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The appearance of this book in America is a most fortunate contribution to the literature aiming to popularize psycho-analysis. Most books on this subject do not go beyond a mere statement of statistics on marriage and the love-life. They do not dare to tackle the scientific point of view thoroughly because of the implications. In this book the reader is, however, ingeniously introduced to fundamental material which leads to a comprehension of the causes of neuroses.
It is by no means a clinical book. The author himself calls it 'an original study in applied psycho-analysis'. The first chapter, 'Freud's Pathways', is an epitomized survey of the history of psycho-analysis. In the chapter on 'Sex Deviations' important data on the psychology of the love-life is indirectly presented. Dr. Wittels' complete discussion of all the possible outcomes of the sexual impulse suggests to the reader corrections for the deviations from the desirable outcomes. This is equally true of his treatment of the chapters on perversions, such as masked sadism, bisexuality, narcissism, etc. Since a knowledge of perversions postulates a knowledge of the physical zones on which the perversion is based, Dr. Wittels discusses the phases of libido organization.
Inasmuch as the book is intended for the general public, the chapter 'Parents and Children' is worthy of special mention. The discussion of the Oedipus complex as the nucleus of all neurosis is fourfold, namely, love and hate of the father and love and hate of the mother. The two illustrations used are Hamlet and Don Juan. Other members of the family, siblings, step-parents etc., are discussed in relation to the rôle they play in the development of the super-ego. The inhibited love of Wagner (Tristan), Rousseau, and Dante is presented in the chapter 'Le Grand Amour'. An entire chapter is devoted to the transformation of love into hate in 'Great Haters', and another chapter to love and the part it plays in marriage. The concludi