Switzerland Books

This is a review of "On Jung" by Anthony Stevens.

Before reading this book, I had already read several books on Jung, including Anthony Stevens book in the very short introduction series (VSI). In fact, because I liked the latter, I decided to buy another of his books on Jung. I think it is fair to say that this book is written in the same style as the VSI: it makes rather light reading, avoids too much jargon where possible, but at the same time "On Jung" definitely goes into more depth than the VSI. Which is a good thing because the VSI was meant as a VSI only.

"On Jung" has two interwoven pieces of content: first it describes the various stages of life as seen from a Jungian perspective, and simultaneously it gives short biographic sketches of Jung's own life as an illustration of Jung's theory. It will be no surprise that the two are found to fit each other very well. This double format comes across as very didactical to me: each Jungian concept is explained in two different ways so to say.

Bottom line: I enjoyed the book, it helped me to better understand Jung's psychology. Perhaps now I even feel prepared enough to start reading some of Jung's own books (which have the reputation of difficult to read)!

Recommendation: for readers completely new to Jung, I would recommend a shorter more-introductory text first, e.g. Stevens VSI; "On Jung" is excellent as a second book, for those who already know something on Jung. If you are more interested in a biography, I would defintely recommend Jung's own "Memories, Dreams, Reflections".

The reader is treated to both a concise statement of Carl Gustav Jung's theories of life-stage development and a parallel narrative of Jung's experiences as he moved through each of these stages. Stevens traces the idea of the unconscious from its conception (which he believed to be around 1700) to the earliest investigations by Freud in the 1890s. The split between Freud and Jung (essentially spirituality versus sexuality) is described as having a profoundly shattering effect on Jung, as it had on others ejected from the Freudian camp for their failure to endorse, without question, Freud's theories that all neuroses is based in sexual development. (Two of these ex-Freudians actually committed suicide after being spurned by Freud.) Stevens's unique method of combining a primer of Jung life-stage theory with a biography of Jung is an effective introduction to the man and his work.

I am not a Duchamp scholar, just a big, big fan who has spent years pursuing my admiration of the artist, the prankster and the genius. This book revels in all three aspects of Duchamp's oeuvre not to mention it is a true joy to hold, read, touch. A bibliophile's appreciation combined with a scholarly interest make this book highly enjoyable and frankly, lots of fun. For the German scholar, all articles are printed in both their German as well as English translations. From an art historical perspective, the text is very well integrated with the presentation of artwork, which includes vellum overlays, making the experience interactive and a sensory delight. This is revelry in true Duchamp; his fun, whimsy and always revolving and diverging vision.

I am not a Duchamp scholar, just a big, big fan who has spent years pursuing my admiration of the artist, the prankster and the genius. This book revels in all three aspects of Duchamp's oeuvre not to mention it is a true joy to hold, read, touch. A bibliophile's appreciation combined with a scholarly interest make this book highly enjoyable and frankly, lots of fun. For the German scholar, all articles are printed in both their German as well as English translations. From an art historical perspective, the text is very well integrated with the presentation of artwork, which includes vellum overlays, making the experience interactive and a sensory delight. This is revelry in true Duchamp; his fun, whimsy and always revolving and diverging vision.

THE WOUNDED JUNG by Robert C. Smith might be the book that the average reader of Jung's works wanted someone to write, simplifying the concepts that made it so difficult for the tormented Jung to write himself. "By the age of four he had incorporated into his psyche the sophisticated and frightening concept of the underground man-eater dream, closely associated in his case with the burial of the dead." (p. 21). The Notes for the entire book are on pages 179-181. These are so short, it might be ironic that Chapter 3, Note 2 is simply, "Although Jung had never met Miller, he took her fifteen-page report of dreams and visions, published in Geneva in 1906, and expanded it into a book of more than four hundred pages." (p. 180). The key to such authorship is clearly based on having a mind which has been caught in the same web, as is also true on the intellectual side of the picture. "Jung was interested in a variety of philosophers and religious mystics, and upon close examination, one can see that the experiences of these philosophers and mystics paralleled those of Jung. Swedenborg, the great Swedish mystic, clearly engrossed Jung for this reason." (p. 104). Anything which triggered "the divided parts of his own psyche" (p. 2) helped him appreciate "that the approach to the numinous is the real therapy" (p. 3).

