Windows - by J -B Pontalis (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

At once a memoir and a personal version of the author's highly influential Language of Psychoanalysis, this work by one of the world's leading proponents of psychoanalytic theory and practice offers an autobiographical perspective on the private "vocabularies" that develop between analyst and patient. Because our ways of understanding the world are mediated by our use of language, J.-B. Pontalis suggests that a close look at our private lexicon can uncover a great deal about what we value. Beginning with one of his own linguistic preoccupations, the metaphor of the window, Pontalis considers language as a vehicle for both self-awareness and self-deception; he explores how we choose or eschew certain words to create our life-stories and demonstrates how these words conceal--and reveal--our most intimate preoccupations and desires.

Review Quotes

"He may require little introduction, but nonetheless, we are provided with a very effective one in a fine translator's introduction. I recommend that "Windows" not be read, but rather tasted and mulled--as one would a fine wine rather than a "vin ordinaire,." And I would add that one could make a case for the real benefit or value of these little essays by appreciating the extent to which the deeply personal musings of their author prompt or elicit a companion musing in the reader."--W.W. Meissner, S.J., "The Psychoanalytic Quarterly"

"Through "Windows" Pontalis continues his shrewd, subtle Freudian inquiries into what our sentences can sentence us to. Into the art of hearing things in what we don't want to hear. To avoid the woodenness of scientific formulation, and the arch stylishness of a too literary psychoanalysis, Pontalis has had to invent a new genre; a genre in which it is as though we can overhear someone wondering about something. And in the relishing and the tempering of his impressions-psychoanalytic and otherwise-we begin to discover what a generous skepticism might be like."-Adam Phillips, author of "On Kissing, Tickling and Being Bored: Psychoanalytic Essays on the Unexamined Life and On Flirtation."

"Windows supports dreams rather than concepts, encounters and poetic moments rather than painfully wrought insights. . . . It is a beautiful little book, and one to read slowly. It suggests that in the activity of analysis there might yet be something that can be rescued, keeping the unconscious alive."-"Times Literary Supplement,"

"Through Windows Pontalis continues his shrewd, subtle Freudian inquiries into what our sentences can sentence us to. Into the art of hearing things in what we don't want to hear. To avoid the woodenness of scientific formulation, and the arch stylishness of a too literary psychoanalysis, Pontalis has had to invent a new genre; a genre in which it is as though we can overhear someone wondering about something. And in the relishing and the tempering of his impressions--psychoanalytic and otherwise--we begin to discover what a generous skepticism might be like."

About the Author

J.-B. Pontalis is a psychoanalyst and the author of many books, including The Language of Psychoanalysis, with Jean Laplanche. Pontalis was the founder of La Nouvelle Revue de Psychanalyse and served as the journal's editor from 1970 to 1984, and he won the 2001 Mary S. Sigourney Prize for his outstanding contribution to psychoanalysis. Anne Quinney is an assistant professor of French at the University of Mississippi.