines will be his unavoidable decline into insanity. With the outbreak of World War I, he experiences relief in the realization that the images that have haunted him over the prior ten months pictured not his own undoing, but that of the world. As the outer conflict unfolds, he continues to record the process unfolding within his own psyche, which is reflective of the events in the larger collective. He continues the process until near the War's end, and then spends more than a decade devotedly elaborating, amplifying and illustrating the material that burst upon him during that time in order to render it comprehensible.

The Red Book is not "personal" as we use that word now. It is "personal" in the sense that it details one individual's very unique experience of coming into relationship with what Jung termed the Self, and in prior times was referred to as God, but it is at the same time very impersonal, and actually universal, in cataloguing the drama inherent in any person's formation of that relationship. The book is at home with The Odyssey, The Divine Comedy, Goethe's Faust, and, as much as anything, The Red Book is Jung's response to Thus Spoke Zarathustra and to Nietzsche's proposition that for modern man, God is dead. The response is that God is neither dead nor to be found in outer religious, national or political containers, but is to be discovered and struggled with in the living of each individual life.

A not uncommon dream is of stumbling upon a previously unknown addition or wing of one's dwelling, which addition is found to be many, many times the size of the existing structure, and to contain objects and treasures of previously unimaginable value, interest and numinousity. One is filled with awe and wonder at the new found wealth and possibilities. The experience of encountering The Red Book after spending 30 years in Jung's existing body of work is equally stupefying. That there could be so much more that Jung had to share and communicate about the human soul seems not just improbable, but impossible. Yet The Red Book is that much, much larger, more nuanced and tremendously numinous structure that is behind, under, around and the foundation for all of Jung's subsequent ideas, theories, publications and works. Extraordinary.

I HAVE the Red Book and am in the process of reading it. It is beyond description! This truly unique book represents the personal journal one courageous man took into the dangerous realm of the unconscious in search of an understanding of himself and the structure of the human personality in general. In the process, Jung regained his soul which was lost in the contemporary malaise of spiritual alienation. Liber Novus, as the book is called, represents a prototype of the individuation process, which is seen as the universal form of individual development. Jung was a psychiatrist who worked with schizophrenics. He intuited that their fantasies held meaning important for their healing and saw that some of the fantasies corresponded to mythological motifs. This curiosity lead Jung to his own decision to drop beneath consciousness to explore the realm of these fantasies, the realm of the "dead". He did this without chemicals or inducers but through a process he called active imagination. An inner world opened up to him to explore, which he documented in his writings and paintings. The book itself is like a medieval manuscript created with great care. He worked on the book for 16 years, giving it to others to read and edit with the intention of it one day being published. Liber Novus is a book of wisdom and deserves to be studied. It invites the reader into the world of imagination--like the dream world. I have studied my dreams for years and the language is similar. It shows what we have to learn when we slow down and listen to the inner voices. I thank Jung for giving me a guide to the soul, or human personality--which ever language one prefers.

This book is glorious. I hardly need to comment on the content, as Jung's magnum opus is clearly of mythical proportions. And reality certainly matches the myth. Aside from the content, the presentation is outstanding. High quality color copies of his journal entries are provided in original form throughout the first half of the book, and translations and editor commentary are provided in the second half. The binding, printing and color quality are all museum grade, and I consider this an investment-quality purchase. This is by far one of the most important pieces of psychological thought, and offers a rare glimpse into a brilliant man's thinking on a highly abstruse concept.

I finished the Red Book last night. It is a magnificent book of power. Here, you will find a side of the chameleon Jung that cannot be found in any of his Collected Works, his published Seminars, or his published Letters (all of which I have read). The only book that sometimes points, tonally, in this direction is Memories, Dreams, Reflections. The Red Book unleashes Jung the Poet, Jung the Painter, Jung the Prophet, and Jung the Shamanic Explorer and Revealer of the depths. Combined with his previously published oeuvre, the Liber Novus demonstrates the remarkably large personality that Jung was, and his cultural importance for our time.