A major emphasis on Jung's father is that he "had been unable to secure an academic position. Hence he became the minister to a series of small country parishes." (p. 13). In a world where most people seem condemned to be spectators, Pastor Jung faced those who worshipped each Sunday with his suggestions for staying out of trouble, and he told his son, "Be anything you like except a theologian." (pp. 14, 32, 33).

Jumping ahead in the book to the relationship between Jung and Freud, Smith mentioned a letter on page 34 about a traumatic incident in Jung's childhood, which "Jung kept the memory of the assault secret from all except Freud until old age." (p. 34). A lot more can be learned from the letter from Jung to Freud dated 28 October, 1907, in which Jung admitted that he would "rather not have said" how much he was in awe of Freud. "Actually--and I confess this to you with a struggle--I have a boundless admiration for you both as a man and as a researcher, and I bear you no conscious grudge. So the self-preservation complex does not come from there; it is rather that my veneration for you has something of the character of a `religious' crush. Though it does not really bother me, I still feel it is disgusting and ridiculous because of its undeniable erotic undertone. This abominable feeling comes from the fact that as a boy I was the victim of a sexual assault by a man I once worshipped." Jung was astute in allowing himself to confess this to Freud as a confirmation of many of Freud's beliefs, as well as indicating Jung's trauma from a personal incident that might be generalized politically.

Chapter 2 of THE DESCENT OF MAN by Charles Darwin is called On The Manner of Development of Man from some Lower Form, in which a HISTORY OF GREENLAND by Cranz is quoted on the belief of the Esquimaux "that ingenuity and dexterity in seal-catching (their highest art and virtue) is hereditary; there is really something in it, for the son of a celebrated seal-catcher will distinguish himself, though he lost his father in childhood." Our devotion to intellectual, spiritual, and political leadership might follow genetically, if it is understood that modern people, largely reduced to being spectators, worship anyone who has kindled a spark to seek the ultimate prize. Frankly, Jung's trauma reminds me of "Ernst Roehm, Minister of the Reich, one of the founders of the Nazi Party, and Chief of Staff of the SA." (Max Gallo, THE NIGHT OF LONG KNIVES, p. 2). On December 31, 1933, Roehm had received a letter from Adolf Hitler thanking him for "the force which allowed me to wage the final battle for power," and as leader of the "SA to assure the victory of the National Socialist Revolution on the domestic front, . . . and the unity of our people." (Gallo, p. 7). Roehm was among those killed between Saturday, June 30, 1934, and Monday, July 2. A speech by Hitler on Friday, July 13, 1934 to the Reichstag meeting in the Opera House made Roehm a scapegoat for everything that Hitler had attempted to rid himself of. "The life the Chief of Staff and a certain number of other leaders had begun to lead was intolerable from the point of view of National Socialism. The question was no longer that he and his friends had violated every decency, but rather that the contagion was widespread, and was affecting even the most distant elements." (Gallo, p. 9). As much as this seems ruthless, Smith was able to see this trait as common. "Both Jung and his mother tended to personify aspects of the self. Frequently in his autobiography he refers to the ruthlessness of his mother's No. 2 Personality. But he too, as he acknowledges at the end of MEMORIES (356), could be utterly ruthless at times." (Smith, p. 27). The Retrospect which starts on page 355 of MEMORIES, DREAMS, REFLECTIONS by C. G. Jung pictures himself more as a spectator. "I stand and behold, admiring what nature can do." (Jung, p. 355). "People who see nothing have no certainties and can draw no conclusions--or do not trust them even if they do. I do not know what started me off perceiving the stream of life." (Jung, pp. 355-356). "I was able to become intensely interested in many people; but as soon as I had seen through them, the magic was gone. In this way I made many enemies." (Jung, p. 357).

