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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
68 of 68 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Nothing human is alien to me.",
By
This review is from: The Schopenhauer Cure: A Novel (Hardcover)
Irving Yalom's marvelous new novel, "The Schopenhauer Cure," is a wide-ranging and exhilarating exploration of psychotherapy, philosophy, and humanity. Julius Hertzfeld is a respected therapist who learns that his days may be numbered. Rather than retreat from life to lick his wounds and contemplate all that he must leave behind, Julius is determined to spend his remaining time continuing his psychotherapeutic work. He decides to look up Philip Slate, a former patient whom he once treated for severe sex addiction. Philip, one of Dr. Hertzfeld's most egregious failures, quit after three years of what he considered to be futile treatment. Julius invites Philip, who now aspires to be a licensed counselor himself, to join his therapy group. Philip agrees and he brings some heavy baggage with him.
"The Schopenhauer Cure" goes in several directions, but they all merge into a seamless whole. Yalom invites the reader into the tumultuous world of Julius's group therapy sessions, and he delves a bit into the private lives of each member of Julius's group. Pam is a college professor who has failed both in her marriage and in her adulterous relationship. Rebecca has relied too much on her physical beauty, and as she ages, she must face the fact that her looks are slowly fading. Tony is a carpenter whose rough exterior and lack of formal education hide an innate intelligence. These and other members of the therapy group are thrown off stride by the shocking news of Julius's illness and by Philip's icy demeanor. To make matters even more complicated and interesting, Philip claims that he cured himself of his sex addiction by modeling his life after the great German philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer. In a series of fascinating and informative chapters, Yalom traces the life and work of Arthur Schopenhauer, a brilliant but dour misanthrope whose seminal writings influenced Freud, Nietzche, and Sartre, among others. Yalom brings Schopenhauer to life and the chapters dealing with this prickly genius provide a fascinating counterpoint to the conflicts and revelations that permeate the rest of the book. This story of people stripping away their defenses and baring their souls to one another gives valuable insight into the therapeutic process. Yalom's writing is witty, highly intelligent, and imbued with compassion. There are many touching passages and one, in particular, left me profoundly moved. If you enjoy a writer who embraces both the cerebral and the emotional aspects of life, but who is also tremendously entertaining, read this terrific novel.
34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Book That Matters,
By S. M. Retzinger "Suzanne M. Retzinger, Ph.D." (Santa Barbara, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Schopenhauer Cure: A Novel (Hardcover)
Yalom writes about things that matter. Anyone who practices therapy (or not), individual or group, - on either side of the couch - must read Yalom. The Schopenhauer Cure takes us on a journey from disconnection to connection, a matter of life and death. Death turns our awareness to life: we connect "through the commonality of our suffering..." (p. 323).
Not only is Yalom a great novelist, but also a brilliant therapist. His earlier work touches on the essence of human nature. It is hard to believe that a single writer can get down to the core of so many vital issues. He began his work with a textbook -The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy (1970), and writing novels in 1991 - coming full circle from a text on the subject of group therapy to a novel about it. If I would have only discovered Yalom 35 years ago I would be much further along. But then the readiness is all - and I am now ready. After his diagnosis of malignant cancer and having only a year of life left, psychotherapist Julius Hertzfeld looks up Phillip - a patient from the past who he felt had failed in treatment years earlier. Julius invites him into his group on a deal - the group in exchange for supervision. In some odd way I love Phillip - a Schopenhauer scholar whose life parallels the philosopher's and whose philosophy is woven throughout the novel - men who could not bond with others. In The Schopenhauer Cure I watch Phillip unfold. Philosophy, endings/beginnings, connections/disconnections, life/death, and suffering are woven throughout. The Schopenhauer Cure is a message in living life to the fullest - even in the face of imminent death. Although Julius has cancer, he continues to live to do what he loves most - group therapy. Death takes care of itself - our job is to live; but "to learn to live well, one must first learn to die well." (p. 69). Yalom's novel depicts group therapy at its finest. If there is one message that Yalom cries over the roof tops, it is this: "It's not ideas, nor vision, nor tools that truly matter in therapy.... - it's always the relationship." (p. 62). Yalom gets into the hearts of the participants as well as the therapist - and the thoughts that pass through their minds. Julius learns along with the group members - they are traveling the path together, and I with them. It is a journey through the emotional-relational world of the characters that Yalom so realistically creates -it is a real world. I wait for The Schopenhauer Cure to appear as a screenplay. But all things must come to an end - even this novel. That's the nature of life. I don't want the group to end, for Julius Hertzfeld to end, for the novel to end. I read more slowly to keep them with me longer - Julius, Phillip, Tony, Pam and the others. They talk about things that matter - relationships, emotions, and together we move through broken pasts, ultimately arriving at connection. Yalom is up there with Nietzsche. He is bold enough to face the inevitable - death. "Of all that is written, I love only what a person hath written with his blood" (Nietzsche in Thus Spake Zarathustra; p. 39). And Yalom writes with his blood.