My first impression in browsing the book, examining the vividly detailed art work and calligraphy was that the Red Book is reminiscent of the Book of Kells, or medieval Islamic or Christian Illuminated Manuscripts. As a previous reviewer mentioned, this book has a Presence. It generates a circle of energy, a power that can't be missed. It renews a respect for the printed book, so long second nature to educated humans, which can be forgotten in this age of digital media. The dust jacket has a sort of cheap look and feel, so I immediately was a bit put off; however, the quality of the pages, the color and vividness of the art work and the printing left me amazed that the Philemon Foundation could sell the book at the price they do and hope to make a profit.

Jung's words answer many questions about the development of his personality, his psychology and Active Imagination. Shamdasani's Introduction is outstanding in places, answering other questions and providing very helpful background; in other places it is superficial and some of his statements about Jung's psychology are dubious. It is more effective as an Epilogue than an Introduction, as it sets the wrong tone for this remarkable exploration of the Unconscious. The included Notes (translator and editorial) are interesting but written in high Academese; they feel a bit out of place. Still, Shamdasani, and all those involved, have achieved a tremendous opus, themselves, in releasing this buried treasure.

The Red Book demonstrates, in magnificent, poetic words, and breathtaking, unforgettable imagery, nothing less than the Process of Self-transformation, of Individuation. As Jung says, "the supreme meaning is the path, the way and the bridge to what is to come." In this Book of Mana, Jung reveals that process of creating/finding/building the New Path/Way/Bridge.

During over two decades reading Jung, this is the book I dreamed of some day seeing. Yes, it is incredible.

But instead of adding to the many praises of the Red Book, let me comment on the editorial work that accompanies Jung's text.

Sonu Shamdasani's Introduction is undoubtedly the best available biography of Jung, though focused in context on the critical central years of Jung's life. Shamdasani is a remarkable scholar, and he has spent over 13 years with the primary documents -- material never before made available to a scholar, documents including Jung's seven Black Book journals, the various draft manuscripts of the Red Book, Jung's own dream books and letters from the period, the amazing contemporary diary of Cary F. Baynes, and innumerable other previously unpublished (and largely unknown) primary sources. After Shamdasani's work, all previous biographical evaluations of this period are irrelevant. No researcher previously had access to the basic and extensive source material upon which a biography must be founded, and thus much of what was written in past decades was either pure speculation or blatant perfidy.

BUT, you ask, why is it not in stock for shipment??

Because the publisher, Norton, was uncertain if this huge and expensive book would sell. The first printing was for only 5,000 copies! To the publisher's surprise, these sold out in pre-publication orders two months before the official release date of Oct 7, 2009. This is not an easy book to print, or reprint. Printing is done in Italy on over-sized museum quality papers, with superb binding. Unlike the average hard-cover book, ordering up another ten thousand copies of a book like this is not a simple matter. Once you hold the book, you will understand the issues involved in creating such a beautiful volume. Even the larger second printing sold out in pre-order, and was just becoming available for shipping at the end of November. The next printing will be available in December or later. Eventually the printers will catch up with demand, but it may take several more months.

If you have not seen a copy in a bookstore, it is because they CANNOT GET A COPY from the publisher! So if you want it, order now...

(May 2010 update -- We now have around 50,000 copies printed, and still lots of backorders, but production is catching up with demand. With the seventh printing the book should be in stock at most sellers. Sales have been amazing for a volume of this size and cost. For those looking for a helpful guide to a reading of the book, search for the thirteen lecture audio series on "Jung and the Red Book" by Dr. Stephan A. Hoeller, available online. This lecture series has received great reviews from many students of Jung.)

(December 2009 update -- Norton is now in the fifth printing, and still back-ordered a couple of months. The Red Book seems to have touched a soulful place in modern culture.)

If you are of sound mind, stout heart, and good character, then join CG Jung on the most intrepid and exhilarating journey imaginable: the journey to the centre of [a] man (that is if you can pry this book from the cloying grip of the academics and fundamentalists long enough to enjoy it for what it is and have the grace to let it be just that).

