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The mind of a genius is a fountainhead of originality, inspiration, fascination, and creativity for those of us who are not as intellectually well endowed. Gifted individuals can be included in this group as they may be among the first to appreciate radical new ideas. As was demonstrated by, for example, Beethoven, Picasso, Einstein, and Shakespeare, the world the genius inhabits is never quite the same afterward. And certainly in the field of psychology, the revolution brought forth by Sigmund Freud needs no introduction to this readership.1
Among the rather esteemed contributors to this field, certain scholars have gone way beyond the usual reading of Freud to conduct a meticulous study of his writing, examining in exquisite detail the development, elaboration, renunciation, reworking, and revising of his ideas. John Fletcher is one of those scholars. An Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literary Studies at the University of Warwick, where among other topics he teaches psychoanalytic ideas, Fletcher brings an in-depth understanding of the enormous contributions made to psychoanalysis by Jean Laplanche.
Fletcher has undertaken the translation of Laplanche's work for the English-speaking population, a long-term project. From an early Laplanche work to a more recent one, and continuing with the book that is the subject of this review, Fletcher has astutely observed and interpreted Freud's writing through a Laplanchean lens. And this lens is sharply in focus.
Fletcher clearly presents his thesis, which is to carry out