Thursday, September 30, 2010

Growing Up Jung by Micah Toub


I enjoy reading Micah Toub's column in the Globe and Mail and when I saw he'd just released a book my interest was piqued. I have a fair collection of nonfiction/memoirs/personal essays (think Sedaris, Burroughs, Rakoff,) and now this one from Toub comes with a psychological twist from the inside. I especially appreciated the historical references to Jung and Freud and their differences and contributions to the study of psychology, which makes for a better understanding of the atmosphere Toub was raised in. Growing Up Jung is an interesting, quirky and funny memoir.

Our family culture was a particularly calm and encouraging one. "That's good that I died in your dream, Micah," my father once told me. "That means you're integrating your inner father and becoming more independent."

We talked about our problems, and we understood that our issues with each other were often just issues within ourselves. "I am angry with you right now because the part of me represented by you is not being allowed to emerge into consciousness," we might say. "It's not you, it's me." pg 20

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