A Must-Read for Novelists

The Examined Life: How We Lose and Find Ourselves by Stephen Grosz

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is a wonderful book - the complexities of the human psyche looked at with such wisdom and simplicity. Each chapter was a page-turner as the problems of patients were laid out and then 'solved'. It even made me think it would be fascinating to be one of Stephen Grosz's patients myself - though it would be terrifying too - who knows what his Sherlock skills would uncover about the strange machinations of my mind!

Also key to the power of the book, is the gentle kindness that seems to emanate from the author. While delivering often extraordinary case-histories(all the identities of the 'real' patients are protected), Stephen Grosz only ever comes across as a person who truly cares for his fellow human beings, a man on a vocational and compassionate quest to alleviate their difficulties.

I have to add that, while 'The Examined Life' is an absorbing read that I would recommend to anyone, it is simply a MUST-READ for a novelist! For what are we fiction writers doing in the end, other than trying to understand and illuminate the business of being human?



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