Be warned: it's tough going. You'll be exposed to primordial figures that may remind you of some of your own. You'll be thrown into a bewildering desert of early-twentieth century Swiss-protestant metaphysics (heavily spiced by Goethe, Nietzsche, and assorted mythologies). You'll see some of the complexes and neuroses of a great man exposed in all their horror and occasional hilarity. You'll marvel as big ideas find their first voice in a seemingly unwilling recipient. You may even share a little of the horror and pain as Jung fails to see the joke his own psyche is playing on him, or perhaps even occasionally misses the point? Best, you'll see many symbols and wonders of the soul that, whilst being all too familiar, remain elusive, beckoning, and truly awesome to behold. Yep, it's your basic esoteric hero's journey, writ large, for all to misinterpret.

The Red Book is a beautiful, rare, and unique artefact of someone else's process. It's almost like a travel book, documenting CG's personal and idiosyncratic journey across the great undiscovered country within. Like its author, it's a book that will draw out and amplify each reader's deep psychological prejudices and presumptions (you may have already glimpsed some of mine). But it reveals that author and his psychology in a way his [or anyone else's] more conventional works never have.

If you love exploring the human soul, I'd be surprised if you didn't find this the most fascinating, exasperating and incredible book you've ever read, as I have. Enjoy, but be warned: you may loose some sleep over it!

PS: As befits the subject, the standard of scholarship and presentation of this book is exhaustive, exhausting, and without parallel.

I received the red book yesterday, and spent a couple of hours reading the first few pages of the English traslation.
It is clear that this book was a work of love and reverence, taking many years and many hands to produce.

I am a psychologist, not a Jungian, as the schools I have attended did not afford me the opportunity for that training, but, Dr. Jung and I have crossed paths many times, as I have studied creativity and subconscious thought. As such, I bought this volume thinking it would provide a rare glimpse of the workings of the mind of a genius, I doubt I will be disappointed.

As noted in the title, I doubt I could do justice to this work in the way that a serious student of Jung's work could....
but want to say it is magnificently produced, with Jung's original manuscript carefully reproduced, as well as an English translation and commentary providing historical and cultural context. Note: My commentary pertains more to the edition, or production value, than to the content (which speaks for itself, or would have better spokespeople). I would consider this a bibliophile's book as well, on par with Audubon's legendary "baby elephant" portfolio.

Sorry Amazon, I just can not imagine that this book could be experienced the same way on a Kindle: more portable, yes (it is a 10 lb. book), but the art, the sense of the closeness to the material you get from a life size reproduction....well, I think this is a book which would be somewhat diminished by reduction to a small frame.

I very nearly received this as an Anniversary gift (having found that out only after having confessed to purchasing it). This is a work that is a cultural treasure and would no doubt make a very nice gift, if you know know someone with an interest in the workings of the mind.

I was blessed to see many of Jung's original writings and artwork contained in the Redbook, as well as in "Liber Novus" itself. This translation and rendering is simply wonderful. First, the entire Red Book in Jung's own hand is respectfully reproduced in perfect detail, completely. The book is GIANT, larger than life as if the sheer size conveys it's equal importance. Then there is a wonderful short biography that compliments not duplicates the many Jung biographies out there as well as pays honor to Jung's autobiography, "Memories, Dreams, and Reflections." After the faithful reproduction in German, there is the English translation. There is great effort to explain much of Jung's Psychology, without being painfully tedious about the daunting undertaking. The writing is mystical and mighty in it's depth. Like scripture, like an ancient text, truly from the collective unconscious, you can hardly bare to read more than a few lines before contemplating it's meaning. Jung speaks to the reader as if he wrote it yesterday (or speaking to you in the moment). Perhaps he was writing to the "spirit of our time" not only to his own. At times it seems that Jung is speaking with the voice of the collective itself (e.g. from the "Self", from "Psyche", from "God"?). The art work is reproduced in ultra high resolution, in detail that I've never seen of Jung's work. Some of the art, I'm seeing for the first time. Words can't be written with high enough praise for this wonderful work. I am so grateful to the Jung family and to the Jung institute as well as it's faithful editors for giving this work to the world. Second only to the Bible to me, it is a great work of literature worthy of the wait and a must-have to any Jungian.

