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As the author immediately makes clear in his introduction, this intriguingly and evocatively titled book is concerned with the exploration and investigation of the ‘undifferentiated’levels of the psyche—i.e. emotional states of oceanic void, or confused areas of the mind. The volume is divided into eight chapters, some of which comprise papers previously presented at scientific events and published elsewhere, and its very structure is tantamount to a declaration that Russo's research is the cumulative result of a long personal career—as is borne out by the changes than have taken place over time. The author emphasises that his reflections are based on a body of clinical experience extending over many years; and he also pays tribute to the group he formed, which has shared his experience of research on melancholia.
Russo belongs to a tightly knit circle of Italian psychoanalysts with a common interest in what they call the analytic relation and a specific style, which is evident both in their theoretical references and in their particular reading of the Freudian corpus and of post-Freudian psychoanalysis. The wealth of quotations from his oeuvre confirms that Freud is the author's main interlocutor. Post-Freudian psychoanalysis is allotted a limited space, within which the predominant references are to French-language psychoanalysis and some of the authors who have specifically studied twilight states of the mind (Grunberger, Jacobson, Rosolato and Abraham & Torok). At the same time, Russo's dialogue with literary authors such as Kafka, Ingeborg Bachmann and Melville helps him to gain insight into the mental climates and emotional states for the representation of