Man and His Symbols

Words will fall short- i feel that this is some knowledge that considers the teachings from beyond the 3d world. The page and print quality is great i thought it wouldnt be buts greattt

There's this famous Buddhist parable that I'm often reminded from a book that I'd read few years ago. A Surgeon rushes to begin the work of saving the life of a man who got struck in the chest with a poison arrow but the man resists. He first wants to know the name of the fletcher who fashioned the arrow’s shaft, genus of the wood from which it was cut, name of the horse upon which he rode, and a thousand others that have no bearing upon his present suffering or his ultimate survival. The man needs to get his priorities straight that his commitment to thinking about the world results from a basic misunderstanding of his predicament. . . We might be dimly aware that only acquiring conceptual knowledge will not help us move any forward but only a delusion of the same when it comes to dealing with the human problems in totality. . . "In a period of human history when all available energy is spent in the investigation of nature, very little attention is paid to the essence of man, which is his psyche, although many researches are made into its conscious functions. But the really complex and unfamiliar part of the mind, from which symbols are produced, is still virtually unexplored. It seems almost incredible that though we receive signals from it every night, deciphering these communications seems too tedious for any but a very few people to be bothered with it. Man’s greatest instrument, his psyche, is little thought of, and it is often directly mistrusted and despised. 'It’s only psychological' too often means: It is nothing." . . This book has great dynamic parts concerning some of the major lifetime works of Jung presented in laymen vocubulary for public consumption. The contents might give it all a new perspective to the fundamentalists on the both sides of rationalism and religionisms. I have lots to say but saying a lot would do nothing when we keep seeing the world as we are than as it is. . . "If the reader should feel stimulated to work further on the investigation and assimilation of the unconscious—which always begins by working on oneself—the purpose of this book would be fulfilled." . . Man and His Symbols (1964) ~ Carl Jung et al

I am so glad that I could read this book at least now if not earlier! Amazing book, do read it! Some chapters are okay, but some of them are awesome and I could learn a lot from them!

By the way , this is the last work of a man who hated Popularity .Literally, this is a mammoth sized magnum opus. It takes you to your unconscious and subconscious yet in a story telling manner. Never I think it takes a lifetime to write these stuffs and takes a lifetime of readers to correlate what he actually says. Mind blowing stuff. Unimaginably meticulous when analyzing Jaw dropping case studies . Most of the examples are taken from philosophy, history, myth, fairy tales. This is literally groundbreaking . So heavy yet fun to read.

Small book, great quality of paper and very very good book

1. The Print of the book is really inferior, often text is missing and print is faded. 2. Cover Paper Quality is similarly inadequate.

I am still reading the book. Content is prepared, reviewed and penned by experts in various branches of specialisations of psychology, concentrating more on the importance of the unconscious mind. Mind on the whole is believed to be complete by Doctor only when we understand the vital role the subconscious mind play to influenze our conscious mind. The book needs its sweet time and patient reading to appreciate this aspect and I felt it interesting.

This seems more like a first copy. Lots of printing errors, but nothing too distracting

Man and His Symbols is a must read for persons who are fans of Carl G. Jung. As stated by the Guardian, what emerges with great clarity from this book is that Jung has done immense service both to psychology as a science and to our general understanding of man in society, by insisting that imaginative life must be taken seriously in its own right, as the most distinctive characteristic of human beings. This book is amazing. It was "dumb-downed" if you will, so that the average person like me could understand Jungs writing. Before he died he insisted that this should be and it was. A must read for anyone who is a fan of Jung.

I love it... Good book.. Book is okay...

I'm just starting the third chapter of this book. So far, chapter 3 is the most clearly written. Chapter 2 was not an easy read. Chapter 1 (written by Jung himself) is somewhere in between, in terms of clarity. This is deep stuff. Life-changing stuff. Meaning to say that by simply reading it and taking the ideas on board, it is changing the way I view myself and my relationships. I feel like the ideas in the book are helping me to mature (and I'm in my 30's). But when I say "taking the ideas on board" I do not mean to say that I could explain them to anybody else in a satisfactory way; and this is possibly because my comprehension of the ideas are being enacted within me on the symbolic level, not on the level of language. It's as if my understanding of the ideas presented in the book are emerging gradually into my consciousness, as if the authors are planting them in my unconscious mind; then, through my own contemplation after having read their words, my comprehension grows (like a tree - read it and you'll learn the symbolic meaning of a tree) into my consciousness. Of the three authors I've been reading so far though, Jung's words are the most hypnotic. As I mentioned at the start of this review, the author of chapter 3 has the clearest way of writing for the conscious mind. The ideas I've read in it so far have been easy to grasp. And I'm hopeful that the full meanings of words of chapter 2's author might arrive in my conscious mind later. It seems then, that of these three authors, Jung was the most masterful at writing directly to the unconscious mind. This shouldn't come as any surprise though. He was, after all, the originator of the ideas. Also, this isn't to say that what the other two authors wrote is not insightful. I've learnt a lot from all three; and in fact, I had a dream in which I started speaking to the shadow, that I think was prompted by words written by chapter two's author (the most inaccessible of the three as far as I'm concerned). So what does this say...? This book is unquestionably a challenging read (even though it is written for the layman). But persevere! Proceed with it patiently! It is well worthwhile for anybody open to personal development.

Read this in college and it still hasn't lost its charm and mystery after all these years. It's erudite and highly readable: I especially enjoyed the chapters on 'The Process of individutaion' and 'Symbols in the visual arts'. Various plates are scattered in the book but in black and white so it's hard to appreciate them. Nevertheless, a good read!

Thank you, even it's used it's like brand new, and good printing. I'm encouraged to buy used books. This is the right book to start read Carl Jung books.