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/lit/ - Literature

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16680549 No.16680549 [Reply] [Original]

What would you say are Carl Jung's essential works?

>> No.16681858

>>16680549
idk but I'm reading liber novus right now and it's a fucking trip. i like his essay on synchronicity a whole lot. man and his symbols might be among his most influential. modern man in search of a soul was helpful to me in my early 20s although quite dense. psychology and alchemy is a good read but you have to have some background for it to make sense.

idk man. go to the library, find the jung shelf, pick a random volume, and turn it to a random page.

>> No.16681978
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16681978

>>16680549
Get a grasp on the archetypes from a summary and read whatever you find interesting. I would contend there are no essential works though if you want a "Jung canon" his essays describing his break with Freud, along with something like The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious might constitute a 'start'.
You don't wanna become a "Jungian" -- I think Jung himself would dislike his persistently innovative and intuitionist work becoming traditional and linear as a methodology or a science -- but somebody who's read Jung and applied him nonlinearly and in an original manner.

>> No.16681979

There is a difference between the essential Jung and the order in which you should read them.

What I consider to be essential readings are:
The Red Book, Aion, Answer to Job, Mysterium Coniunctionis

I would recommend picking at least one easy book (Memories, Dreams, Reflections; Modern Man in Search of a Soul, Psychological Types), one intermediate book (Symbols of Transformation, Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious, Two Essays on Analytical Psychology) and one overview (Jung's Map of the Soul, Ego and Archetype) or you will be completely lost when reading the essentials, which are mainly his latter works.

>> No.16681993

>>16680549
The most important stuff are in the red book and in his alchemical works, but those to be accessible you need to get an overview of the jungian psychology and the two essays on analytical psychology is good start

>> No.16682009

>>16680549
I'm reading Man And His Symbols right now OP. It was the last book that he compiled with his colleagues for the purpose of introducing newcomers to his work. So far it's been an interesting read and easy to understand.

After this I'll read Memories Dreams and Reflections, then I'll move to his Collected Works.

>> No.16682118

The Essential Carl Jung

>> No.16683439

been thinking on beginning to read Jung myself... haven't even bothered to look at how many books are out there but I assume it's a massive volume... where do I start?

>> No.16683466

>>16680549
Off topic : I always feel a drive to read his works, but I never quite feel like I'm ready for him without getting filtered hard. What is the absolute minimum? I've been reading Eliade's normie-friendly stuff and I'm having a ball with it, but I hear Jung is quite a bit heavier-going.

>> No.16683479

>>16683466
How familiar are you with German philosophy and literature? And also with Plato and Greek mythology? He relies quite a lot on them.

>> No.16683489

>>16683479
I'm reasonably familiar with both, though I'm certainly not an expert on either. I do have a better knowledge of the latter two, admittedly.

>> No.16683510

>>16683489
Well, in terms of the former two, Kant's transcendental idealism, Schopenhauer's variant of Platonism, and Nietzsche's ideas on morality are very important to his work. If you are familiar with these, then you are reasonably ready to start with Jung.

>> No.16683520
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16683520

I'll post the /lit/ chart for the 100th time.
Anyway as "essentials" I'd say man and its symbols.

>> No.16683538

>>16683520
I usually like /lit/ charts, but this one is honestly not very good. What is that book from Fromm? He isn't even a Jungian and there are much better beginner-friendly introductions approved by Jung himself. And why doesn't it include Jung's most important work (in his own words) Mysterium Coniunctionis? Why is the Red Book portrayed as if it's something of a "final boss"? There are also a lot more of his important works missing. I've seen some anon post a reading list in a thread a few days ago, and that one is much better (although I have slight disagreements with that too).

>> No.16683602

>>16683520
>man and its symbols.
>essential
no, it's the most waterdown introduction to Jung. Hell, Jung only wrote a fifth of the book.