Of Love and Lust: On the Psychoanalysis of Romantic and Sexual Emotions

by Theodor Reik

On This Page

Description

These selections from Theodor Reik's work concern the love life and sexual activity of men and women. Reik establishes the theme of this work in the following way: "The sex urge hunts for lustful pleasure; love is in search of joy and happiness." Over a third of this volume had never been published in book form before it originally appeared half a century ago. Its appearance in paperback, for the first time, is a welcome addition to current debates, liberated from ideological and political show more constraints.The first part of the book is so far ahead of its time that it is still current. It reveals Reik's departure from Freud's theories and from those of most of his contemporaries in psychology and psychoanalysis. Part Two is a greatly abbreviated version of Masochism in Modern Man, retaining those parts with a direct bearing on the subject of this volume. Part Three offers two essays on why people remain single. In the author's usual direct style, they deal with the marriage shyness of the male and the psychological fears and resistance of both men and women to acceptance of the marriage bond. Part Four is Reik at his wisest. "The first lady whom I asked to read the manuscript said smilingly: 'Many of your impressions about us (women) are correct. No man should read the book!' A few seconds later, she said: 'Or rather, every man should read the book!'"As Paul Roazen noted, "in contrast to some of Freud's other followers, Reik was prescient early on in distinguishing self-love from narcissism. Reik believed that genuine self-regard was the ultimate basis for developing the capacity to love."At times Reik seems to defend women, at times to critique them. Yet he writes with sympathy and understanding. He challenges other authorities who have written on the subject, but he also agrees with many of them. Love and Lust is civilized writing at its most provocative. Reik is authoritative, and his book reflects the glow of a rich personality. show less

Tags

Recommendations

Member Reviews

Members

Recently Added By

Author Information

Picture of author.
49+ Works 777 Members
Viennese-born psychoanalyst Theodor Reik became Sigmund Freud's pupil in 1910, completed the first doctor's dissertation on psychoanalysis in 1911, and received his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Vienna in 1912. He lectured at the Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute in Berlin and at The Hague. He came to the United States in 1938 and show more became an American citizen. Reik's lack of medical training led him to found the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis in 1948, which accepts lay analysts for membership and has programs for their training. His Listening with the Third Ear (1948) is a stimulating discussion of Freud's development of psychoanalysis and describes in great detail his own cases during 37 years of active practice. Reik's books show great erudition and are written with literary skill; they sparkle "with insights and with witty profundities." He may properly be regarded as "the founding father of archaeological psychoanalysis, " a branch of depth psychology dedicated to the probing of archaeological data from psychoanalytic viewpoints. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Some Editions

Kuhlman, Roy (Cover designer)
Roazen, Paul (Introduction)

Classifications

Genres
Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, Sexuality and Gender Studies
DDC/MDS
155.3Philosophy and PsychologyPsychologyDifferential and developmental psychologySexuality and Gender
LCC
HQ21 .R37Social sciencesThe family. Marriage, Women and SexualityThe Family. Marriage. WomenSexual lifeSexual behavior and attitudes. Sexuality
BISAC

Statistics

Members
86
Popularity
370,331
Reviews
1
Rating
(4.00)
Languages
English, German
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
11
ASINs
11