[R7X]⋙ PDF When Nietzsche Wept Irvin D Yalom 9780060748128 Books

When Nietzsche Wept Irvin D Yalom 9780060748128 Books

Download As PDF : When Nietzsche Wept Irvin D Yalom 9780060748128 Books

When Nietzsche Wept Irvin D Yalom 9780060748128 Books

I have been remiss in writing reviews of Yalom’s books. I became a therapist in 1973 and soon after I read THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF GROUP PSYCHOTHERAPY, 1975 and not getting enough….then read EXISTENTIAL PSYCHOTHERAPY, 1980. Last fall at a therapy training, Yalom’s fiction was recommended to me and lickety-split I read THE SPINOZA PROBLEM, WHEN NIETZSCHE WEPT, and THE SCHOPENHAUER CURE, each book better than the one before, but all of them splendid! I started with Spinoza because I’d always respected him for being true to himself and love historical fiction. Reading a Midrash (a story that fills in the gaps) of Spinoza’s life helped me realize that I too have a “Spinoza Problem” because I think I’ve become a therapist bereft of a “methodological” community having developed my own brand of psychotheray. WHEN NIETZSCHE WEPT gave the juicy details of Breuer’s (Freud’s mentor) life and glimpses of a young Freud, not to mention an introduction to Nietzsche and his influence on psychology. It puzzles me that many therapists, thinking Freud is passé, have no interest in studying their roots and discovering that psychoanalysis is in our DNA. And finally—THE SCHOPENHAUER CURE. I did not have a clue who Schopenhauer was and I thank Yalom for his “philosophy for dummies” books. But, will someone please tell me if Yalom is familiar with the enneagram because Philip Slate is the prefect ennea-type 5: self-sufficient, avoids intrusions, observes rather than experiences, and seeks wisdom and skills. It helped me understand a significant other in my life—also a self-sufficient type. This last book, in its modern setting with flash-backs to the 1800s made me laugh, cry out loud, and is a candidate for the best book I ever read.


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When Nietzsche Wept Irvin D Yalom 9780060748128 Books Reviews

Yalom is a fine writer, and this novel is a pleasure to read. Especially after reading his nonfiction (The Gift of Therapy, The Theory and Practice of Group Therapy) as a student, I appreciate this hypothetical vision of a relationship between one of the founders of modern psychology (Josef Breuer) and the philosopher whose work inspires many who study the human psyche (Friederich Nietzsche). This fictional extension of the development of the "talking cure" includes other forebears of today's counselors, such as Lou Salome and Freud. Anna O., the ostensible first recipient of the talking cure, is a palpable presence, though in absentia.

Yalom strives to improve people's lives through honest, empathetic, relationships as a counselor. It is no coincidence that his exploration of the origins of psychodynamic theory—which promoted the idea of the therapist as an impassive empty slate upon which the client was to project all desires—is all about relationship. The doctor is forced, through unusual circumstance, to "treat" the philosopher not as a doctor but as a friend. Despite the future assertions of Breuer's younger colleague, "Siggy" Freud, Yalom depicts therapeutic transformation as a product not of technique but of relationship.
When Nietzsche Wept will not have wide appeal due to the content. Written by Irvin Yalom, who is Professor Emeritus of Psychotherapy at Stanford University, the story centres on Nietzsche and Breuer, two men prominent in the nineteenth century in relation to the beginnings of psychoanalysis. Almost the entire book is about the discussions that took place between these two great thinkers of their time.
I have no background in psychiatry but I do love philosophy and discussion on the human psyche, so I found the book fascinating... the writing brilliant and the plot very clever.
Not recommended to those readers who prefer fast paced action.
Nietzsche demystified. Should you read this book? Yes, if you’re reading this review, because most likely, then, you’re interested in Friedrich Nietzsche’s ideas’, psychology, and/or psychoanalysis. It is strong on each of those topics. It is an interpretation, pure speculation, but the larger ideas – the philosophy of Nietzsche, the benefits of friendship, and the benefits of talking honestly and openly with someone, what I call “fearless communication,” are legitimate. Nietzsche is often not understood, or misunderstood; but here is what I gleaned about the man’s ideas from Yalom’s novel.

1. God was invented by man (= humans.)
2. Religion is a dodge – a wrong path taken by weak minded people.
3. People benefit from their sicknesses and illnesses, always.
4. Altruism (helping others) is a power play that benefits the helper and weakens the helped – because it places the helped in debt to the helper, who then feels superior. Thus, it makes the helper feel good about him or herself, while robbing the helped the opportunity to become who they truly are. Nietzsche’s main point “Become who you are.”
5. Life is always a contest, i.e. a competition.
6. No pain, no gain.
7. No one embedded in a culture [social, say marriage; corporate, say any job; or institutional, say the police, military, and even academia] can choose freely.
8. A major problem is that people feel discomfort in the wrong thing.
9. Man is divided into two groups Those who wish for peace; and those who wish for truth. One must choose between comfort and true inquiry.
10. Confessions are for the confessors benefit, not the recipients.
11. Despair is the price one pays for self-awareness.
12. Whatever does not kill you makes you stronger.
13. Become who you are.
14. The cause of your sickness, or illness, is secret to the self.
15. Women are false saviors.
16. Consciousness [normal everyday] is only the translucent skin covering existence The trained eye can see through it—to primitive forces, instincts, to the very engine of the will to power. (see #5)
17. All motives spring from a single source – the drive to escape oblivion (= to be forgotten. To leave no clear trace that you were here.)
18. True Friendship is the joining together in the search for higher truths.
19. Your task is to die at the right time. ( = Be who you are and live as you should, by your own will. Consummate your life, and then you can ‘die at the right time’.)
20. Choose your life (= the way you live.) Don’t let it be assigned to you.
21. Time is a flat circle. You will live your life over and over again, an eternal recurrence, if you haven’t evolved to a place of freedom, wherein you actually choose and create your life. (= The Law of Attraction.)
22. Duty is a euphemism for using others for your own enlargement. (see# 4 &7, 17)

The plot/story is secondary to the revealing of Nietzsche’s philosophy. It posits that Freud might well have read Nietzsche, and together, with the intermediary, Breuer, they sort-of uncovered the unconscious, and the healing power of psychoanalysis. It, the plot, could have happened. In the end (of the story) Breuer and Nietzsche help each other understand their obsessions with what might be called ‘Phantom Lovers’; which is in itself intriguing. I loved this book.
Winter 2014
I have been remiss in writing reviews of Yalom’s books. I became a therapist in 1973 and soon after I read THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF GROUP PSYCHOTHERAPY, 1975 and not getting enough….then read EXISTENTIAL PSYCHOTHERAPY, 1980. Last fall at a therapy training, Yalom’s fiction was recommended to me and lickety-split I read THE SPINOZA PROBLEM, WHEN NIETZSCHE WEPT, and THE SCHOPENHAUER CURE, each book better than the one before, but all of them splendid! I started with Spinoza because I’d always respected him for being true to himself and love historical fiction. Reading a Midrash (a story that fills in the gaps) of Spinoza’s life helped me realize that I too have a “Spinoza Problem” because I think I’ve become a therapist bereft of a “methodological” community having developed my own brand of psychotheray. WHEN NIETZSCHE WEPT gave the juicy details of Breuer’s (Freud’s mentor) life and glimpses of a young Freud, not to mention an introduction to Nietzsche and his influence on psychology. It puzzles me that many therapists, thinking Freud is passé, have no interest in studying their roots and discovering that psychoanalysis is in our DNA. And finally—THE SCHOPENHAUER CURE. I did not have a clue who Schopenhauer was and I thank Yalom for his “philosophy for dummies” books. But, will someone please tell me if Yalom is familiar with the enneagram because Philip Slate is the prefect ennea-type 5 self-sufficient, avoids intrusions, observes rather than experiences, and seeks wisdom and skills. It helped me understand a significant other in my life—also a self-sufficient type. This last book, in its modern setting with flash-backs to the 1800s made me laugh, cry out loud, and is a candidate for the best book I ever read.