The Interpretation of Dreams
The single book that introduced psychoanalysis to the world and reshaped how Western culture thinks about the self.
“The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind.”
Why It Matters
The single book that introduced psychoanalysis to the world and reshaped how Western culture thinks about the self. Freud's claim that we are not masters in our own house — that dreams, slips, and symptoms are decipherable expressions of repressed wishes — became the dominant cultural framework of the twentieth century. Even readers who reject Freud cannot escape his vocabulary.
The 
Take
Personal reviewFrued really got carried away but in a cool way. To me, his theories are more just an exercise in post-rationalization which is a great exercise, when doesn’t make it seem like a science. Definitely maps to literary criticism better than dream analysis. Thoroughly unscientific yet interesting ideas and his love of literature bleeds through into his beliefs
Notable Quotes
“A dream is the (disguised) fulfillment of a (suppressed or repressed) wish.”
“Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo.”