Customer Reviews

Feeling Strong: The Achievement of Authentic Power

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I agree with the Publisher's Weekly Review in that this is not so much a self help book as an academic treatise on the many aspects of power.

The author does draw the distinctions between external (associative) power, and internal (authentic) power. The distinction involves power trappings (power over others) vs. true power (power over oneself). Personally I would have enjoyed a greater discussion of consclusions in the latter arena. However, the work is designed as an academic analysis of power - with the major conclusion being drawn that psychoanalysis failed early on to develop a comprehensive theoretical foundation of human power (because the "church of psychoanalysis" was embroiled in its own internal power struggles - thus to look at such an issue would have required a humility that was not present in the founders. Like any church, at that point, the institution had become more important than the message).

The book does an exceptional job in its purpose - reviewing and analyzing the various forms of power, and providing excellent insights into their sources (the need which drives their capture). The style, the vocabulary, the analysis, is academic. If you are comfortable reading in depth dissection this will be a fine read for you.

If you are looking for a self-help analysis that will provide you with a clear path to change, this is not it. It is neither a light read, nor a how to manual.

The book was not what I expected, but as an academic work in the analysis of power it was far more than I could have expected. It is well balanced, thorough, and provides connective thought to seemingly disparate principles. As long as you are comfortable with this kind of text, you will find it an interesting an insightful read.

Thus, I feel it is a five star work in it's genre. If it were to be rated based on other criteria (i.e. intellectual availability to the populous), the rating would be different. Know what you are getting into and if that turns you on, you'll be quite satisfied with the knowledge the author provides.

Excellent in depth, substance and in writing style. Her grasp of the subject matter feels deep, meaningful, and compassionate. The writing is smooth, authentic, and powerful. The repetitition is instructive, pressing home the fundamental truths without ever becoming tedious. This book is excellent in every way.

Roger McCook

Having given this book a chance because my interests had taken me across Buddhist Psychoanalysts such as Epstein and Batchelor, I was quite impressed by the in-depth and easily understood concept behind power in our lives. Although I hadn't read Person previosly, I am now excited to pick up a few more volumes of her work. Not only was she very informative, providing historical information and personal examples but the chapters flowed well and kept me interested, I finished it in 4 days.
She mentions quite a bit about the science's founder, Sigmund Freud, and gives a thorough case-by-case where power is found in all of our interpersonal and personal relationships. Moving from parental, business and romantic types of examples really brought a familiarity to the table that I hadn't anticipated.
Person thinks power is a much overlooked issue in the world of psychoanalysis and seems to provide quite a window for one to see how right she may be.

This book is a perfect example of why psychoanalysis is a doomed profession. A therapist with deep feelings of weakness and vulnerability writes a book about how to be strong and powerful. Every psychoanalyst who has ever practiced has unresolved feelings which pollute the therapy she provides. And even writing a book like this still leaves her unhealed.

The subtitle is "The Achievement Of Authentic Power". My question : what is inauthentic power? The title, like the text, is nonsense, well-intentioned nonsense I'm sure, but nonsense all the same.

I bought the book as a cheap remainder, to see how someone could spend 400 pages talking about something that doesn't exist. It's well written, but unreadable because it's so derivative and pointless. The only way to feel strong is to feel deeply buried early life feelings of powerlessness. End of story. Book not necessary. More trees still standing.