Customer Reviews

Life and How to Survive It

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

2 things very unique about this book: 1) it is a discussion of robust mental health (as opposed to mental pathology). 2) the discussion is layed out as a dialogue/script between the co-authors.

Instead of discussing the symptoms, causes and cures of mental pathology, the authors discuss the "olympians of mental health" and the things they all tend to have in common.

After covering the aspects of individual mental health, the authors expand their scope to the mental health of families, organizations, businesses, countries and cultures.

For my second reading "Life.." became my morning "devotional" book. I found myself being transported to an imaginary room where I sat and listened quietly to John and Robyn, looked them in the eyes, laughing and crying with them. The profound effect of these daily trysts was that over time I was developing the same awe, wonder and respect for the "olympians" that the authors had. I also found myself becoming more like the "olympians of emotional health" that we admired so much. I've read thousands of books and this one has had a more profound effect on me than any other that I can recall.

I gave the book a score of 9 only because in a few places the discussion and banter become a bit boring (but you listen patiently because you're with friends).

If you like this book, you also will like "Families and how..". If you've read this book and enjoyed it like I have, please send me e-mail, I'd really like to hear from you.

A well developed treatise on living life honestly and to your fullest potential. All aspects of your relationship to self and others (individuals and community) are covered.

A sincere effort at bringing about authenticity to the world. Get beyond cover up work and get to being who you are, accepting that or changing it to be who you would like to be in this world.

A good team to write together, they present this material with humor and insight. No better way to learn than with a smile on your face.

I have a horrible feeling that I will be dissapointed...this is the first book on psychology that I have ever read and I just know that none will match it for it's practicality, it's easy of understandiing and it's ease of reading. Eminently enjoyable. You will discover a lot about yourself, your friends, your work and even your country in this gem. Everyone should be able to find something to make their life more enjoyable and fulfilling.

This book begins with the question 'what makes a person sane?' and expands on it to create one of the greatest books of all time. Each chapter (with a variably related afterthought) comments on a different level of society, from individuals, to businesses and similar organizations, to nations and societies, to religion, and finally to the coda 'All change please'. The third chapter contains an excellent comparison between the Americans and the Japanese which I recommend to any American to see the sillier parts of their culture.

Cleese and Skynner expand on their work in Families and How to Survive Themto cover healthy individuals and also to move from individuals and families to organizations, countries, and society as a whole. They present some sophisticated psychological constructs (I detected Melanie Klein and D.H. Winnicott) in a winning way that should be accessible to practically anyone.

They do this, as in Families, through a dialogue between Cleese and Skynner. This lets the reader understand the material as Cleese might, with plenty of clarification, examples, insights, and humor - much as their actual therapy must have gone.

I did have a few quibbles. The dialogue idea does get a little clunky at points. And the guru/devotee relationship between the two can get a bit embarrassing here and there. I also found the emphasis on organizations makes the book drift into management bestseller territory at times. It's also rather dated - the focus on the "Japanese miracle" particularly so.

Even so, the nuggets far outweigh any possible issues. As an example, their discussion of politics is really invaluable. They offer up ideas like conservatives identifying with father figures and liberals with mother figures (or reacting against the opposite one). It really works! They also explain the behavior of political zealots - black and white view of the world, inflexibility, demonization of the opponent - through pyschological constructs like splitting and projection.

In particular, I liked a diagram they came up with where one dimension was conservative/liberal and the other was healthy/unhealthy. Instead of just scattered data points, though, they saw particular political stands arranging themselves on an oval. The idea was that particularly healthy politic views tend toward the middle, less healthy ones toward more partisan territory, and the least healthy ones congregate together once again - but this time at the back of the oval, sharing the same paranoia, authoritarianism, and inflexibility, if very different ideologies.

I first came across this book in a small bookstore in the top of the north island of new zealand which I just happened to be wandering around, and found myself magnetically drawn to it (cover alone!) to the point that I scrounged together funds from friends in the store (begged, borrowed - no stealing though) to buy it.

I've never regretted it - the book very fundamentally changed my life, very much for the better. Of the number of people I have recommended it to as a read, most have said it has provided great clarity and an ability to resolve some tricky matters that previously they simply had had appropriate mentals tools to grapple with to a successful resolution.

One did however scold me - for not having insisted, rather than simply suggested, that he read it. Further information in this area that I would recommend is an interview of Abraham Maslow, titled "Self Actualisation".

I enjoy this book, and go back to it sometimes for enjoyment, but it is not too deep, and very conscious and a bit slow in explaining its concepts. There's some insight, but I would recommend this mostly for fans of John Cleese who are also interested in the subject of the book.

Especially the part about how relationships can be made work better is especially practical and usable. The rest of the bood is a insightful conversation by comic John Cleese and family therapist Robin Skynner. And it is really interesting to listen

'Robin' retains the role of therapist in this discussion with his former patient 'John', who, though witty and charming is a little too uncritical for my taste. Even if one is willing to accept a psychoanalytic account of personality development and family dynamics, and I am, the latter part of the book's speculations regarding management, politics, religion, and the like, are without foundation. I found it particulary annoying how they make the Japanese (not to mention Americans) sound like another species entirely.

I found this a very disappointing sequel to 'Families and How to Survive Them'.