Dreams

by Sigmund Freud

VINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS.

Have you ever dreamt you were naked on stage, or woken having failed an exam? In these fascinating, pioneering essays, Sigmund Freud plunges into the recesses of our minds, and awakens the hidden meanings behind our most typical and surprising night-time fantasies. From dreams of violence and death, to the more prosaic moments in our dream-life, Freud shines a light on the darkness we are often happy left consigned to night.

Selected from the books The Essentials of Psycho-Analysis and The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of the Sigmund Freud, Volume IV: The Interpretation of Dreams (First Part) by Sigmund Freud

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, Classics, Unfinished, Psychoanalysis, Science, Philosophy

160 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published September 25, 2018

About the author

Dr. Sigismund Freud (later changed to Sigmund) was a neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, who created an entirely new approach to the understanding of the human personality. He is regarded as one of the most influential—and controversial—minds of the 20th century.

In 1873, Freud began to study medicine at the University of Vienna. After graduating, he worked at the Vienna General Hospital. He collaborated with Josef Breuer in treating hysteria by the recall of painful experiences under hypnosis. In 1885, Freud went to Paris as a student of the neurologist Jean Charcot. On his return to Vienna the following year, Freud set up in private practice, specialising in nervous and brain disorders. The same year he married Martha Bernays, with whom he had six children.

Freud developed the theory that humans have an unconscious in which sexual and aggressive impulses are in perpetual conflict for supremacy with the defences against them. In 1897, he began an intensive analysis of himself. In 1900, his major work 'The Interpretation of Dreams' was published in which Freud analysed dreams in terms of unconscious desires and experiences.

In 1902, Freud was appointed Professor of Neuropathology at the University of Vienna, a post he held until 1938. Although the medical establishment disagreed with many of his theories, a group of pupils and followers began to gather around Freud. In 1910, the International Psychoanalytic Association was founded with Carl Jung, a close associate of Freud's, as the president. Jung later broke with Freud and developed his own theories.

After World War One, Freud spent less time in clinical observation and concentrated on the application of his theories to history, art, literature and anthropology. In 1923, he published 'The Ego and the Id', which suggested a new structural model of the mind, divided into the 'id, the 'ego' and the 'superego'.

In 1933, the Nazis publicly burnt a number of Freud's books. In 1938, shortly after the Nazis annexed Austria, Freud left Vienna for London with his wife and daughter Anna.

Freud had been diagnosed with cancer of the jaw in 1923, and underwent more than 30 operations. He died of cancer on 23 September 1939.

Reviews

[Lieveke · Rating 1 out of 5]

WHO let this man practice medicine he should’ve been the patient himself. All his observations are based on his own biased interpretations of his OWN experiences, making them unfalsifiable and thus pseudoscience. Not to mention the fact he uses plays and literary works like the odyssey and Oedipus as “evidence” for his observations.
I hate Freud with every bone in my body and every page of this book fueled that hate more and more.

If I could give 0 stars I would.

[Natasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Freud's interpretation of dreams are very interesting. He explains that no dream is made up of original material but from memories of certain events and feelings. When dreaming, these instances appear to be nonsense but in reality, they are a form of wish fulfilment. These dreams are unique to a persons own experiences so dream interpretation must be an individual process except for some instances where large amounts of people have the same dream symbols. These can be see to be a part of a shared cultural memory so these symbols may be more easily interpreted due to their general nature. Freud also goes on to talk about how in childhood, our egotistical selves form our dream worlds so that envy of the mother or father may shape our sexual preferences in the future as well as death and its symbolism in dreams.

[Marwa Shafique · Rating 3 out of 5]

No jokes, part of the reason why I got this book was to see if Freud would dissect this recurrent dream of mine. Turns out, he has never had a dream like that so he does not have much to say about them. I don't know how to feel about this, ok? It feels like betrayal.

But yeah, this was a fascinating read - a little messed up, a little "wait, what?" but fascinating nonetheless.

[harriet · Rating 2 out of 5]

i think he probs just liked to lie for attention..