Carl Jung's character has taken quite a shellacking of late in new biographies by Richard Noll. In contrast, Smith's book is sympathetic both to Jung's cause--the healing journey toward wholeness he termed "individuation"--and to the deeply disturbed, dissociated psyche that relentlessly drove Jung, both personally and professionally, toward the fulfillment of his destiny: his "daimon." Smith focuses on Jung's relationships with his parents, arguing that it was mainly Jung's ambivalent feelings toward his mother--not his father, as most biographers believe--that most powerfully influenced his peculiar psychic development. Smith also emphasizes the famous Freud-Jung friendship, and its daimonic character, noting that both men had enormous stores of repressed anger or rage which both drove their prodigious creativity and caused serious interpersonal difficulties. Smith's brief biography, despite its limitations, perceptively illuminates in ways others have not the darker side of C.G. Jung--his repressed rage--and in so doing, deepens our understanding of and compassion for the daimonic Dr. Jung, and, hopefully, our own daimonic qualities.

This compilation of the best hiking trails in the Alps will give readers plenty of ideas for planning an unforgettable vacation filled with scenic beauty. All aspects of the trip are covered including accommodations, what to bring along, equipment and locale information. A vast list of tourist resources is also included. Although targeted towards Americans, this book is handy for any nationality.

The reason I deducted a star is due to the fact that some is the information is outdated. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking to enjoy the wondrous beauty of the Alps.

This is a short (45 page) oversize (9 inch by 11 inch) black and white paperback published in 1991 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It's an exhibit catalog based on two 1870 sketchbooks restored at the Metropolitan. Sargent filled these as a 14-year-old on a three-week summer tramp through the Alps with his father. The works depicted appear to be in a variety of media: watercolor, graphite pencil and charcoal? Unfortunately for fully appreciating the watercolors, the reproductions are in black and white. There are several pages of informative text as well. As an aside, the author, researching the project, is said to have retraced the Sargents' intinerary through the mountains, proving that art scholarship is not always petty bickering over arcane marginalia of less and less relevance. Great work if you can get it!

Although these are not Sargent's earliest extant sketch books, they are efforts from a fourteen-year-old prior to any real formal and professional training in art. This claim is tenable, despite the stories of tutorial by Sargent's ever-at-her-easel mother, due the author's assessment of her own actual work. "The crude drawing style, incorrect perspective, and inept use of watercolor technique..." Well, perhaps she instilled a love of art, if not the concrete means to it. So these few works of little John Sargent offer interesting data on the timeline of his artistic development. And the book is worth it for this reason alone.

A neurophysiologist can tell you that the human eye is still developing, even physically at an age approaching six. That is, your four-year-old does not, cannot view the world as you do. The "hardware and software", the eye itself and the brain's use of the signals, is still not fully mature. And that is true whether your nature is such as to be ultimately 20-20 or sadly myopic. Similarly, if I remember Piaget correctly, the mean age for a human to properly understand the role of x-the-unknown in an algebra expression is twelve. Teaching college physics years ago, I could only politely remain silent when 20-year-old students would fault me with, "I can understand it when you have the sense to use real numbers like 12, instead of that x-the-unknown stuff!" A human reaching maturity is not simply a fully-formed vessel filling over the years with facts. Even the physical vessel is still finishing. Is this true in art as well?
For the sake of argument, assume that an artist develops in an analogous manner.
If so, in my opinion, the watercolors of the 14-year-old Sargent are already quite remarkable, mature, at least in black and white. Particularly "The Matterhorn from Zmutt Glacier, Zermatt". In fact, it is quite astonishing. The watercolors seem further advanced than do the linear media, pencil or charcoal, particularly the figures. That relative difficulty is particularly interesting, due even an infant's experimentally determined "expertise" at recognizing faces. At fourteen has the mind already firmly ensconced symbols for the objective reality, the usual problem in accurate rendition. And, does this thus require the 14-year-old extra effort to unlearn, to de-automate the seeing of people as opposed to scenes or objects? This opinion of course is only as regards a pleasing realism. As to the other elements of what constitutes art, how does all this this jibe with the view popularized in Betty Edward's books, that an adult attempting art is a ruined child? The adult obsessed with photo accuracy and devoid of fantasy? The free-flowing creativity of a child is silenced by the adult's drive to conformity, conformity as realism.
For those more interested in pursuing these topics, "American Drawings and Watercolors in the Metropolitan Museum of Art JOHN SINGER SARGENT", published by that institution in 2000, offers a very complete set of Sargent drawings and watercolors, including those from this period of his life. Therein one can see not just much more but also watercolors reproduced in color.

