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It is the destiny of great men to generate a great deal of curiosity in the wake of their lives and accomplishments. The curiosity, however, may be expressed in various ways. Ideally, it is directed toward a fuller understanding and appreciation of the legacy of greatness. In less fortunate instances it breaks down and becomes the vehicle for the gratification of the researcher's scopophilic and rivalrous impulses. When this occurs, there results either a preoccupation with personal, intimate details of the great man's life, or an attempt to outdo him in one way or another, or both. Few giants of modern times have been the object of more curiosity than Sigmund Freud. Among the least attractive products of this interest have been certain attempts, undertaken with more ambition than good taste, to re-analyze Freud's dreams with the aim of exposing more of his private life, his motives, and his conscious and unconscious wishes than he himself chose to do in The Interpretation of Dreams.
On Sigmund Freud's Dreams by Alexander Grinstein is a superb antidote to these unfortunate, unwelcome efforts.
In preparing this volume Dr. Grinstein set himself the monumental task of researching, examining, and elaborating the many allusions and references contained in eighteen dreams which Freud dreamed between 1895 and 1900, in one dream recalled from childhood, and in Freud's associations to these dreams. The results of this work include biographical sketches of historical and contemporary figures; translations and synopses of poems, novels, and other literary works; and a wealth of background and source material concerning current personal, social, and political events related