Calvin S. Hall (1909–1985)

As would be expected, the Ego, Superego, and Id are prominent players in Professor Hall's summation of Freudian theory. A less well known facet of Freudian principles, the role of psychic energy in the development of personality, is prominently featured; Hall labels this Freud's most brilliant discovery. Though it is a slim volume, the information is dense. The entire body of Freud's work that Hall is summarizing was published in several thousand pages. To attempt to take notes is tantamount show more to copying by hand nearly every word in the book; to attempt to highlight the more important passages would result in the entire text colored in yellow highlighter. In short, the book itself is a well-organized, clearly presented set of notes on Freudian theory. (January 1995) show less

Is a summary really necessary? This book is exactly what it says it is. Hall explains Freud’s basic theories (right or wrong) in a way that is easy for someone with no background in psychology to understand. It’s not exactly riveting reading, but the explanations are clear and give a good introduction to Freudian psychology.

The book addresses Jung's entire system and provides succinct, memorable summaries of each concept. The Book is broken up into seven chapters:
1. Carl Gustav Jung (biographical background)
2. The Structure of Personality (the psyche, conscious, personal unconscious and collective unconscious)
3. The Dynamics of Personality (psychic energy and values, the principles of equivalence and entropy, etc.)
4. The Development of Personality (individuation, transcendence and integration, etc.)
5. show more Psychological Types (thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuitive)
6. Symbols and Dreams
7. Jung's Place in Psychology. show less

I recently pulled out an old notebook and several pages are devoted to notes from this book. I think it was my first real look at Jung and it set me down a path that crossed with his works times and time again. Wish I still had the hardcopy book, but at least I have my notes.