[Esther Hong · Rating 1 out of 5]

Started out as a crash course on psychoanalysis so I could interpret my friends' dreams. But now I realise I don't even want to dissect my own dreams, let alone others'. Lol. #realtalk #ego #repression #childhood #subconscious #freeassociation

[Eva Härter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the insights I have gained on my dreams, dream analysis and origin, but not his writing style that much. Hence the three stars.
It's a wild thought that one's mind carries out some serious censorship in one's dreams to conceal their nature and origin, leaving us with no recollection of them or confusion in the morning. Freud explains that dreams include so-called condensation, dramatization and displacement. All three have various functions, though, once recognised in a dream, you can analyse their meaning.

[Stephan · Rating 3 out of 5]

war solala

[Ash · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never feel that smart reading Freud… ironically l learn most when he recollects ‘real life’ moments, still, his theory of dreams is worth its weight.

[sekar banjaran aji · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was born from a Mother who really loves talking about dreams. She often talks when I was eating my breakfast before going to school. She really details and persistence discuss what the meaning of her dream. She also often reading about mine. She never read #Freud but she always wanted to know about the science of the dream. I am not that interested with dreams. Until I often get weird dreams recently. It's really brother me, because I didn't want to sleep to prevent get weird dreams.
I tried to 'Googling' it and the referenced came from Freud. So when I found out that @penguinbooks have short thematic version from Freud and Dreams.
This book really complex but efficient in the same time. I don't have time to read all Freud book's so it's quite useful to know his thoughts about dreams.
I might say that Mom's interpretation really different from Freud. But sometimes the meaning it is quite same. All of them are completely egoistic: the beloved ego appears in all of them, even though it may be disguised.

[Edmond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Freud’s epistemology determines how he interprets dreams. He a priori assumes the rationalist, materialist world view is true. He a priori rejects anything that can not be seen or touched. Half of life is considered a form of psychosis according to Freud, since dreams can not be verified according to the scientific method. The way one answers the question of dreams determines how one sees life. Dreams and mysticism are similar. It is Freud vs Jung, they famously disagreed on the nature of dreams. I agree with Jung.

Reading Freud, one can see the modern atheist has heavily borrowed from Freud’s thoughts. If one reads, one can figure out why people say what they say.

[Shafa Lubis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I realized I don’t enjoy it as much because the book attempts to summarize Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams, but it doesn’t quite capture the depth or essence of what Freud was trying to convey (I’m a fan of Freud myself, btw) — especially the psychological interpretations behind dreams.

Still, maybe it isn’t entirely the book’s fault. A work as complex as Freud’s might simply lose its substance when it’s forced into a shorter, overly concise format?? Idk. Maybe my brain is just not in the mood for this kind of book for now.

[Aleksandar Dimitrov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite intriguing. Definitely made me think about reading his actual book The Interpretation of Dreams. I was a little stunned by the part where he explains how we as children secretly wish the death or “to go away” of our siblings and opposite-sex parents.

[Lilo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book and because i'm very much interested in dreams i bought it. Even though i definitely would have preferred in the original german language, bc it wasnt too easy to understand. But overall very Freudy..and not so much of a help. But i found his examples interesting

[Liam Fitzgerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

some intriguing ideas about dreams and what they mean, but he kinda lost me when he said a wardrobe represented sex… and yeah, it went downhill from there into everyone wants to bous their parents land

[Bongod · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can’t finish.

[Li]

the most interesting bit really was on the last 40 pages or so! very, very slow read and I'm glad I finally finished it!

[Arijit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of essays are extremely helpful and makes for a remarkable entry point if you're starting out on Freud.

[Cian Pearce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a good start to learning about the interpretation of dreams and the Freudian Oedipus complex

[Daniel Hendrason · Rating 1 out of 5]

not my cup of tea. (yet)

[tcikovsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

typek je viac namyslený jak ja. crazy.

[Arturo Sanchez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Opening the appetite for the Interpretation of Dreams

[Saphire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oops

[Nika · Rating 2 out of 5]

Saaier dan verwacht dus heb dingen geskipt, sorry not sorry

[Mol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very Meh. Won't re-read

[Istiningdyah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wrap-Up review