My husband and I pre-ordered the Red Book when we discovered it was about to be released and were among the lucky few who received it very recently. Of course, it's clearly impossible to write a cogent review of such an important work. As Jung himself said, 'The years ... when I pursued the inner images were the most important time of my life. Everything else is to be derived from this. It began at that time, and the later details hardly matter anymore. My entire life consisted in elaborating what had burst forth from the unconscious and flooded me like an enigmatic stream and threatened to break me. That was the stuff and material for more than only one life'.

So far I've looked at some, but not all, of the art work and have read the translations of several passages. It's a very intense presence in the house. Having read the Seven Sermons to the Dead, Memories, Dreams and Reflections and a number of more scholarly books written by Jung I have to say he's been one of my principal guides through this maze of life. The simple fact of the Red Book having been printed and offered at a cost that most interested people could afford is proof enough that his family understands the great need for the book to be available now. The Shadow of our culture looms upon us and this is something Jung himself recognized nearly 100 years ago.

Okay, now I've read it all, whew!!! Starting the second time through and taking notes. This is historic literature and the second time even better since the introductory materials by editor and translators are even more valuable and more transparently astute and, well, brilliant.

It is touching to see Jung sweating blood (red means a lot of things and blood is one of them) to arrive at understandings that have by now become so much a part of our worldview, so much a part of psychology, so much a part of our myth with Joseph Campbell and all the better known authors and scholars working with Jung's understandings.

There are schools of astrology infused with the very understandings Jung found on his self-experiments and exploration. No wonder he considered this the genesis of everything he did later and his most important. And no wonder he hesitated again and again to publish it. He felt it would defeat his insistence on sticking to science, to the empirical, for in this journey through his own subconscious mind, he had to toss science and words away. Because there's more than that going on in us.

Two schools that are directly infused with all these understandings are Liz Greene's London School of Astrology (she's Zurich trained Jungian) and Jeffrey Wolf Green's Pluto School of Evolutionary Astrology. Jeffrey got his understandings the same way Jung did, on the inner planes, but expressed them often in Jung's terms because, after all, these terms (archetypes, collective unconscious) are now a part of our worldview. That is what Jung hoped for. But also he hoped (and said) that a time would come we would realize we ARE each other and that what we do toward one another we do to ourselves. So we would no longer make war or hurt each other because we could just skip the middle man and do it to ourself.

I will leave the former review I made before I read the book all just in case it is not too long to break the program at Amazon.


The Red Book arrived, 16 inches high, 12 inches wide,2 inches thick and weighing just over 9 pounds. Not going to be easy to carry around. The complete colorful facsimile of Jung's original journal, with its beautiful calligraphy and amazing artwork makes up the first part and the translation the rest. Needless to say I have not read it all yet. There's a spell check glitch in the word collaborated somewhere in the preface or acknowledgements. This surprised me but now I cannot find it. Jung scholars greater than I will be digging into this wonderful work for longer than we all will live. My expectation is that this will create a wider and deeper appreciation for Sonu Shamdasani and his work. In Shamdasani's introductory chapters, he shows that his understanding of Jung's work is comprehensive enough to answer many of our questions, the more famous things we all wonder about, and the key or core advances in Jung's courage to go forward with his own work. I would think that one day, this much bigger than coffee-table edition will grow smaller, perhaps in two volumes, perhaps in cloth, making it easier to tote. My own admiration and gratitude to the family members who trusted Shamdasani with this. I know the day will come when the version with the typo will be most highly prized and valued. Naturally, I recommend the book. There's just that sacred feeling. Then there's that sacred satisfaction.