Book Reviews

BOOK REVIEWS

Here I am again, another year and another issue of Existential Analysis filled with more reviews.

Over the last few weeks I have been wondering, what is it for me about reading reviews, theses, and so many others out there in the papers and online? How and why am I drawn to them? Is it simply to find out about a book, an exhibition or a movie perhaps, so I may choose more wisely what to read and what to avoid in the precious little time I have to myself? Or is there more to it?

I realize it is not just about the object and my need to select from the huge offering out there, but many a review give me great pleasure; they are so much more than just a review of a book. They make an argument, give a view, and are frequently written in a highly personal style that affects me. I enjoy reading how reviewers present their arguments, the words they use, the length of their sentences and paragraphs. As I read their thoughts, they speak to me. Sometimes I feel moved, often they teach me. Do I take their ideas in and make them mine, or do I reject them? Does my reading somehow change how I consider the world, and in this case, my work? All of the above and more.

Once again, I have a diverse selection of reviews for EA's wide audience. The section starts with a review of Martin Adams' An Existential Approach to Human Development and is followed by Kevin Krycka's Psychotherapy for the Other. Both books centre on existential philosophy and its applications in psychotherapy. The next review is of Donna Savery's Echoism, a book with as sole focus the issue of echoism as linked to narcissism (see Savery's article on page 142). I have included a review of Revisioning Person-Centred Therapy (edited by Bazzano, et al) as many among us, myself included, have humanistic leanings (read person-centred in this case).

The deep and lasting connection between the arts and psychotherapy, is covered in the last two reviews. First, a review of the Royal Academy's exhibition of the drawings of Klimt and Schiele, whose works provide us with their expressions of dread, desire, beauty and being. It is followed by a review of the two Blade Runner movies, which cover, par excellence in my view, many of the existential themes that we meet in the therapy room and life on a daily basis.

I wish you happy reading in 2019.

Ondine Smulders