Bonds That Make Us Free: Healing Our Relationships, Coming to Ourselves (Hardcover)

by C. Terry Warner (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Shadow Mountain (September 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573459194
• ISBN-13: 978-1573459198
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #30,903 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surprise Recommendations, April 3, 2005

By	Hubby, Dad, and Businessman (Pleasanton, CA USA) - See all my reviews

I walked into a bookstore with a collegue looking for a book on parenting. Being the parent of two current teens and two eventual teens, I am always seeking to understand them and finding ways to be a better parent. However when I told my collegue what I was looking for he recommended "Bonds That Make Us Free" and when I asked the young clerk if they carried the book, she said she read it herself and that it helped her strengthen her friendships.

I was thoroughly pleased with the book. The most powerful concept I learned was about self-deception, and how it can define who we are and the decisions we make. The book is filled with many, many short examples to help understand the principles being taught which I found extremely helpful.

This is not a simple feel-good book. I loaned the book to an older friend of mine and she had a hard time understanding it all. I read a few of the stories to my wife and she had a hard time appreciating the significance of the principles through my explanations. You have to be committed to reading and understanding the book to get everything out of it. Mind you, these are not faults with the book -- like any significant breakthrough in understanding it requires work on the reader's part to think about the principles being taught and honestly assessing your own behavior, and then applying the principles to your life.

For anyone seriously interested in improving their own personal happiness I highly recommend this book. It's one of the bst self-help books I've ever read.

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Changed my life, June 14, 2004

By	Pravin Muniyappa "pavipavi" (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I know I won't remember all the moments of my life, but I will remember the moving ones, the true moments. This book was responsible for my change of heart, and it changed my life. That is a moment worth remembering. The book explains why our relationships fail. It helped me understand why I treated people the way I did. Do you ever wonder "Why did I treat her so badly, when I really do love her?" This book will help you answer that question.... Most importantly it gave me a way to change, to have a change of heart. For the first time in a decade, I feel the person I am on the outside is the same as the person I am at my core... This book gave me a map to find myself and I decided to give a copy to everyone one in my life.

47 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Am I in the wrong?, October 7, 2003

By	S. Swallow (Seattle) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Perhaps the most compelling question Warner asks us to take up in this book is: Am I in the wrong? In a world where war comes before political leaders admit their own faults and where 50% of marriages end in divorce, often because partners can only see the problems with their spouse this question could have powerful effects.

I believe Warner has chosen his title carefully using the word "free," which is so loaded today. Being "free" today has been confused with being able to choose between 10 brands of VCR or do whatever you want with no thought of the consequences. What Warner advocates is a real freedom, freedom from your human self and its weaknesses. Warner's book will not ensure you won't make bad decisions but it will teach you about the courage to admit when you are in wrong and how to change for the better. That is real freedom.