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Wow. Freud? This is surprising. I think he's a quack. He also looks like a giant phallus. Frued is a phallus head. But maybe I will try rereading hime sometime.

Great review Jessica. I'll dig mine out of the donation pile and read it before it goes to the U of M.

Freud was undoubtedly a genius but that don't make him a Good Thing. For a world which was craving for religion but could no longer believe in God he provided the perfect substitute, psychoanalysis, the apotheosis of narcissism. He gave us permission to find our own selves endlessly interesting, for which we salute him. All of this makes him brother to that other 19th century genius and creator of a godless religion, Karl Marx. Karl's religion was the polar opposite of Sigmund's as it demanded the subsuming of the individual within the collective - this didn't prevent some Marxists being very neurotic and eventually driving themselves completely crazy (Pol Pot and his merry crew) and didn't prevent other Marxists taking to the confessional couch, but only in places like America and France where the real Marxists couldn't catch them and send them to the gulag. The unreal Marxists went crazy too and came up with spectacularly barmy theories like Marcuse, Derrida, De Man, Foucault and all of that lot.
Sometimes it seems to me that much of the story of nineteenth century Western thought is a struggle towards these two great theories, as the last fifty years is the story of our struggle away from these two great theories.
Note - If the above sounds a little tetchy it's because I think I'm coming down with a giant cold.

Yeah, I'm pretty down on psychoanalysis myself, and at the end of the day I'm way more of a Marxist than a Freudian -- which, come to think of it, is kind of the implicit point of that social work paper I still haven't started!

Freud is a lot more fun to read than Marx, and he's most fun when approached as an author of literature, not as the founder of psychoanalysis.

In his defense, Freud's reputation suffers far more from the sins of his followers than even Marx's does. Freud gave us the unconscious, which by itself is a wonderful thing to have. He did not give us Woody Allen any more than Marx gave us the Khmer Rouge. I believe that a lot of people think he said and intended things that just weren't in his actual work, which is not to say I think the actual work is necessarily "Good" in a values kind of way, but a lot of it is "good" in a "good book" kind of way.....!

You don't sound tetchy. Take some zinc!

The longest relationship I had was with a guy I met in an art history class at Tappan Hall in Ann Arbor. He was as handsome as a painting, had long wavy black hair and big brown eyes and could easily be cast as Jesus. He wore leather and rode a motorcycle. I called him my "motorcycle man". Fifteen years later we met on a dance floor at a club in Detroit at a party for volunteers at the local public radio station. His long hair was gone. He wore a suit but he still had those killer eyes. He asked for my card and called a year later. I was skeptical but agreed to "go out" with him. He liked riding bicycles, and took me to some great neighborhoods, in fact introduced me to the area where I eventually bought a house. He liked driving small cars and was a vegetarian. I ate meat and drove a bigger car. His idea of a date was going out Saturday night when the dealerships were closed to look at cars without the pressure of salespeople. Things were all right, not outstanding but we were more mature, more experienced and were no longer college kids. We enjoyed doing things together, the usual: movies, dinner, nature walks, etc. etc. We discussed books and religion, and made a point to make out. I learned he had been working on his dissertation for seven years. That should have told me something. He started to criticize little things, started eating meat and got a bigger car. I realized I was getting analysis at home as well as at the counseling center. One Sunday morning we were in bed having our usual discussion about faith, economics and secular humanism. I don't remember what prompted it but I called Freud an asshole: the moment of truth. He was studying to be a Freudian therapist! I felt like eating less meat and started driving a smaller car. He said he wasn't a very happy guy. He said he wasn't that good to me. I said it wasn't that bad but realized I should have expected better. That's my Freud story.

That's a really good story. Thanks for sharing it....

You know what Freud may be a bit like? The Bible. Great document, but some people take parts of it way too literally, and get carried away.

<----Jessica--look at my new picture! It's very freudian.

Sorry, I am trying really hard not to make fun of Freud. I know you're very serious about him. But it's funny!

No, I still think he's an asshole but I should have a more educated reason why I say he's an asshole. The whole penis-envy thing is a big turn off. My story is funny not serious.

Monica, your story is funny! I didn't say it wasn't funny! Laura, your picture is not funny, it's serious. It is very Freudian, and it's great that it's right there where you say you love Moby Dick. Do you have more pictures from those events? I don't have any. Please send me some!

I know I sound totally crazy when I talk about Freud, but it's because I have a hard time articulating what I mean, so I keep trying over and over again to get it right (a bad habit I have). The penis-envy thing is a perfect example. If it weren't for the significance of that theory, reading about it would be funny! I think it would be, anyway. What a funny idea! Hah hah hah! It's funny, isn't it? The idea that a man would think women are really deeply envious of his penis is completely hilarious.

Although as you can see from Laura's picture, it is not completely inaccurate.

I just realized you can click on the picture and it gets bigger. Very Freudian!

F really understood the essence of substance use and addiction. He ultimately just could not quit smoking, even when oral cancer ravaged his mouth, resulting in horrible pain, multiple surgeries, and costing him his jaw (yes, they removed his jaw) and finally his life.

Maybe this'll just sound dull and won't strike a chord with anyone else, but I really like it:

"The service rendered by intoxicating media in the struggle for happiness and in keeping misery at a distance is so highly prized as a benefit that individuals and peoples alike have given them an established place in the economics of their libido. We owe to such media not merely the immediate yield of pleasure, but also a greatly desired degree of independence from the external world. For one knows that, with the help of this 'drowner of cares' one can at any time withdraw from the pressure of reality and find refuge in a world of one's own with better conditions of sensibility. As is well known, it is precisely this property of intoxicants which also determines their danger and their injuriousness. They are responsible, in certain circumstances, for the useless waste of a large quota of energy which might have been employed for the improvement of the human lot" (p. 28).

Included in my intoxicating media of choice in my personal struggle for happiness is Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ and all of your funny stuff. My cold is terrible so I can't sleep but you're all keeping my misery at a distance. Half past four in the morning but you still raised a smile. I would have laughed but that would have turned into a coughing fit.

We don't envy you your cold, Paul!


Hope you feel better soon...

We envy his penis.

You made me laugh. Now I have to lie down and cough.

Currently reading Civilization and Its Discontents, I could not have agreed with your comments on Freud more.

For me its very interesting enjoyed it.

I cannot even begin to explain how much I agree with this comment

Not a surprise because I have no idea who you are.