Intelligent discussions and broad research into cultural and spiritual symbols make this work about interpreting dreams a...
A psychologist offers a guide to the symbols and potential meanings of dreams.
Cole’s (The Archipelago of Dreams, 2011, etc.) book, the third he’s written about dream interpretation, is intended to be more of a manual on the practice. After a lengthy introduction, wherein the author explains his background working with children and teens, the utility he has found in dream interpretation, and the various inspirations and motivations behind this volume, the main body of the work is divided into three sections. The first and most extensive section is a dream dictionary, where symbols and concepts are listed alphabetically and given short descriptions and definitions as to their potential or most commonly held meanings. Some entries have special portions called “Insights,” in which Cole delves more deeply into the spiritual, historical, or cultural wellsprings for the concepts in Western thought. The second section is devoted to archetypes, symbols that appear in similar forms throughout most cultures, while the third focuses on nightmares. Uncredited, amateurish, yet charming hand-drawn illustrations are sprinkled throughout the book. Although dream interpretation may seem like one of the stranger practices in the field of psychology, Cole argues genially and persuasively for its utility in resolving internal conflicts and aiding self-discovery while being careful to distinguish it from scientific analysis. Calling dream interpretation “an intuitive expression of the psyche,” the author roots the practice in such similar impulses as art and spirituality and makes clear throughout that his exhaustive work in these pages is intended to serve as a guide, not a definitive resource. Readers who are skeptics by nature may not hold much truck with the idea that dream interpretation could be useful. But Cole’s intelligent, reassuring prose coupled with his insights into the mind’s workings gained from three decades of working with troubled youth makes a strong argument for his claims.
Intelligent discussions and broad research into cultural and spiritual symbols make this work about interpreting dreams a resonant, thoughtful read.Pub Date: July 31, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5320-7006-8
Page Count: 602
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: Dec. 4, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
These platitudes need perspective; better to buy the books they came from.
A lightweight collection of self-help snippets from the bestselling author.
What makes a quote a quote? Does it have to be quoted by someone other than the original author? Apparently not, if we take Strayed’s collection of truisms as an example. The well-known memoirist (Wild), novelist (Torch), and radio-show host (“Dear Sugar”) pulls lines from her previous pages and delivers them one at a time in this small, gift-sized book. No excerpt exceeds one page in length, and some are only one line long. Strayed doesn’t reference the books she’s drawing from, so the quotes stand without context and are strung together without apparent attention to structure or narrative flow. Thus, we move back and forth from first-person tales from the Pacific Crest Trail to conversational tidbits to meditations on grief. Some are astoundingly simple, such as Strayed’s declaration that “Love is the feeling we have for those we care deeply about and hold in high regard.” Others call on the author’s unique observations—people who regret what they haven’t done, she writes, end up “mingy, addled, shrink-wrapped versions” of themselves—and offer a reward for wading through obvious advice like “Trust your gut.” Other quotes sound familiar—not necessarily because you’ve read Strayed’s other work, but likely due to the influence of other authors on her writing. When she writes about blooming into your own authenticity, for instance, one is immediately reminded of Anaïs Nin: "And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” Strayed’s true blossoming happens in her longer works; while this collection might brighten someone’s day—and is sure to sell plenty of copies during the holidays—it’s no substitute for the real thing.
These platitudes need perspective; better to buy the books they came from.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-101-946909
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2015
Readers unfamiliar with the anecdotal material Greene presents may find interesting avenues to pursue, but they should...
Greene (The 33 Strategies of War, 2007, etc.) believes that genius can be learned if we pay attention and reject social conformity.
The author suggests that our emergence as a species with stereoscopic, frontal vision and sophisticated hand-eye coordination gave us an advantage over earlier humans and primates because it allowed us to contemplate a situation and ponder alternatives for action. This, along with the advantages conferred by mirror neurons, which allow us to intuit what others may be thinking, contributed to our ability to learn, pass on inventions to future generations and improve our problem-solving ability. Throughout most of human history, we were hunter-gatherers, and our brains are engineered accordingly. The author has a jaundiced view of our modern technological society, which, he writes, encourages quick, rash judgments. We fail to spend the time needed to develop thorough mastery of a subject. Greene writes that every human is “born unique,” with specific potential that we can develop if we listen to our inner voice. He offers many interesting but tendentious examples to illustrate his theory, including Einstein, Darwin, Mozart and Temple Grandin. In the case of Darwin, Greene ignores the formative intellectual influences that shaped his thought, including the discovery of geological evolution with which he was familiar before his famous voyage. The author uses Grandin's struggle to overcome autistic social handicaps as a model for the necessity for everyone to create a deceptive social mask.
Readers unfamiliar with the anecdotal material Greene presents may find interesting avenues to pursue, but they should beware of the author's quirky, sometimes misleading brush-stroke characterizations.Pub Date: Nov. 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-670-02496-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2012
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