From Thirty Years With Freud

FROM THIRTY YEARSWITH FREUDTHEODOR REIKTRANSLATED FROM THE GERMANCONTENTSPAGEEDITORIAL PREFACE......7PREFACEA PORTRAIT COMES TO LIFE 9PARTIFREUD AND HIS FOLLOWERSCHAPTERI. MEMORIES OF SIGMUND FREUD 13II. LAST VISIT TO FREUD 32III. FREUD AND HIS FOLLOWERS 39IV. STUDENTS OR SORCERERS APPRENTICES? ......50PART HAN UNKNOWN LECTURE OF FREUDSV. AN UNKNOWN LECTURE OF FREUDS 63PART HIFREUD AS A CRITIC OF OUR CULTUREVL CIVILIZATION AND ITS DISCONTENTS 90VII. THE FUTURE OF AN ILLUSION 108VIIL NOTE ON A RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE 127IX. THE STUDY ON DOSTOYEVSKY 142PART IVESSAYS ON DIVERSE SUBJECTSCHAPTER PAGEX. EMBARRASSMENT IN GREETING 159XL ON THE NATURE OF JEWISH WIT 164XII. THE WAY OF ALL FLESH 174XIIL THE LATENT MEANING OF ELLIPTICALDISTORTION.....188XIV. MANS DUAL NEED FOR SOCIETY ANDSOLITUDE 198XV. THE ECHO OF THE PROVERB 201INDEX 213EDITORIAL PREFACEDESPITE Freuds personal frankness in hiswritings he retained a deep inner reserve andso is likely to remain a man of mystery to futuregenerations, who will greatly like to understandwhat manner of mind it was that was able unaidedto penetrate so profoundly into its own secrets andinto those of humanity. Any scraps of information, therefore, concerning his remarkable personalitywill be welcome, and the present book providessome of undoubted interest. Dr. Reik throws lighton several aspects of Freuds personality, amongwhich special attention may be called to the convincing evidence of Freuds fundamental hopefulness and the falsity of designating him a pessimist.The author would be the last to deny that theglimpses he gives us are but partial ones, and thathe does not pretend to paint a complete picture. Hewould further, I am sure, admit that the passageofyears has brought an increasing risk of strengtheningthe subjective factor in some of his judgements andpossibly also in his memories. Two little instancesoccur to me. He says that after Freuds serious illnessthe only thing noticeable was that he cleared histhroat when he lectured. In fact, Freud neverlectured after that date and only on one occasiondid he ever even attend a meeting of the Society.Clearing the throat was a habit he had always hadwhat the illness brought was the difficulty of articulation. The second instance concerns Dr. Reiksquoting Freuds prohibiting the celebration of hisEDITORIAL PREFACEseventieth birthday with the remark, alluding toKarl Abrahams recent death, one cannot celebrate with a corpse in the house. In fact there wasan important celebration of that birthday I wentto Vienna myself to attend it. And Freuds birthdaywas in May, while Abraham had died in the previousDecember. If Dr. Reiks memory is correct aboutFreuds remark, then it is certainly not to be takenas an expression of conventional piety on Freudspartthis would have been not in the least characteristic of himbut as an illustration of the way hewould snatch at any pretext to avoid, or at leastminimise, a ceremonial occasion.While, therefore, we are grateful to Dr.