The essayistic authorship of Mikael Enckell, previously exemplified by last year's collection of essays Till saknadens lov (In Praise of the Yearning), is an enthralling experience to follow. His recent book, Under beständighetens stjärna (Beneath the Star of Persistence), represents a major challenge. It is a biography of his father, the poet and painter Rabbe Enckell, covering the period 1903-1937.

Questions of the greatest interest for a psychoanalyst are already outlined in the introduction; for example, the consequences of hostility towards culture as well as of an ahistorical attitude. Another theme is the function of genetic interpretations and reconstructions in psychoanalysis. Mikael Enckell discusses the necessity of external facts in order to widen