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As the sub-title ‘Interviews and encounters’ implies, the fifty-three contributions to this book present Jung as a genial interviewee, a man to be ‘encountered’. His answers and his candour depend partly on the questions asked and partly—to my mind—on the sympathy between Jung and his partner. His replies show also many facets of his personality and, by the way, of his growing stature, which can hardly be overlooked, as they expose unintentionally the calibre of his partner. Proof that Jung was aware of this interdependence can be found in the fact that for his 85th birthday interview, the last Jung gave, he ‘would not consent to being interviewed by anyone but Gerster, who had to be called back from the Sinai Peninsula …’ (cf. introductory notice, p. 439).
The book is coherent in the sense that the contributions are in chronological order, spanning Jung's life from Some youthful memories by Albert Oeri, who was Jung's schoolmate and friend of his student days, covering the years 1880-1900, to Gerster's last interview in 1960, about a year before Jung's death.
To give an idea of the wide range of topics one could mention the psychology of politics, personal encounters and the interviews with various journalists which elucidate many of Jung's basic psychological concepts and ideas.
The prospective reader's appetite may have been whetted by such a range, yet something more vital than themes is to be found in the pages of C. G. Jung speaking, which is an intensely emotional, sometimes passionate, book. Behind any pronouncement, private or public, one finds the full impact and vigour of the man C. G. Jung. One admires his