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It is widely acknowledged that the publication of Jung's Red Book has had a significant effect on our reception of Jung and on our clinical practice. The title of the present work Lament of the Dead refers to a quote lifted from The Red Book, and provides a focus for a series of discussions between the two authors, James Hillman and Sonu Shamdasani, touching on a range of themes concerning the impact of The Red Book on psychology today. Amongst the areas covered are: the nature of the process leading to Jung's production of The Red Book; the meaning of The Red Book within the life and work of Jung; the radical effect that The Red Book has on our reading of the rest of Jung; and the even more radical revision that The Red Book requires of our clinical understanding. This is an important work for anyone seeking to deepen their insight into The Red Book and its place in our analytic thinking.
The dialogues begin quite formally in 2009 and increasingly display a more personal counterpoint of mutual engagement, informed opinion and self-disclosure, coinciding also with the last months of the life of Hillman in the autumn of 2011. I found this unfolding a satisfying format for introducing the depth, ambit and complexity of the subjects covered, allowing the reader to witness the circumambulation of the two men working out their thoughts together and to capture a glimpse of the meaning of Jung for each of them in their own work. This exposition speaks movingly for and feels complete in itself. Therefore, rather than offer a critique, I have decided in the present review to present something of my own engagement with their discussions, by lifting out some of the strands that have interested me. I start with the experience for Jung of his experimental study into the process of vision-making that comprises The Red Book, a project that occupied him for longer than any other in his life, and that was the essence of his life's work.
Opening himself to an eruption of imaginal mater