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“A friend arrives on time; those who are not friends arrive when they have time” is the opening line of Amistad: Una hermandad elegida. In this book, Luis Kancyper, a true ambassador of Freudian science, amazes us again with his original thoughts and extraordinary capacity to articulate both theory and practice. On this occasion, the author turns his attention and thoughts toward the concept of friendship, defined as a chosen sibling relationship, not imposed by law or by bonds of consanguinity, commanded only by the mutual admiration between two free individuals. A bond devoid of arrogance.
Kancyper, an avid and enthusiastic reader, frames his psychoanalytic thought within a vast cultural knowledge. He has the gift of moving back and forth from literature to the realm of clinical psychoanalysis, crowning each chapter with extensive and rich clinical material. This way of writing enhances considerably his psychoanalytic perspective on the subject of friendship. The book has two parts. The first, “Friendship in the Analytic Process,” comprises four chapters; the second, “Friendship in Literature and Psychoanalysis,” has two. The book closes with an epilogue: “Friendship and Its Five Functions.” While my comments will focus mainly on the first part, I will comment as well on the second part and the epilogue.
The author reminds us that psychoanalysis originated in the friendship between Freud and Fliess, a friendship marked by exceptional creativity. Kancyper argues that the topic of friendship, not widely studied in psychoanalysis, is a worthwhile subject for psychoanalytic inquiry because, he