The Uncanny (Penguin Modern Classics)
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An extraordinary collection of thematically linked essays, including THE UNCANNY, SCREEN MEMORIES and FAMILY ROMANCES.
Leonardo da Vinci fascinated Freud primarily because he was keen to know why his personality was so incomprehensible to his contemporaries. In this probing biographical essay he deconstructs both da Vinci's character and the nature of his genius. As ever, many of his exploratory avenues lead to the subject's sexuality - why did da Vinci depict the naked human body the way hedid? What of his tendency to surround himself with handsome young boys that he took on as his pupils? Intriguing, thought-provoking and often contentious, this volume contains some of Freud's best writing.
About the Author
Sigmund Freud was born in 1856 and died in exile in London in 1939. As a writer and doctor he remains one of the informing voices of the twentieth century.
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In connection with my psychoanalytic treatment (of hysteria, obsessional neurosis, etc.) I have often had to deal with fragments of memories that have stayed with individual patients from their earliest childhood years. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
In connection with my psychoanalytic treatment (of hysteria, obsessional neurosis, etc.) I have often had to deal with fragments of memories that have stayed with individual patients from their earliest childhood years. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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4 reviews
19 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Brilliant and overlooked work of Freud
12 Jun 2006
Format:Paperback
This is a remarkable contribution from Freud that is almost entirely ignored by psychology on account of its lack of applicability. But that is a tragedy, because this is a work of first-rate thinking. Freud explores the `Uncanny,' the no longer being at home, and traces its dimensions through literature, dreams, and childhood memories. He also contributes a brilliant speculation into Leonardo Da Vinci, later coined as an exercise in `psychobiography', in which he magnificently uses a single memory to investigate the conflicts and dilemmas of Leonardo's childhood and subsequent artistry and genius. This is a crucial text in Freud's vast body of work, I urge you to read it.
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Collection of Essays
6 Jun 2008
Format:Paperback
The Uncanny is actually a collection of Freud's essays, all of which are of good quality, easily read (Freud is a talented writer and his essays are engaging and well written) and interesting to behold. The five essays are: Screen Memories, The Creative Writer and Daydreaming, Family Romances, Leonardo da Vinci and a Memory of his Childhood, and The Uncanny.
Each of these is an interesting take on a field which is both easily accessible to anyone with little to no knowledge of Freud's other works/psychoanalytic theory, and a welcome expansion of application and insight for anyone who has read extensively on Freud. One of the most interesting aspects of these essays is their interest in both the historical and the creative, areas of specialty where Freud demonstrates the applicability of his theories to litereary and historic academia.
The essays are relatively short, engaging and enlightening. Many readers may have a bias against Freud's methodology and conclusions; however, he shows himself to be both a product of his times, and also a nuanced and considerate man, who is willing to accept that his theories are neither complete nor applicable in all situations. While this is the case, he nevertheless is working well within the confines of his psychoanalytic theory, and as such there is certain predictability in all of his findings and explanations. Freud's concern with childhood memories and the resulting transfiguration of memories concerning sexuality during a (male) child's early years is the primary variable, to the exlusion of almost all else. Though Freud's work may have certain oversights and fixations, it nevertheless provides an interesting alternative or augmentative method to understanding psychology, creativity and the uncanny (not to mention Leonardo's sexuality).
Each of these is an interesting take on a field which is both easily accessible to anyone with little to no knowledge of Freud's other works/psychoanalytic theory, and a welcome expansion of application and insight for anyone who has read extensively on Freud. One of the most interesting aspects of these essays is their interest in both the historical and the creative, areas of specialty where Freud demonstrates the applicability of his theories to litereary and historic academia.
The essays are relatively short, engaging and enlightening. Many readers may have a bias against Freud's methodology and conclusions; however, he shows himself to be both a product of his times, and also a nuanced and considerate man, who is willing to accept that his theories are neither complete nor applicable in all situations. While this is the case, he nevertheless is working well within the confines of his psychoanalytic theory, and as such there is certain predictability in all of his findings and explanations. Freud's concern with childhood memories and the resulting transfiguration of memories concerning sexuality during a (male) child's early years is the primary variable, to the exlusion of almost all else. Though Freud's work may have certain oversights and fixations, it nevertheless provides an interesting alternative or augmentative method to understanding psychology, creativity and the uncanny (not to mention Leonardo's sexuality).