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Philosophical Therapy,
By Robin Friedman (Washington, D.C. United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Schopenhauer Cure: A Novel (P.S.) (Paperback)
Irvin Yalom has had a multi-faceted career as a practicing psychotherapist, as a leading writer of texts on group therapy, and as a novelist. Yalom also had a deeply-based interest in philosophy. His novel "The Schopenhauer Cure" attempts to integrate fundmental human concerns, the search for love, for meaning in life, and for a way to accept death, with a novelistic portrayal of group therapy. It does so through a portrayal of Schopenhauer, among other philosophers. The book does not entirely succeed -- it is somewhat awkwardly written and the characterizations leave a good deal to be desired -- but it is thought-provoking and absorbing.
The story is set in San Francisco. The main character of the book is a famous psychiatrist, Julius, who learns that he has a fatal cancer. He considers how to spend his remaining time of health and, out of the blue, contacts Philip, a patient he had treated many years earlier, apparently unsuccesfully, for compulsive sexual behavior. Philip has in the intervening years given up his former career as a chemist, earned a PhD in philosophy and seeks to become a counselor. Philip has cured his sexual addiction by a study of the Nineteenth Century philosopher of pessimism, Arthur Schopenhauer. Like his mentor, Schopenhauer, Philip is arrogant, aloof, and brilliant. He agrees to become a participant in a therapy group lead by Julius in exchange for Julius's help in meeting the requirements for a counselling license. We meet a variety of characters in Julius's group: the blue collar worker Tony, (the most appealing character in the book, in my view) the beautiful Rebecca, a lawyer concerned with the fading of her appearance, the reserved pediatrician Stuart, the librarian Bonnie, unhappy with her plainness, the English professor Pam, who has had numerous relationships in and outside marriage, all of them unsatisfactory, and the unhappily married and alcoholic Gill. The group is intrigued by Philip as the newcomer, by his detachment and his anti-sociability. But the members of the group are fascinated by Philip's insights and by his discussions of Scopenhauer's philosophy as a means of approaching the difficulties which plague them and which drive them to therapy. Sexual and relationship issues play a dominant role for each of the participants in the group and for Julius himself. Gradually, Philip comes to open up and to find a peace with himself, Julius learns to come to terms with his impending death, and the members of the group make varied degrees of progress with themselves. The chapters dealing with Julius and the group alternate with chapters discussing Schopenhauer's philosophy and life. Schopenhauer was an unattractive individual indeed but he has much to teach. The values of a life of the mind, together with its limitations are brought out well in the novel and compensate for some of the wordy therapy scenes and the insufficient development of some of the characters. In addition to Schopenhauer, the book considers the works of other philosphers at key points and compares and contrasts them to Schopenhauer. Yalom shows a good ability to get at the heart of the teachings of these philosophers for purposes of his story. They include, particularly, Nietzsche, the stoic philosopher,Epictetus, and Aristotle. Thomas Mann's Schopenhauer-influenced novel "Buddenbrooks" also plays a substantial role in the discussion. As might be expected in a book dealing with Schopenhauer, there is a great deal of discussion of Buddhism and the growth of interest in the United States in the Buddha. In fact Pam, one of the major characters, spends ten days in India at a retreat given by the famous teacher Goenka, and subsequently joins a Buddhist church. I found the religious and philosphical themes of this book helpful in a book meditating on death and on human sexuality. Julius, born Jewish, is an atheist and a skeptic. The other participants in the groups are, likewise, either secular in their religious orientation or tinged with an attraction to Buddhism. This combination of American secularism and Buddhism I have found appealing in recent years, and I felt validated, in a sense, by seeing this particular way of viewing oneself in the book. But I found myself curious, at several points, about what practicing Jews or Christians would say about this book and how they might respond to the dismissive attitude of the author and the protagonists of the story towards their theism. This book works better as a study of philosophy and of the value of reflection than it does as a novel or as a portrayal of character. But I found it worthwhile. Robin Friedman
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