{"id":22520,"date":"2023-03-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=22520"},"modified":"2023-04-24T16:50:10","modified_gmt":"2023-04-24T14:50:10","slug":"mind-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/2023\/03\/16\/mind-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Mind games"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MEDICINE <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

Mind games<\/h2>\n\n

Andrew Scull <\/span><\/strong>is entertained by a critical but witty examination of early psychoanalytical practitioners and their self-absorbed patients <\/h5>\n\n
\"\"
The brains trust <\/span><\/strong>Sigmund Freud, pioneer of psychoanalysis, pictured (seated, left) with colleagues in Berlin in the early 20th century; his Welsh acolyte Ernest Jones, the \u201cbagman\u201d of a new book, stands top right <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

In his new book, Seamus O\u2019Mahony invites readers to view the shifting fortunes of three men over the course of nearly four decades. The guru in question is Sigmund Freud; the bagman is his most devoted disciple, Ernest Jones; the sceptic is Jones\u2019s brother-in-law, eminent surgeon Wilfred Trotter. There\u2019s a particular focus on psychoanalysis \u2013 which the author, like Trotter, clearly regards as a cult, not a science. \u201cPsychoanalysis,\u201d he remarks, \u201cbecame a home for rich directionless strays, who analysed other rich directionless strays.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

If O\u2019Mahony is essentially dismissive of Freud\u2019s intellectual legacy, he displays a grudging respect for the man himself. Trotter, the sceptical Englishman, with his dexterity as a surgeon and his innate modesty, is most sympathetically portrayed. Least favoured is the industrious but sycophantic Jones, whose peccadillos and limitations are laid bare. <\/p>\n\n

While still young men on the make, Jones and Trotter were close friends. That friendship became strained when allegations of sexual abuse prompted Jones\u2019s abrupt departure from London to Toronto in 1908. More scandals surfaced in Canada, forcing Jones to return to London in 1913. By then he had become a convinced Freudian, and soon built a lucrative practice. Within a few years, Jones \u201ceffectively controlled the London market in psychoanalytic patients\u201d and made a handsome living, coming to own several properties including a summer house on the French Riviera. <\/p>\n\n

Jones also acted as \u201cFreud\u2019s agent and broker\u201d, sending him a steady stream of rich English patients. Freud was duly grateful, thanking him for \u201cproviding well for my medical income\u201d. However, he disliked Jones and quashed his hopes of marrying Freud\u2019s 18-year-old daughter, Anna. <\/p>\n\n

\u201c<\/span>O\u2019Mahony dispenses caustic judgments about those attracted to psychoanalysis in the interwar years, and about its practitioners\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

In recounting this history, O\u2019Mahony dispenses caustic judgments about those attracted to psychoanalysis in the interwar years, and about its practitioners. \u201cPsychoanalysis was the opium of the intellectuals,\u201d he concludes, and \u201cas influential in Cambridge in the 1920s as communism in the 1930s\u201d. He has little doubt about why: \u201cCambridge intellectuals discovered that they liked nothing better than talking about themselves\u2026 The dressing up of this prolonged immersion in the self as a \u2018scientific\u2019 and \u2018therapeutic\u2019 process was intoxicating.\u201d The other hotbed of English psychoanalysis was Bloomsbury. \u201cFreudianism appealed to the Bloomsberries because it was simultaneously avant-garde and elitist, and because it legitimised their unorthodox sexual behaviour.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Many patients later joined the ranks of the analysts. The only qualifications these \u201ccouchjumpers\u201d possessed were their own sessions with Freud, who then gave them his personal imprimatur. O\u2019Mahony holds most of these in little regard. The snobbish and casually antisemitic Joan Riviere, among Freud\u2019s more able translators, is described as \u201cone of the great monsters thrown up by psychoanalysis in England\u201d. James Strachey, who translated Freud\u2019s work, and Adrian Stephen, Virginia Woolf\u2019s brother, were \u201cdabblers who had failed at everything else, [until] in early middle age they found something they could finally stick at\u201d. As for Melanie Klein, the child psychoanalyst who did so much damage to her own children\u2019s lives, O\u2019Mahony\u2019s verdict is succinct: she was \u201ctruly wicked\u201d. <\/p>\n\n

This is not a book for those enamoured of Freud and his followers. Others will find much here to relish \u2013 the Freudians were a rum lot. O\u2019Mahony has a sharp eye for their foibles, and writes with wit and humour. <\/p>\n\n

\n\n

Andrew Scull <\/strong>is distinguished professor of sociology and science studies at University of California, San Diego <\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

The Guru, the Bagman and the Sceptic: A Story of Science, Sex and Psychoanalysis <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

by Seamus O\u2019Mahony <\/p>\n\n

Head of Zeus, 336 pages, \u00a327.99 <\/h5>\n\n

All products were chosen independently by our editorial team. Below is an affiliate link, and we may receive a commission for purchases made. Please read our affiliates FAQ section underneath the Letters page to find out more.<\/p>\n\n

Buy now from Waterstones<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MEDICINE Mind games Andrew Scull is entertained by a critical but witty examination of early psychoanalytical practitioners and their self-absorbed patients In his new book, Seamus O\u2019Mahony invites readers to view the shifting fortunes of three men over the course of nearly four decades. The guru in question is Sigmund Freud; the bagman is his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":22808,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"74","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"74","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_74-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_74-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"April-2023","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"April-2023","purple_external_id":"April-2023-74-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"April-2023-74-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000085643||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000085643||","purple_android_product":"com.im.historymag.293","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.historymag.293","purple_ios_product":"com.im.historymag.293","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.historymag.293","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"de2d4977-6998-4200-99aa-454f8dbebdf9","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-04-24T14:36:14Z","apple_news_article-theme":"","apple_news_api_id":"7fb2f896-94a0-424c-b4bb-3ace22bb775f","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-04-24T14:50:15Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Af7L4lpSgQky0uzrOIrt3Xw","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_article_theme":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\""},"categories":[20],"tags":[46],"apple_news_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/TheGuruBagmanSceptic-tn-scaled.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/TheGuruBagmanSceptic-tn-scaled.jpg",2560,1718,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/TheGuruBagmanSceptic-tn-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/TheGuruBagmanSceptic-tn-300x201.jpg",300,201,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/TheGuruBagmanSceptic-tn-768x515.jpg",768,515,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/TheGuruBagmanSceptic-tn-1024x687.jpg",800,537,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/TheGuruBagmanSceptic-tn-1536x1031.jpg",1536,1031,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/TheGuruBagmanSceptic-tn-2048x1374.jpg",2048,1374,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"MEDICINE Mind games Andrew Scull is entertained by a critical but witty examination of early psychoanalytical practitioners and their self-absorbed patients In his new book, Seamus O\u2019Mahony invites readers to view the shifting fortunes of three men over the course of nearly four decades. The guru in question is Sigmund Freud; the bagman is his…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22520"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22520"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22989,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22520\/revisions\/22989"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}