Memories, Dreams, Reflections

Summary

'I can understand myself only in the light of inner happenings. It is these that make up the singularity of my life, and with these my autobiography deals' (Carl Gustav Jung)

In 1957, four years before his death, Carl Gustav Jung, psychiatrist and psychologist, began writing his life story. But what started as an exercise in autobiography soon morphed into an altogether more profound undertaking. The result is an absorbing piece of self-analysis: a frank statement of faith, philosophy and principles from one of the great explorers of the human mind.

Covering everything from Sigmund Freud, analytical psychology and Jungian dream interpretation to a forthright discussion of world myths and religions, including Christianity, Buddhism and other religions, these final reflections on an extraordinary life are a fitting coda to the work of Carl Gustav Jung. It was Jung who observed and named key human characteristics such as the introvert, the extrovert, the animus, the anima, and other concepts such as archetypes (the wise old man, the mother), the collective unconscious, the complex and many more.

His studies took him into many fields - religion, anthropology, archeology and literature - which instructed his clinical work. This extraordinary breadth gave him a view of humanity and of culture that still resonates deeply.

Memories, Dreams, Reflections is a remarkable document showing a man of great depth, humility and perspicacity. Once read, it is never forgotten.

Aniela Jaffé's introduction is read by Elizabeth Proud.

Jung's single-minded humiity, his passion to unearth truth, is one of the loveliest impressions to emerge from this absorbing and many-sided book. ( The Times)