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Rarely does an introductory text bring much that is new to a subject - especially to readers (including readers of this journal) who are already very familiar with the subject. From the outset, Ann Casement's new introduction to Jung and his psychology impresses as an exception to this. A glance at the organization of the book reveals its freshness: after a mandatory ‘The Life of Carl Gustav Jung’ (which itself is a far from routine read), Casement offers sections on ‘Jung's Major Theoretical Contributions’ and ‘Jung's Major Practical Contributions’, a fourth on ‘Criticisms and Rebuttals’ and a last one on ‘The Overall Influence of Carl Gustav Jung’, plus an extensive bibliography.
All introductory books on Jung rely quite heavily on Memories, Dreams, Reflections (Jung, 1963) but the difference here is the way that Casement is up to date with the authorship problems of this book and the research of Shamdasani, for example, that is unravelling the Jung story and unearthing interesting archival material. Now when I teach Jung I can hand students this book instead of repeating all the caveats applicable to Memories, Dreams, Reflections - which is still essential reading but only if accompanied by a critical view, which Casement's succinct chapter has now provided us with.
The next forty pages start with a survey of Jung's philosophical influences from Plato through Nietzsche and the neglected F. W. H. Myers, offering just enough for the student to seek further details in specialist texts. Gnosticism, Alchemy, the Kabbala and Christian dualism are discussed with appropriate quotes from Jung - Seven Sermons to the Dead and Answer to Job, for example - and with a combination of sophistication and clarity which many introductory texts strive for but seldom achieve. The section ends with a lengthy exposition of the roots of Jung's theory of Psychological Types and its main tenets - an inclusion that helps to reverse the current tendency to neglect this influential area of his