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A review by larrys
The Forgotten Language: An Introduction to the Understanding of Dreams, Fairy Tales, and Myths by Erich Fromm
Okay, I skimmed some of this but I'm calling it read. If I ever want to get deep into the Oedipus myth I know where to come.
The chapter on the history of dream interpretation is the most useful part of this book, largely because you can't get too woo-woo when you're simply detailing a history.
As for how to interpret dreams and nightmares? No thanks.
Erich Fromm was clearly a misogynist. Hell, the guy was 76 the year I was born and I'm in my 40s, so no surprise there. His description of Little Red-Cap as a man-hating tale boggles my mind. That is something I know quite a lot about. He clearly did no research into how and why the Grimm brothers got their hands on that tale, what they did with it, and what it looked like when it belonged to women in oral form.
I despise Freud and I liked where Fromm disagrees with him. Fromm does a good job of summing Freud up, in places. I also liked how he breaks down the different types of symbolism. (I'm a sucker for a good taxonomy.) I also think Fromm raises some good points about the Oedipal tale -- the son was never attracted to his mother. She came with the throne. That kind of puts the kibosh on Freud's Oedipal theory, right?
Overall, if you're really into dreams you might get more out of this. For me, reading about other people's dreams is as boring as hearing about them irl. I don't put much weight on dreams at all, except when they're used symbolically in literature, which is why I picked up this book in the first place.
For someone interested in storytelling and literature, this book won't offer you much.
The chapter on the history of dream interpretation is the most useful part of this book, largely because you can't get too woo-woo when you're simply detailing a history.
As for how to interpret dreams and nightmares? No thanks.
Erich Fromm was clearly a misogynist. Hell, the guy was 76 the year I was born and I'm in my 40s, so no surprise there. His description of Little Red-Cap as a man-hating tale boggles my mind. That is something I know quite a lot about. He clearly did no research into how and why the Grimm brothers got their hands on that tale, what they did with it, and what it looked like when it belonged to women in oral form.
I despise Freud and I liked where Fromm disagrees with him. Fromm does a good job of summing Freud up, in places. I also liked how he breaks down the different types of symbolism. (I'm a sucker for a good taxonomy.) I also think Fromm raises some good points about the Oedipal tale -- the son was never attracted to his mother. She came with the throne. That kind of puts the kibosh on Freud's Oedipal theory, right?
Overall, if you're really into dreams you might get more out of this. For me, reading about other people's dreams is as boring as hearing about them irl. I don't put much weight on dreams at all, except when they're used symbolically in literature, which is why I picked up this book in the first place.
For someone interested in storytelling and literature, this book won't offer you much.