All in all, studying the book well repaid me, offered much food for thought about the development of a great artist and any artistic effort at all.

ISBN: 376435500X ONLY: The Vol. 1 (3rd Edition) of Complete Works includes in chronological order all important buildings and projects depicted by 283 photos, 85 plans and 84 sketches. This broad monograph of fascinating works of Finland's most famous architect complete with plans, drawings and photographs is typical for the excelent series from Birkhäuser Verlag, except for only in black-and-white photos lacking... color. Alvar Aalto developed a distinctive - simultaneously expressive and functional - personal style focused on human needs, and deriving from Neoclassicism and Rationalism. The Look Inside option shows Vol. 3 instead of Vol. 1 or Vol. 2.
CONTENTS:
Seite / Page
8 Vorwort / Preface
11 Einleitung Göran Schildt / Introduction Gäran Schildt
17 Werkverzeichnis / Catalogue des CEuvres / Index of Works
18 Finnisches Theater, Turku / Théâtre finnois, Turku / Finnish Theater, Turku
20 Ausstellung "700 Jahre Turku" / Exposition "7º centenaire de Turku" / Exhibition "700 Years of Turku"
22 Redaktionshaus "Turun Sanomath" / Siege du quotidien "Turun Sanomath" / Editorial Offices "Turun Sanomat"
28 Ausstellung "Kleinstwohnung" / Exposition "logement minimum" / Exhibition "minimum apartment"
30 Sanatorium Paimio
44 Bibliothek Viipuri / Bibliothèque Viipuri / Library Viipuri
62 Haus des Architekten in Helsinki / La maison de l'architecte a Helsinki / The Architect's House in Helsinki
66 Artek
70 Gebogenes Holz / Bois courbé / Bent wood
74 Finnischer Pavilion, Weltausstellung Paris 1937 / Pavilion finlandais, Exposition universelle a Paris 1937 / Finnish Pavilion, Paris World's Fair 1937
82 Kunstmuseum Reval / Musée des Beaux-Arts Reval / Art Museum Reval
86 Zellulosefabrik Sunila / Usine de cellulose Sunila / Cellulose Factory Sunila
104 Siedlung und Wohnhaus Kauttua / Cite d'habitation Kauttua / Dwellings in Kauttua
108 Villa Mairea
124 Finnischer Pavilion, Weltausstellung New York 1939 / Pavilion finlandais, Exposition universelle New York 1939 / Finnish Pavilion, New York World's Fair 1939
132 Sagewerk Varkaus / Scierie Varkaus / Sawmill Varkaus
134 M.I.T. Senior Dormitory, Cambridge / M.I.T. Dortoir des alnés, Cambridge
137 Rathaus in Säynatsalo Hotel de Ville de SäynMsalo / Town Hall at Säynatsalo
146 Vogelweidplatz Wien, Sport- und Konzertzentrum / Centre sportif et musical, Vienne / Sport and Concert Center, Vienna
152 Theater und Konzerthaus, Kuopio / Théâtre et salle de concerts, Kuopio / Theater and Concert Hall, Kuopio
154 Burogebaude "Rautatalo", Helsinki / Bâtiment commercial "Rautatalo", Helsinki / "Rautatalo Office" and Commercial Building, Helsinki
160 Abdankungskapelle Maim / Chapelle du cimetière Maim / Maim Funeral Chapel
164 Friedhof mit Abdankungskapelle, Lyngby / Cimetière et chapelle, Lyngby / Cemetery and chapel, Lyngby
168 Wohnhaus im Hansaviertel, Berlin / Immeuble locatif du quartier de la Hansa, Berlin / Apartment block in the Hansaviertel, Berlin
