Cassandra's Daughter: A History of Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis, Freud, history and so on might seem as dry as dust to the average reader. Yet this history is well written, gripping the attention of the reader and giving a greater insight into the beginnings of modern psychology and psychiatry. More than one hundred years after Freud's pioneering work in the origins of hysteria it was instructive to learn of the importance of child sexual abuse in his patients. Sadly and shockingly very little seems to have changed since Freud's original work. This history is not only a good read - it makes the reader reflect and think.

I came to this book by chance, a while ago: after bying it, I put it on the shelf, & forgot about it for a couple of years, without reading it. Then, this year, I had to take a course at university about the history of psychoanalysis: & so I dug out Joseph Schwartz's book, & read it in one weekend. I was suprised how freshly & clearly written the book is. Even difficult, complicated concepts are explained in a good way, that makes you want to continue exploring the field of psychoanalysis, after finishing this book."Cassandra's daughter" reads like a story with a beginning, middle & end, & not at all like a dry, boring history. From the beginnings of psychoanalysis with Sigmund Freud, to today's struggles & questions, Schwartz makes a good case of why psychoanalysis is important & interesting. He talks about what its contributions have been so far, & what kind of contributions it can make from now on. Sure, certain "schools" of psychoanalysis are given less space than others in the book. And it's also true that Schwartz has strong opinions & expresses them clearly, showing his own preferances, & using arguments to support his views: but I don't find this negative--on the contrary, it's refreshing to read a history written from a particular point of view. After all, histories are always written from a particular point of view, even when there's a big struggle towards a so-called "objectivity": Schwartz has no such illusions, & writes making his own voice very clear. It's much more 'fresh' & original this way, since it's one thing to simply & dryly describe the facts-- & another thing to try to explain the facts, giving meaning to the story & the events.

This is hands down the best and most orginal introduction to, and review of, psychoanalysis that I have read since Freud's The Question of Lay Analysis! Its bibliograpy is awesome and its weaving together of the strands of classical and modern analysis, sociology, and juicy strands of personal history provides extraordinary vista of psychotherapeutic developments spanning 100 years