Customer Reviews

The Neurotic Personality of Our Time

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Although the importance of the work of Karen Horney is sometimes downplayed, this is one of the best books I have read in my life. Far from incomprehensible language and theories that seem much more far from reality that the ones they are supposed to apply to, this book is an easy read for everyone, and I could understand simple mechanisms that therapists take years to reveal. Karen Horney does not try to place sex as an explanation for everything that you do or think.

Horney revolutionalized analysis. She found societal roots for neurotic behavior and detailed how the intrapsychic processes get projected onto others in a way that could be understood. She changed the language of psychoanalysis -- she made it make sense and so helped thousands and thousands make sense of their lives. Cognitive therapy really started here.

I would highly recommend this book to every student of personality, psychology, and/or human character. Essentially the book is about neurotic styles. Earlier this week I read an article saying that Freudianism is dead; this cannot really be true, because Horney's books describe reality. She has a very lucid prose style that's all the more impressive considering that German is her native language. I plan to read her books over for the rest of my life. I will say that if you are TOO neurotic, you may find this painful to read.

I think these are the better books on psychology. Well wriiten, easy to read, and organized. They touch upon everything. But the thing is, What can they do? They may be able to make us aware of a problem. But really it is just detailed explainations about the problems, but nothing to do about them. By focing too much on all these crazy problems may make us worse. This is basically the human condition.