Psychology of the Unconscious

By: Carl Jung

Narrated by: Robert Bethune

Originally published in German as Wandlungen und Symbole der Libido, this is the book that set Carl Jung on his independent path as a psychoanalytic theorist and explorer of the mysterious world of the unconscious mind of the individual and the mythological mind of humanity. He bases his work on an exploration of Miss Frank Miller's Quelques Faits d'Imagination Creatrice, demonstrating complex connections between Miller's self-portrait of her own dreams and fantasies and the world of myth, symbol, and religion. From there, he explores a wide range of myth and religion, always relatiing the mythological and religious products of human culture to the functions and fantasies of the unconscious mind, with particular attention to the workings of that fundamental life-energy he calls the libido. The book is a challenge to the reader. Jung does not limit himself to the boundaries of any one language, culture or discipline. He draws from sources in German, French, Italian, English, Greek and Latin, from Milton to Goethe to Longfellow to Augustine. He explores literature, etymology, and anthropology freely to support his views. Where Jung quotes from the original language, this edition provides an English translation immediately following, and gives each of the quoted authors their own voice, thereby providing an audio equivalent of the quotation typography of the original book. The challenge, and the length of the book, is worthwhile. Jung is a fundamental thinker in the history of 20th century Western culture, and this book is the foundation of all his later work. This audiobook is an unabridged recording of the 1916 translation of the first edition of Jung's book.

Public Domain (P)2012 Robert Bethune

Hard To Stop Listening

Very well articulated, although I would have preferred to hear all foreign passages translated into English, instead of only most of them.
Can't remember what chapter it was, but found it highly interesting to hear the narrator practice a portion of the book several times attempting to get the words right: put a personal insight onto his otherwise highly polished renderings.
This analysis on the subject matter holds sway even all this time after it's first release.
Very difficult ground to cover in the unraveling of the self; difficult to maintain one's grasp of self in light of the necessary assault.
Although it makes one wish to run and hide, sticking it out to the final portion is required for one's sound mental health.

I'll would listen to again.

Started off a bit hard to listen to. Because of performance sounding monotone. With the dense material. But it makes more sense. When it get to story/poem analogous. Then you start to understand. Why it done that way. Makes it much easier to tell the difference. Between subject material and analyst thoughts.

Couldn't even finish

I have read Jung before and I enjoy and appreciate his work. Before purchasing, I read a review that complained about the narration of this version, but I figured it couldn't be THAT bad. I must now agree that the previous reviewer was correct. Perhaps Mr. Bethune was told that they were looking for a cartoon character voice or he might actually be speak that way. Either way, it was bad to the point of being too distracting to endure. Also mispronounced many words. Foreign passages were read and not translated. I don't recommend unless you have no other option.

Nice to listen to this classic.

If you could sum up Psychology of the Unconscious in three words, what would they be?

A collection of Carl Jung's ideas on the Unconscious, at an early stage in his career.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Psychology of the Unconscious?

The connections Jung makes seem personal, in response to Freud, and maybe or maybe not intuitive for the reader.

Did Robert Bethune do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

There is not much differentiation in characters required for this text. The challenge is making the theories sound fresh and vibrant. It is a well-done narration.

Solid and Informative

Would you listen to Psychology of the Unconscious again? Why?

I absolutely would! It's an amazing, to the point way of introducing listeners to Jung and has interesting views that are still applicable today!

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Occasionally, there were some parts where foreign languages were read with little translation but it was an overall solid reading!

Which character – as performed by Robert Bethune – was your favorite?

He did a great job narrating! His monotone, straight to the point approach made this a very informative read! He performed poetry with amazing talent and I was very impressed.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The whole book moved me. I had never heard Jung's work before and it opened up my mind by presenting me with alternative views on motivations and the human mind.

Any additional comments?

10/10 would read again

Performer inadequate

What did you like best about Psychology of the Unconscious? What did you like least?

Read this book many years ago - had hoped to revisit via Audible, but found the performer's reading to be very tedious.

Who was your favorite character and why?

n/a

What didn’t you like about Robert Bethune’s performance?

Nasal, high-pitched, and emotionally flat. Reminded me of some college lectures where I was turning to people in class pleading with them to 'shoot me now'.

Was Psychology of the Unconscious worth the listening time?

Did not finish it...

Any additional comments?

Would love to see other title from Jung's Collected Works on Audible, but obviously with a different performer.

Bethune knocks the ball out of the park!!

Crystal clear narration. Even the foreign languages faithfully reproduced! Congratulations Robert. Jung is honored by your ERSTE KLASSE Stimme!!👍.

great book, unpleasant performance

I will never understand why they chose the most nasal, auspicious, nerdy sounding individual imaginable to read this book. Imagine a psychologist on Loony Toons, reading to you for 10 hours, and you'll have a pretty good idea what it's like. If it had been a book about physics, his voice have been squawky with a thick, obviously fake, German accent.

Additionally, the text is interrupted by long quotes of untranslated material in 3 different languages. Listening to this man drone unpleasantly in French or German, often for several minutes at a time, unable to understand a single word, was almost unbearable. At one point, I pulled the car over to skip through a particularly long segment.

Well done and...

The book wasn't at all what I expected with over an hour of introduction by the author, which I found tedious (I'm anxious to dig into the material).
Unfortunately, the translation of the material is only for Jung's writing but not the interpretation of his subject which is entirely in French. Very frustrating. Its probably a great book, but if you don't speak French best to skip it.

Boring speaking style only makes sense later

It starts off very bland but very quickly starts to become very interesting, and the voice Actor although not great becomes a lot better later when reciting the poetry and stories from mythological sources. he contrasts the voice acted voice sounds he makes in the stories With a very bland speaking style for the author's thoughts which make sense later on but in the beginning can be quite a drag.

There are also instances where you could have to deal with hearing things outside of English that never get translated, so you will have to do a little supplemental reading on your own time to cover the parts that you don't understand. However the main ideas presented by Jung come through just fine.

If you've never read the book before like me it's still valuable but if you've already read the book before the voice Actor may cause you to lull into an unconscious boredom on the oysters you already know.