Customer Reviews

Mars and Venus in Love: Inspiring and Heartfelt Stories of Relationships that Work

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1 star:		(3)

 

 

If you liked John Gray's book, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, you may enjoy hearing these stories of how the ideas in that book were used by couples who attended his seminars and did counseling sessions with him. A primary benefit appears to have been providing a couple with a common language about their communication needs. The ideas will have more power after hearing how someone else reacted to and used them. These reactions are in the form of letters that are read by John Gray in this audio cassette version.

If the concepts in that book are ones that you do not agree with, or already have full power for you, you can probably skip this audio cassette.

I found John Gray to be a below average reader to listen to, and was tired of his voice before the cassettes were over. He made no attempt to shift his voice from his usual one as he read each of the letters, and listening became monotonous. An actor would have dramatized and differentiated them a bit to make for more interesting listening. Having a man read a woman's letter in a male voice is also fairly uninteresting.

The words would have had much more meaning and impact if they had been read by the person who wrote each letter. Then the nuances and emotions the person felt would have come through better.

John Gray's ideas about how to improve marital communication are pretty simple, and this abridged version could have been even more abridged. The two primary concepts [(1) of men listening to women without suggesting solutions and (2) women letting men have quiet time] are repeated in almost each one.

If your relationship needs work, I suggest Relationship Rescue and the Workbook that can be used with it as a starting point. I think you will get more benefit from those than from this audio cassette. If your issues are severe or long-standing, you may also need professional counseling.

If you want to read one book or listen to one audio cassette by John Gray, I suggest that you go to Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus.

After you have finished with whatever materials you have used, I suggest that you consider where else you may have weak communications. How are you doing with the rest of your family? With your friends? With neighbors? With those you work with? A good way to find out is to take some private moments to ask each person how well you are communicating with them. Chances are there will be opportunities to improve. Ask questions to improve your understanding of what they tell you. Then follow those ideas.

Enjoy all of your relationships more!

I have read dozens of self-help/relationship books and have found John Gray's philosophies to be the most straight-forward, accurate and effective. His descriptions of men and women and their differences in behavior and response are dead-on, as is Dr. Gray's belief that understanding those differences is the only way to truly get along. Dr. Gray's books will help you and your mate see that you are BOTH "normal" in your behaviors and responses, even though you may seem irrational or unreasonable to one another at times. Dr. Gray will help you see that boys and girls are just plain different and as soon as you realize what that means in a relationship, trust me, you will breathe a HUGE sigh of relief and give your mate the biggest kiss ever!

This book is filled with testimonials for John Gray's approach to relationship development and enhancement. The overriding theme is essentially, "And then I read Dr. Gray's book" (or, preferably, "attended my first seminar") "and my live was changed forever." There are a few allusions to the specifics of his theories, but basically the jargon is used and the reader is assumed to be familiar with the subject already. The book has been marketed as a collection of real-life experiences of ordinary couples, with many of whom the reader should be able to identify, but this is not the case at all. It is a glowing "puff piece" which reads as if it had been drawn from the evaluation forms submitted by couples at the end of his seminars. I am not disputing the significance of Dr. Gray's insights and presentation in the slightest, just the thrust of this book.

i am so satisfied with this purchase. i originally bought this for my husband, who was in prison at the time. i sent him a copy and i bought one for myself. this book brought a lot of positive thoughts to both of us. reading through these story really helped us through this difficult time. consequently, both my husband and i were intrigued by the dr. john grey's work and went on to read "men are from mars, women are from Venus" and its really helped us with our communication skills.

I completely agree with the previous review that this book is nothing but a John Gray advertisement. I didn't even make it to the second chapter. After I got annoyed with "John Gray does this...", and "John helped me with that...", I thumbed through the rest of the book and saw his name repeatedly on every page! I was looking for good relationship stories and maybe some advice and inspiration, instead I got the printed version of Mr. Gray's infomercial.

I completely agree with the previous review that this book is nothing but a John Gray advertisement. I didn't even make it to the second chapter. After I got annoyed with "John Gray does this...", and "John helped me with that...", I thumbed through the rest of the book and saw his name repeatedly on every page! I was looking for good relationship stories and maybe some advice and inspiration, instead I got the printed version of Mr. Gray's infomercial.

This cassette is rather boring presented. The author simply reads letters, where people commented about his techniques. It's not a tape you can have fun with.