Collected Works of C.G. Jung, Volume 4: Freud & Psychoanalysis Book

Right, this is my first review on here - they'll probably be sporadic - and I have to warn you that they won't be fancy either because I'd feel really fake and stupid writing that way about what is basically just a little hobby, bit of reading for fun or whatever.

ANYWAY this book is really good*, that's what compelled me to do a review. It totally blasts Freud and his sexual obsessions and whatnot right out of the water, which is great for me because I find Freud's sex obsessions and blatant misogyny kind of creepy. Jung is very nice about women, and also introduces the concept of the libido as being a more general energy, that which compels us to do anything beyond cater to our own basic, individual survival needs, rather than a purely sexual drive or instinct that underpins everything we do. He says that if we basically find good and proper adult things to do then most of our sex-neuroses will sort themselves out. In Jung's conceptualisation the libidinal energy is dynamic and ever-shifting, with many different manifestations and outlets, sex being just one of them rather than the be-all-and-end-all a la Freud.

Freud and Jung used to be super tight and agree on lots of things to do with psychoanalysis, with Freud at one point considering Jung as essentially the heir to his throne, the crown prince to his king and so on. It's fascinating to see Jung initially agreeing with and defending much that Freud has to say, before striking out individually, developing his own (in my opinion far more sophisticated) ideas, and ultimately freely criticising his own former mentor/master/father figure. Great plot development, wonderful and dramatic story there.

On a personal level I feel that Jung is just a nicer guy than Freud, very funny and charming, enjoyable to read. Freud is kind of humourless, repetitive and dry and honestly says the craziest shit about women with a completely straight face. However he is the grandad of all this psychology stuff so respect to him and everything but honestly I have to say that Jung is where it's at. Freud's cold and clinical godlessness is also kind of depressing whereas Jung lives in and introduces us to this electrical and very alive world, contained perhaps within the unconscious, filled with archetypes and spirituality and therefore I suppose, Hope... which is nice :)

*Would have been 5/5 but the early agreement with Freud, while necessary for the collected works on the subject was a little bit too immature and underdeveloped for my tastes, and there was some stuff on Numerology that was either kind of pointless or went right over my head.