Book Review- Introducing Freud: A Graphic Guide To The Father of Psychoanalysis

Picked up this book as it was promoted on Amazon Prime Reading. But it soon turned out be very engrossing. It serves as a very crisp view of Sigmund Freud (The Father of Psychoanalysis). While I was ready for the part where Freud opines that — “Neurosis is a conflict of the conscious and the unconscious self”, I wasn’t quite ready for the part where he ties in all the “unconscious oppression to primal sexual desires that have manifested in a different form”

Another interesting comparison (reality check) is when you correlate

(1) Freud’s view, that human behavior is based on 2 contrasting tendencies — (a) Pleasure principle of immediate gratification Vs (b) Reality principle of tolerated/delayed route to gratification

along with

(2) The current state of “Reality” which is driven by “Unabashed Consumerism”

Are we in a state that Pleasure Principle has truly conquered the Reality Principle?

Some may opine that consumerism takes a delayed route to gratification (Reality principle), but I would argue that this specific stream of thinking evaporated with the arrival of credit cards, wherein one first gets his/her gratification and then toils to pay for it.

Our reality is now driven inexplicably by “Pleasure Principle”. We live in a distorted reality where the “World has come to a pause”, due to COVID-19 virus outbreak. One would expect, to both introspect and retrospect (for this pause, affords us the time to do both) and move forward with caution and lessons learnt. But instead I hear news of “Revenge shopping” for pent up demand of luxury goods, with several luxury boutiques clocking their largest single day sales.

My dear Freud, it is no longer 2 contrasting forces, it is just “Pleasure Principle” to the fore

By the way, the graphics in the book, are worthy of a special credit.

#BookReview #SigmundFreud #Pyschoanalysis #PleasurePrinciple