Book Reviews

BOOK REVIEWS

Hello and welcome to what promises to be another unbelievable year, as that once-in-my-lifetime year of 2020 appears to have extended itself. It is harder work these days to lean towards the hope of things working out, let alone start a year with good intentions in the face of viral turbulence and medical struggle right outside our doors. Yet still I do. I know that life is all about ups and downs from the minutest of individual micro levels to the universal, and I retain the belief that this too shall pass as Nietzsche famously quoted. I cling to hope, left behind like a little beacon of light in Pandora's box after she had let all matters of ill escape into the world. It helps me through bleak times even when it requires some imagination to picture a normal future, one where we can come and go as we please, meet and touch others freely, and see clients face to face.

I fear that the next few months will not be easy. I can spend it doomscrolling (what a wonderful new word), which will be as tempting as that extra drink or slice of cake, or I can do a bit more reading. The six reviews in the following pages form a good start. The first three reviews are directly related to our therapy profession: du Plock's Case Studies in Existential Therapy: Translating theory into practice is followed by a second review of The Wiley World Handbook of Existential Therapy (the first review was published in volume 31.1). Next is The Soul of Existential Therapy: Dialogues with Professors Todd DuBose and Miles Groth, which was edited by Loray Daws and considers existential therapy in its most uncomplicated form, its soul. This is followed by Clarke's Fiction's Madness, an analysis of psychiatry and mental health issues through some of the greatest novels in (mainly) English literature. Butler's The Force of Non-Violence: An Ethico-political Bind considers violence and non-violence and suggests fresh ways forward. Last is a review of the autobiography of Yalom, Becoming Myself, an interesting read of the life the man who has influenced so many among us.

If none of these books capture you, there is always the reading list at the back of the journal where several books that were recently published or are about to be published have been added. Or perhaps you have a fitting suggestion for this section? Simply contact me if you want to do some free reading in return for a review. I look forward to hearing from you.

Ondine Smulders