Lions at Lamb House: Freud's "Lost" Analysis of Henry James
by Edwin M. Yoder Jr.
List Price:
Our Price: $2.94
You Save: $12.01 (80%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Edwin M. Yoder Jr.Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-09-01
ISBN: 1933372346
Number of pages: 239
Publisher: Europa Editions
Book Reviews of Lions at Lamb House: Freud's "Lost" Analysis of Henry James
Book Review: "I am eager to learn what prodigies of ennui the talking cure will dredge up from [my] 'unconscious.'"--Henry James
Summary: 5 Stars
The imagined meeting of Sigmund Freud and Henry James at James's residence, Lamb House, is the focus of this surprising novel of ideas, which conveys the intellectual ferment in Europe just prior to World War I in a style which is filled with warmth and good humor. Though Freud and James seem human and even fun-loving here, the novel is no farce. Serious issues involving James's writing, his style, his subjects, and his repressions all come into play, even as Freud admits to having his own problems trying to reconcile James's creativity with the "scientific knowledge" which underlies his psychoanalytical principles.
Three characters describe different aspects of Freud's visit. Horace Briscoe, a friend of William James's son Billy, is an American literature student doing his thesis on Henry James. Living at Lamb House for the summer so he can do research, he keeps a private, objectively written journal of the meetings between Freud and "Uncle Henry," as James has asked to be called. At the same time Henry James is writing almost daily letters to a friend, author Edith Wharton, describing his often amused reactions to Freud's attempts to discern his "secrets of the alcove." He sometimes creates apocryphal stories for Freud. Freud, in turn, is keeping his own notes on James, which he plans to use for his research.
The body of the novel, set in 1908, alternates with sections written by Horace Briscoe in 1941, by which time James has been dead for twenty-five years, and Briscoe is now a middle-aged professor at Johns Hopkins. Freud has been dead for two years, and his colleagues and heirs, feeling Freud's legacy threatened by the beliefs of Jung and Adler, have become "keepers of the flame," insisting on doctrinaire psychoanalytical interpretations of Freud's writing. Briscoe fears that Freud's notes of his 1908 "analysis" of James, which he has acquired from the Freud archive, will be burned if they show Freud having moments of doubt about psychoanalysis.
Written in a lively style which never becomes ponderous, even when discussing heady literary and philosophical issues, the novel is a delight to read. While it certainly helps to have a good working knowledge of the writing of Henry James, Yoder writes so clearly that readers less familiar with James should find much to enjoy and even more to admire in this novel. Beautifully paced, with serious themes and intellectual discussions alternating with playful scenes, the novel captures the intellectual face-off of two "lions" who enjoy meeting each other as much as the reader enjoys imagining their meeting. Though Henry James expected "the talking cure" to dredge up "prodigies of ennui" from his unconscious, he greatly underestimated the prodigious talents of his "biographers," Horace Briscoe, Sigmund Freud, and, especially, Edwin Yoder. n Mary Whipple
Summary of Lions at Lamb House: Freud's "Lost" Analysis of Henry James
"This wonderful novel discloses the nature of two monumental minds, making each more dazzling in the process. . . . A rare book, as moving as it is thoughtful."-Roger Rosenblatt
In 1908, an Austrian psychiatrist visits southern England at the urgent request of a Boston colleague, who fears his brother's intention to rewrite his early novels may be the sign of debilitating neuroses. The Austrian doctor is Sigmund Freud. The Boston psychologist is William James, and the novelist is his brother Henry. Over ten days, the worlds of psychology and literature collide-giving rise to this charming novel of ideas.
Historical Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Historical Books
Pirate Latitudes: A Novelby Michael Crichton
Harper; Published: 2009-11-24; Roughcut; Book
Best price: $2.44
Price in other shops:
The Master Butchers Singing Club: A Novelby Louise Erdrich
Harper Perennial; Published: 2004-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.83
Price in other shops:
The Last Witchfinder: A Novelby James Morrow
William Morrow; Published: 2006-03-14; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
Zorroby Isabel Allende
HarperAudio; Published: 2005-05-03; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $3.09
Price in other shops:
The Hot Kid: A Novelby Elmore Leonard
William Morrow; Published: 2005-05-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.89
Price in other shops:
The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Chronicles Series #1)Mass Market Paperback; Book
Bones of the Hills (Conqueror, Book 3)by Conn Iggulden
Harper Collins Canada; Published: 2008; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $44.70
Marchby Geraldine Brooks
Penguin Books; Published: 2006; Paperback; Book
Emperor (Emperor 1)by Conn Iggulden
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2003-06-07; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.80
Girl With a Pearl Earringby Tracy Chevalier
Harper Collins Audio; Published: 2002-06-17; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $86.82
Similar Books and other products
The Lost Daughterby Elena Ferrante
Europa Editions; Published: 2008-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.23
Price in other shops:
The Marriage Plot: A Novelby Jeffrey Eugenides
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Published: 2011-10-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.24
Price in other shops:
The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Family's Century of Art and Lossby Edmund de Waal
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Published: 2010-08-31; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.00
Price in other shops:
The Tiger's Wife: A Novelby Téa Obreht
Random House Trade Paperbacks; Published: 2011-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Price in other shops: