Customer Reviews

Under Saturn's Shadow: The Wounding and Healing of Men (Studies in Jungian Psychology By Jungian Analysts)

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Between an ex husband that dove off the deep end and a son living with two strong women and without an appropriate father figure, I have been wondering both what makes men snap like that, and what consequence living without a father might have on my son. How to be a mother and a father to him, how not to hurt my baby in the way I see people around me, and myself, hurting and thus hurting others. I believe every mother and father should read this. It truly spoke to me, and I would not put it down until I was done with it some time early this morning. Written in a language everyone can understand.
Collected exerpts, almost quoted, that I found most enlightening:
Greatest burden a child must bear is the unlived life of the parent. So each man must examine, without the motive to judge, where his father's wounds were passed on to him. Either he finds himself repeating his father's patterns or living in reaction to them - in both cases a prisoner. (..)
When we ask such questions, father becomes more a man like us, a brother who has suffered the same ordeal. If we are caught up in hate we stay bound to that which wounds us. (..)
We all develop a provisional personality in reaction to childhood experience. We set off into life with this false self and make choices that further estrange us, and by midlife we suffer growing split between the asquired personality and the natural self. (..)
The crux of the middle passage is the requirement that a man (AND A WOMAN, I WOULD ADD!), whatever his reason or station, pull out of his reflexive behaviors and attitudes, radicallyreexamine his life, and risk living out the thunderous imperatives of his soul. (..)
Being a man (AGAIN, I WOULD SAY NOT ONLY A MAN) means knowing what you want and then mobilizing the inner resources to achieve it. It is extraordinarily difficult to know what one wants. How does one separate the inner truth from personal complexes and cultural directives? (..)
Most men (AND INCREASING NUMBER OF WOMEN WHO LIVE AND SWIM IN GUY'S WORLD) use their job to validate themselves, but they do not feel valued even when they have achieved success. (..)
No man may leave home or be in the world without suffering grievous wounds to body and soul. He must learn to say "I am not my wound or my defense against the world. I am my journey".

Like All of his books, this one aims straight for the heart in a poetic and non clinical language everyone can understand. This is one of the few books it seems avalible on masculine psychology that I continually refer to and recommend. Mr. Hollis has a very clear and deep understanding of the basic problems many of us encounter on our journey towards a well considered life. I have found most of his books packed with experience and insight and along with this book I particularly liked "The Eden Project: In Search of the Magical other." as well.Taken together these two books have offered me so much understanding and real hope.

I am total James Hollis fan. I have now read four of his books and have found them liberating. Visit his website for a clue for why he is so effective - he is not 30 years of age with limited life experience. He commenced his training only after he completed another successful career in academia. Most would have been content to have lived the life he already had. He has the life skills and experience to help us all illuminate our lives.

The book concerns the burden of being a man, exposing some of the constricting myths that have made manhood so painful. It is a book about men but not necessarily only for men - my wife read it too and found it very moving. It is enriched by the signficant store of Hollis reading in poetry and literature. It is not an easy fix and like anything worthwhile requires your concentrated attention. Further, it is only a beginning rather than an end. Hollis says it himself when he quotes somewhere Jung's description of the psychoanalytical endeavour - it can provide insight but then there must come endurance and courage. You can have a vision of what you would like to be but then comes the fidelity to make that vision a reality.

I would recommend this book highly.

Rob

This book is roughly 135 pages. It covers a wide range of relatively complex ideas presented in a clear, well organized manner. Ever notice that when someone really understands something they don't need 300 pages to explain it?

This book challenged many of my ideas about my relationships with parents, my ex-wife, and my life choices (since childhood... I'm 36). I recommend it to anyone who is in this field or just on their own personal journey to have a greater understanding of men and their wounds / healing...

Enjoy

Hollis hits the nail on the head. I found this book to be accurate on many levels and I will benefit from it the rest of my life. How I view my relationship with my father has changed and how I interact with other men will never be the same. This should be required reading for fathers of boys.

This is an excellent book. Deep, insightful, authentic and helpful to all those who want to understand themselves better. Even though it is an analysis of societal and psychological issues that men have to face and struggle with, I believe that women will also find this book very useful.

Absolute must reading for anyone who wants to understand the meaning behind what boys and men do and the reason behind their behaviors. A must read for wives and mothers.

I cannot recommend James Hollis' work highly enough. The guy knows what he's talking about and can explain it in a very easy to understand style. In fact, I recommend any of James Hollis' work as they all seem to be of such equally high quality. Even though this book is about the wounding and healing of men, it should be obligatory reading for women too. It's more than just another self help potboiler. This is excellent content, easily explained and leaves you with a feeling that someone understands you, that you are not alone with your existential problems. There are always literary and poetic references in James Hollis' work, so the quality of the writing has an extra magical touch. You don't need to appreciate poetry or literature to buy this book, but if you actually like reading, this component is a real extra. On the strength of the quality of the writing, of the simplicity of the style I have bought many of Hollis' books and I thoroughly recommend them all. I do wish more men would read about themselves though and if you (men that is!!) haven't wanted to do so up to now, well here is a perfect introduction. I found myself nodding vigourously, making notes, underlining huge quantities because the writing and the content just hit you straight in the intelligence of the heart, there where it must be to change your view of yourself and those around you. Go out and buy the book. You really won't regret it.
Jackie LION (P.S. I'm a woman)

I gave this book to my boyfriend.
He said it was one of the best books he has ever read.
It made him feel so much more understood and "normal" in this society.
He thought before, that he was kind of alone with his type of problems- but NO - EVERY MAN and women, too, in their own ways, have to deal with them.
This book is a tribute to humanity and brotherhood in our psycologically tough times!

Dr. Hollis has done it again! Another book that uncovers the male psyche. As a woman, this was profoundly helpful for me to understand both the shadow and light aspects of the male psyche and it brought clarity to my relationships and helped me interact with men more consciously and with insight. I not only recommend this book to men, but to women, so they can understand men from this deeper more real place.