The Origins of Love and Hate

The death of Ian Suttie (1889-1935) must have been one of the great tragedies of medicine. I had never heard of him; my first knowledge was to pick this paperback at a bookstall. It comprises a brilliant rebuttal of the gospel of Freud, set out in 14 enthusiastic chapters, each of which is summarized in the table of contents. There is an eight-page introduction by the author; and at the end, conclusions. On the 14-page index Suttie expended infinite care, thus facilitating reference to topics rather than to terms. Sutties' criticism of orthodox psychiatry began in 1922 with a "Critique of the Theory of the Head Instinct," in the Journal of Mental Science . He wrote 13 other papers, but this was his first book. It is written in beautiful English, for he avoided technical jargon. The book was not intended only for psychologists but for enlightened people of all kinds—medical