Reviews for Writings on Art and Literature (Meridian: Crossing Aesthetics Series)

The average rating for Writings on Art and Literature (Meridian: Crossing Aesthetics Series) based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-06-06 00:00:00 Jessie Ziegenhagen The way Freud dissects and analyses the lives of the some greatest artists and writers like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Dostoevsky in support of his hypotheses may make those who revere the above artists to cringe and curse him for degrading the great men. What cannot be denied is the brilliance exhibited in the writings of one of the towering thinkers of 20th century. In support of his analysis Freud would mention in one of his speeches delivered while accepting the "Goethe Prize" in 1927 as follows : - "Even the best and fullest of them(biographies) could not answer the two questions which alone seem worth knowing about(these great men). It would not throw any light on the riddle of the miraculous gift that makes an artist, and it would not help us to comprehend any better the value and effect of his works" Therefore, the analysis done by Freud on these great men is to "to reduce the distance that separates him from us". With this conviction that what he was doing was only in furtherance of the cause of the arts, Freud mercilessly analysed the lives of some of the greatest artists to find the motivations for their success or failure . He had given the counter arguments which might arise against his conclusions. For reading the book one should have tremendous patience since Freud quotes from so many sources which one might hardly have read or heard of. For example, the first part of the book deals with Jensen's Gradiva about an obscure German novel by a still less popular writer. For understanding this part, I had to search and read this novel. This book containing collected works of Freud is another attempt to understand the "subtle disturbances of mental function in healthy and and sick people and to infer from signs of this kind how the apparatus which serves these functions is constructed and what concurrent and mutually opposing forces are at work in it". A really dry subject can be dealt with in such an interesting manner also is a sign of the greatness of this thinker.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-01-02 00:00:00 Jason Loomis I am much more fond of Freud at the end of this book than I was at the beginning. Specifically in regard to Shakespearean character studies, this book proved to be useful supplemental material.