Freud for Beginners (Writing and Readers Documentary Comic Books)

Rating:
Summary: Frued Explained
Review: Although this book does not give a full account of Freud's works and theories, it does give a credible attempt at looking at the life, works and influences of his works. Starting out with a biography of Dr. Frued, the family affair, the education, as well as his associates. Soon looking in to the psychological theories of his works. His relationship and hardship with Dr. Carl Jung, and so many of the followers Freud had, lost and kept in his battle of Judaism and Nazism. Well accounted, fun and easy to read which makes the learning fun and easy as well. Reccomended to anyone curious about Freud without beign bogged down with technical and scholarly works. This is a good companion to Jung and Adler for Beginners. One can't also neglect "A Primer for Freudian Psychology."

Rating:
Summary: Its a good book, that maybe will keep you in the subject
Review: I found it as a good book, altough I dont know anything in the matter, it is a short book that many people should read, it is informative and talks about Freud's more important works, as well as a little about his life and background.

Illustrations are good and keep you entertained.

Rating:
Summary: Plaftorm For Freud's Detractors Is This Book's Best Feature
Review: Osborne and Mechan provide their readers with an informed overview of Freud and his many detractors over the years. However, they fawn over Freud more than I care for, as Freud's defenders are so good at doing. Like every Freud defender, they make much of the influence his thought had on the Western world in the 20th century, as if influence speaks volumes about the validity of an ideology. Modern western biological psychiatry had a tremendous amount of influence on the 20th century, but that doesn't mean its not a modern form of religion dressed up as a modern medical science.

No matter what kind of linguistic garb you dress up Freud's thinking on psychology and psychoanalysis in, it always has been and always will be religion trying to masquerade as a modern science. Freudian concepts of the id, ego, superego, unconscious, et al., are simply modern terms for angels, ghosts and other holy spirits we find in religion, and psychoanalysis is a modern form of the confessional. Freud's notions of femininity and "Penis Envy" have to be the most fearful expressions about women I have ever heard. Spin religion with lots of big scientific sounding words and a peculiar obsession with sex, and you've got the essence of Freud. The authors give Freud's detractors, like Eysenck, a platform to make mince meat out of Freud's ramblings, which is this book's best feature.

The book's illustrations include an ongoing narrative between Freud and a CIA agent investigating what the good Doctor is up to, and whether he is a subversive or not. At the end of the book the agent presents a report to his bosses at CIA headquarters. Among the individuals at spook headquarters is none other than Joe McCarthy. The impression the author's give their readers is that Freud's work was a revolutionary bombshell in the 20th century. Redressing religion in confusing and stupid sounding language and inspiring millions people to attend a modern form of the confessional known as psychoanalysis is hardly revolutionary. Revolutionary upheavals occur when people organize for social change en mass, like during the golden age of the labor movement in the '30s or the civil rights movement in the '50s and '60s, not when people are sitting around moping about their existential problems at confession.

Reservations aside, this is a good introduction to Freud. Better than Introducing Psychoanalyis.