Hartmann (Psychiatry/Tufts Univ. School of Medicine; The Functions of Sleep, 1973) writes accessibly and persuasively about ``boundaries''—his way of conceptualizing the mind. Hartmann makes a strong and eloquent case for the validity of boundaries as a psychological tool. In the course of his extensive studies on nightmares, he tells us, he encountered many aspects of subjects' lives that couldn't be explained—a quandary that led him to conceive of ``thick'' and ``thin boundaries,'' and, ultimately, to develop his ``Boundary Questionnaire,'' reproduced here. The result is a ``mental map,'' deriving its terms from common sense and experience as well as from classical psychology and psychoanalysis. Boundaries pervade our lives, Hartmann says, informing every detail of the way we exist in both waking and sleeping states—determining how ``open'' we are to experiences both inner (issues of self) and outer (relationships of all kinds). While Hartmann draws on extremes of ``thick'' and ``thin'' to make his points, most of us fall somewhere in between. He claims no definitive answers to the ``nature versus nurture'' question, but boundaries do appear to change in reaction to environmental factors, though not always in adaptive ways. The author concludes by pointing to the practical clinical value of boundaries in psychotherapy (individual, couple, and group) and psychopathology, as well as indirectly in the treatment of many medical and psychological conditions. It's a concept with much potential for the ongoing study of personality, the mind, and the organization of the brain. Never reductive, Hartmann sketches an insightful map of the mind that may prove of use to professionals and laypersons alike in the endless quest ``to know ourselves.''
Pub Date: Nov. 21, 1991
ISBN: 0-465-00739-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Basic Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1991
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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