174 Siedlung Kampementsbacken, Stockholm / Cite d'habitation Kampementsbacken / Kampements backen Housing Development
175 Siedlung Bjärnholm / Cite d'habitation Bjärnholm / Bjärnholm Housing Development
176 Staatliche Volkspensionsanstalt, Helsinki / Institut finlandais des retraites populaires / Finnish Public Pensions Institute, Helsinki
188 "Haus der Kultur", Helsinki / "Maison de Ia Culture", Helsinki / "House of Culture", Helsinki
194 Padagogische Hochschule Jyvaskyla / Universite pédagogique Jyväskylä / Pedagogical University Jyvaskylä
200 Sommerhaus Muuratsalo / Maison d'été Muuratsalo / Summerhouse Muuratsalo
204 Technische Hochschule Otaniemi / Ecole polytechnique Otaniemi / Finnish Technical Institute Otaniemi
210 Museum Aaiborg / Musée Aalborg
214 Städtebau / Urbanisme / Town planning Imatra
216 Rathaus Kiruna / Hotel de Ville de Kiruna / Kiruna Town Hall
218 Kirche Vuoksenniska / Eglise Vuoksenniska / Vuoksenniska Church
230 Stadtzentrum Seinäjoki / Centreurbain Seinäjoki / City Center Seinäjoki
236 Villa Carre, Bazoches (Paris)
248 Atelierhaus in Helsinki / Studio House in Helsinki
252 Opernhaus in Essen / L'Opera a Essen
258 Kulturzentrum Wolfsburg / Wolfsburg Cultural Center
262 Hochhaus, Bremen / Immeuble-tour, Breme / High- Rise Apartments Building, Bremen
264 Verwaltungsgebaude Enso-Gutzeit, Helsinki / Bâtiment administratif Enso-Gutzeit / Enso-Gutzeit Administrative Building
268 Das neue Stadtzentrum Helsinki / Amenagement du centre d'Helsinki / Helsinki City Center
274 Denkmal Suomussalmi / Monument Suomussalmi

The overall view of the book is considered to be an excellence book.
There are a few projects that need to have drawing documentation and in my preferences drawings could be bigger but they are readable.
The photographs in this book are excellent representation of the essence of the projects under the study cases. Perhaps the narratives could include deeper conclusions of the architectÂ's ideas-to explain the arrival of their conclusions.
I would really appreciate if all drawings were black w/ grey scale.
It really needs more drawings and if the book would include detail drawings of the variety of materials the projects used, the book would be perfect.

OK, maybe it's just because I lived there and now explore caves. This book would be great for anyone else who has traveled to Papua New Guinea or would like to or anyone who explores caves. Tons of photos and maps and crazy true stories. This book takes you there. What a rich history!

I enjoyed this book a lot. I actually purchased it in Switzeraland as a reminder of the year that I lived there. The book even mentioned things that I did not know about living there! I recommend this book for anyone interested in the culture, life, and government of the Bernese and Swiss people in general.

Fantastic picture quality. Great close up shots that bring the watches to life and hit you in the face.
Not much written detail, but its not that sort of book.