Father or Worse; Book review: Telemachus Complex

Abstract
Massimo Recalcati, a thoughtful Lacanian writer, draws on the Telemachus complex to explain the growing new form of dissatisfaction among the younger generation. He offers a fresh interpretation of the contemporary relationship between children and parents, demonstrating how the symbolic authority of the father has lost its power and has irreversibly collapsed.
In the early chapters, Recalcati introduces the issue and in the later ones, he emphasizes the decline of the function of the “Law of the Word.” Through an intergenerational and mythological approach, he aims to describe the shift from Oedipus to Telemachus and its consequences.
The Telemachus complex is the inverted form of the Oedipus complex. Oedipus saw his father as a rival standing in his way. In contrast, Telemachus uses his eyes to explore the sea and gaze toward the horizon. He waits for a father he has never met to return and restore the law to his land, which has now been overrun by unruly suitors.