Book Review

Sheila Niles (30-B-2) FPE

MAN AND HIS SYMBOLS, Carl G. Jung and Associates; Dell Publ., New York, Laurel Edition 5183. 387 pp + 13 p notes + 8 p index; paperback, $1.25, Sept. 1968. Profusely illustrated.

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This book has a peculiar history, having been prepared under the direction of Dr. Jung during the two years prior to his death in 1961. He had originally refused to break into his retirement for this purpose in effect, a semi-popular summary of his life work - but was persuaded by a dream. Dreams are of special importance in his whole philosophy, and this one revealed to him his unconscious need to carry his message direct to the people. The result is a fascinating view of the whole tapestry, which we have seen only in pieces and those blurred by the professional jargon of psychiatry. Dr. M. von Franz carried out the completion of his plan until its original publication in hard-cover in 1964. She also wrote Part 3 and the conclusion, which are of special interest to us.

Despite the best efforts of these two distinguished doctors, plus three others, the book is not very easy going. This is due to the Jungian argumentative method, which convinces "not by means of the narrowly focussed spotlight of the syllogism, but by skirting, by repetition, by presenting a recurring view of the same subject seen each time from a slightly different angle until suddenly the reader who has never been aware of a single,

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