Nobody, moving about among the chaotic currents of life, is without trouble.

heretic on 22/9/2009 at 00:20

(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/magazine/20jung-t.html) Absolutely fascinating. In short, Carl Jung's rumored hidden writings are to be published.

Linked NYT article excerpt - "ABOUT HALFWAY THROUGH the Red Book — after he has traversed a desert, scrambled up mountains, carried God on his back, committed murder, visited hell; and after he has had long and inconclusive talks with his guru, Philemon, a man with bullhorns and a long beard who flaps around on kingfisher wings — Jung is feeling understandably tired and insane. This is when his soul, a female figure who surfaces periodically throughout the book, shows up again. She tells him not to fear madness but to accept it, even to tap into it as a source of creativity. “If you want to find paths, you should also not spurn madness, since it makes up such a great part of your nature.”

Yes, that quote was indeed butchered for the thread title.

frozenman on 22/9/2009 at 02:04

Whoaa thanks for the link heretic...

I'm not exactly a Jungian nor am I even terribly educated on his theories, but this just seems too interesting to pass up.

Also, I was interested by this quote: "it seems that only about two dozen people have managed to read or even have much of a look at it." I hope there will be some historical context provided with the book, because I am a great fan of Hermann Hesse, who I know underwent psycho-analysis with Jung. The section described at the end of the article and quoted above reminded me almost immediately of the book Demian, so I wonder if Hesse got a chance to look at it.

Also, it's hard to not get excited when you can only refer to it as 'the book' like it's some Borges shit.

Queue on 22/9/2009 at 03:27

Yes, indeed thanks for the link and info.

Frozenman, I too am a big fan of Hesse - as well as prescribing to Jung - and am very interested by what you mentioned in regards to Demian. BTW - it you want a really interesting read, check out The Fairy Tales of Hermann Hesse, if you haven't already.

frozenman on 22/9/2009 at 05:04

I don't have that volume specifically, but I have a handful of other short story collections and I think there is some serious overlap. I will pick it up eventually because of the off-hand chance there's one or two stories I haven't read...

Also, mentioning this to friends I keep calling it 'this book' or 'the book' so its like the thing is becoming its own archetype. TRIPPY

Queue on 22/9/2009 at 05:13

It came out in 1995, twenty-two stories and most of them were translated into English for the first time. Faldum (1916) and If The War Continues (1917) were amazing.