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
"Uncanny" Indeed...
2 Oct 2011
Format:Paperback
OK, question: How many other writers or thinkers could possibly explain such mysteries as modern man's ongoing religious impulse and the roots of homosexuality - explaining them with panache, clarity, and a fearless, refreshing indifference to PC thinking - and, on top of all this, explain these mysteries - mysteries that continue to confound the vast majority of today's "leading" "thinkers" - as mere ASIDES in essays in which his main intent is to explain other DEEPER mysteries??
Answer? None.
Welcome to Planet Freud.
This exceptional (and beautifully packaged - take a closer look at that front cover!) little slice of the man's work is thoughtfully arranged in such a way that each essay effectively builds upon and enriches the next in subtle, yet essential, ways.
The first essay, "Screen Memories," systematically reveals how many of our earliest childhood memories - perhaps even most of them - are significantly transformed by our later perceptions of them, and are therefore hardly memories at all as we generally conceive of them. But these "screened" memories are indeed important, but in a way that is hidden by the screening process.
For instance, think back to your first major childhood memory. Do you picture yourself in this memory, as if you were seeing yourself from an outside perspective? Well if so, this "memory" of yours is actually more a complex blend of fact and fantasy than a memory per-se. This screen memory is no mere benign or random distortion of the childhood memory in question, but is in fact an ingeniously disguised repression of a much more significant memory than the screened version would have you believe.
In another piece, Freud dissects the act of creative writing, and explains the central appeal of fiction - especially that of the more outre or disturbing sort - for readers AND writers.
In "Family Romances," the good Doctor puts forth a theory for why certain stories are more universally appealing than others. A few prime latter-day examples of how dead-accurate this theory is? STAR WARS, HARRY POTTER, and THE SOPRANOS.
His highly entertaining interpretation of one of Leonardo Da Vinci's childhood memories - most likely a screen memory, as it turns out - leads to fascinating "psycho-biography" of one history's most celebrated and enigmatic geniuses.
The titular piece is a fascinating and complex - and at times self-devouring - meditation on what it means to experience the rarified sensation of uncanniness. Not surprisingly, the explanation involves the emergence of repressed memories...
All in all, I'd say THE UNCANNY would be a perfectly good introduction to Freud for those who've never actually read any of his works.
Uncannily good, in fact.
Answer? None.
Welcome to Planet Freud.
This exceptional (and beautifully packaged - take a closer look at that front cover!) little slice of the man's work is thoughtfully arranged in such a way that each essay effectively builds upon and enriches the next in subtle, yet essential, ways.
The first essay, "Screen Memories," systematically reveals how many of our earliest childhood memories - perhaps even most of them - are significantly transformed by our later perceptions of them, and are therefore hardly memories at all as we generally conceive of them. But these "screened" memories are indeed important, but in a way that is hidden by the screening process.
For instance, think back to your first major childhood memory. Do you picture yourself in this memory, as if you were seeing yourself from an outside perspective? Well if so, this "memory" of yours is actually more a complex blend of fact and fantasy than a memory per-se. This screen memory is no mere benign or random distortion of the childhood memory in question, but is in fact an ingeniously disguised repression of a much more significant memory than the screened version would have you believe.
In another piece, Freud dissects the act of creative writing, and explains the central appeal of fiction - especially that of the more outre or disturbing sort - for readers AND writers.
In "Family Romances," the good Doctor puts forth a theory for why certain stories are more universally appealing than others. A few prime latter-day examples of how dead-accurate this theory is? STAR WARS, HARRY POTTER, and THE SOPRANOS.
His highly entertaining interpretation of one of Leonardo Da Vinci's childhood memories - most likely a screen memory, as it turns out - leads to fascinating "psycho-biography" of one history's most celebrated and enigmatic geniuses.
The titular piece is a fascinating and complex - and at times self-devouring - meditation on what it means to experience the rarified sensation of uncanniness. Not surprisingly, the explanation involves the emergence of repressed memories...
All in all, I'd say THE UNCANNY would be a perfectly good introduction to Freud for those who've never actually read any of his works.
Uncannily good, in fact.
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