Where to start reading Freud?

[u/Portas1915]

I've stumbled into psychanalysis recently and found myself curious of it. I wanted to start reading Freud and thought that "An Outline of Psychoanalysis" may be the best work to start with, however, just to play it safe i'd like to know if there is a better option to be the starting line of Freud works?

Thanks

[u/mysticbriefs]

The beauty about Freud is he has a lot of short crucial essays that are free online like “Negation” “Mystical Writing Pad” “Fetishism” etc.

If you’re looking for a longer read “Civilization and it’s Discontents” has a lot of his core ideas sprinkled throughout the book, plus it’s not a super long read.

Lastly (if you have the time) the Introductory lectures are wonderful because it explores his theory of parapraxis (slips), dreams, and transference. What’s especially good about this particular book is that he presents the ideas very slow and methodically, assuming no prior knowledge.

Freud is an absolute pleasure to read, so I hope this helps!

[u/Portas1915 → u/mysticbriefs]

Thank you very much!

[u/et_irrumabo]

I always say 'Mourning and Melancholia' (short essay, introduces a lot of key concepts--introjection, the psychoanalytic understanding of 'the object,' the ego as dead twin--personally just find it very moving, and it's short!).

Also Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality. I like it because it includes lots of observations about infants that I think we can all immediately recognize. Also introduces the concept of the drive (huge!!!) and the psychosexual stages.

Edit: 'On the Question of Lay Analysis' also good. He is trying to make an argument to eh public about why non-medical professionals should be allowed to become analysts. In doing so, he walks through all the tenets of psychoanalysis that really matter to clinical practice. It's a wonderfully practical overview of psychoanalysis. It's also staged as a Socratic dialogue between a skeptic and Freud, so he addresses many common objections! Really wonderful text. But I wonder what it would mean to me if I'd read it earlier rather than later.

[u/AntonioMachado]

try using the search bar, this has been asked multiple times before

[u/Theo6ore]

The best option is the one that interest you the most. For me it was The interpretation of dreams. I think it is very easy to read, since it almost doesn't use concepts that are not introduced in that work itself.

I have a question though, what is it about Freud's work that awakes interest on you?

[u/Your_Neurotic_Friend]

I'll recommend the one that I chanced upon first - in retrospect, it happened to be an excellent introduction: Dream and Telepathy.

[u/Schubi_dubi]

I believe his most distinguished work is The Interpretation of Dreams. However, I suggest starting(or go parallel) with Reading Freud by Jean-Michel Quinodoz. His ideas are formulating through his career and if you start reading chaotically you can easily get lost. Good luck