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Rating: 
Summary: Reich beyond Reich
Review: I first read this book in 1947. It had been recommended to me by a maverick sociologist. Fascinated from the first page on, I carried it with me on trolley cars, in subways and to class until finishing it. I was awestruck. Bridging the gap, and the seeming contradictions, between Freud and Marx, I could see Reich going beyond either. The book set me on a path that I've pursued for over 50 years, through sociobiology, shamanism, alchemy, medicine and martial arts. Reich's biographer entitles his book "Fury on Earth." For me,"Mass Psychology of Fascism" was a first step into that fury.
Rating:
Summary: Reich beyond Reich
Review: I first read this book in 1947. It had been recommended to me by a maverick sociologist. Fascinated from the first page on, I carried it with me on trolley cars, in subways and to class until finishing it. I was awestruck. Bridging the gap, and the seeming contradictions, between Freud and Marx, I could see Reich going beyond either. The book set me on a path that I've pursued for over 50 years, through sociobiology, shamanism, alchemy, medicine and martial arts. Reich's biographer entitles his book "Fury on Earth." For me,"Mass Psychology of Fascism" was a first step into that fury.
Rating:
Summary: The role of sexual morality in a fascist/capitalist state
Review: This book will force the reader to reflect on their own presupposed sexual morality. Reich inadvertently develops a formula for the Nietzschian over-man. As the first, and probably the most thought-out of the Freudian Left, Reich criticizes "dogmatic Marxism" and (to the joy of Marx) gives Maxism a new look without the dictation of unfounded morality. Not to be misunderstood as a nihilist, Reich calls for the reader to sever the ambilical cord of morality and take responsiblity for his or her desires. Reich undertakes a comprehensive analysis of the capitalist identity, or a dictatoriship like such as the Nazis: a hardened and repressed character, incapable of understanding its desires apart from destruction and conquest. It is also clear that he intended this analysis to be applied to the American way of life. Few authors are as capable of making both psychoanalysis and Marxism as accessible as Reich. However, this results in no compromise of depth. The reader will undergo a devestating re-evaluation of the role of sexual morality in everday life that is continually overlooked by both layman and acadamics. In his early years, while under the wing of Freud, Reich learned some bad habits in the overuse of metaphor. Taking this in stride however, "The Mass Psychology of Fascism" is one of the most usefull tools for understanding the inherent relations between fascism, capitalism and morality. In it, he forsees the comodification of the body image and the development of the consumer identity through the corruption of human sexuality.
Rating: 
Summary: find its current application
Review: This book, in its third edition, is Reich's attempt to account for the failure of Marxism to spot and deal with the evolution of nationalistic Fascism that tore the world apart for 12 years or so. In doing so, he redefines the Marxist proletariat man, an entity modified by the industrial revolution into the democratic working man. The main difficulty with the book is its poor translation into English. The translator keeps German syntax and as a result it cannot really be read as English. The introduction, however, is fairly lucid and expresses in precis most of the gist of the book. Reich asserts a big truth here when he says that every man has a fascist inside begging to be set free. Economic and social crises bring these impulses to the fore; all it takes is a demagogue who can ignite our ubiquitous, paternalistic and authoritarian impulses to murder into a mass movement. Re-read GW Bush's state of the union message for clues as to where his cadre is leading us.
Rating:
Summary: find its current application
Review: Wilhelm Reich was many things in his lifetime- a student of Freud, a political activist, a research scientist, and an inventor. His work was decades ahead of its time and is finally being rediscovered and reevaluated by the public. If, like me, you are interested in Reich and his work, you might want to check out a novel called We All Fall Down, by Brian Caldwell. it draws heavily on Reich's theories, particularly Listen Little Man and The Mass Psychology Of Facism. It's a great introduction to Reich's work and the entire novel draws heavily on his theory. It's very interesting watching an author explore his theories in a fictional setting. Well worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: A superb book for anyone interested in Reich
Review: Wilhelm Reich was many things in his lifetime- a student of Freud, a political activist, a research scientist, and an inventor. His work was decades ahead of its time and is finally being rediscovered and reevaluated by the public. If, like me, you are interested in Reich and his work, you might want to check out a novel called We All Fall Down, by Brian Caldwell. it draws heavily on Reich's theories, particularly Listen Little Man and The Mass Psychology Of Facism. It's a great introduction to Reich's work and the entire novel draws heavily on his theory. It's very interesting watching an author explore his theories in a fictional setting. Well worth reading.
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