If you hate women you're gonna love this book. Fust's jealosy will leave you Hungary for mor

Basically the character study of an insecure person. I found it quite interesting. Captain Storr's obsessive jealousy is truly self-destructive. Altogether very human as well. An interesting aspect overall is that it is written from the perspective of Captain Storr himself, so the reader has no direct hint as to whether Storr's suspicions about his wife are well founded. One can only guess from what is presented about Storr's character--a simple minded, somewhat socially inept one. It seems that he is fighting a battle without a real enemy. I highly recommend it!

The Story of My Wife is an in depth psychological exploration of an insecure character. In a few words, it is about the paralysis (or self destruction) of Captain Storr, caused by his obsessive jealousy. An interesting aspect of the book is that it is narrated by Storr himself. The reader has no direct evidence as to whether Storr's jealousy is justified or not. Storr's obsessive character, his irrationality, his mistakes (however destructive in the end) are altogether very human. I highly recommend this book!

I really liked this book. What I couldnt understand was what was wrong with Marianne? I indeed did find it a little scary but more eerie when reading at night. I loved reading it from front to back and I have read it again the same old plot not getting old.

And a bit odd too. Parts of the story that are supposed to be scary just end up being mearly curious. I mean I would not be scared by a boulder with an eye. Nor would I constantly eat sausages, like Marianne and Mark do. And they are particulary fond of the word "beastly". Every second sentence contains this word.

I won't go into detail about the story as the other reviews provide enough info but I will say that the book differs from the film (Paperhouse, in which Marianne becomes Anna Madden) greatly. It doesn't feel as menacing nor does Marianne have the same kind of cockiness and early-adulthood intelligence she has in the film. Instead, she's a year younger and seems more childlike. The story of Marianne's absent dad and having him appear in her dreams as a madman is not here either. The evil forces take the form of monolithical stones with eyes. And the stones chase Marianne and Mark?!

Very weird indeed, I'm not quite sure how the physics of that works tho. It's probably all subtextual. But I can't figure it out. The ending is also completely different from the film too.

I wish this book was darker and had a bit more evil in it. The boulders with eyes just don't do it for me. It didn't feel threatening at all. Althogether this a bit of a disappointment. It's not fully engaging or mysterious and seems too tame. I can't figure out what audience Catherine Storr was writing for but it seems a little unmagical for kids and a too tame for adults. Maybe it was different back in 1958 tho.

I stumbled over the movie, "Paperhouse" in a horror section in a video store. I fell in love with the movie and then I was deteremined to find the book it was based on. The book was nowhere locally and not online either. Not less than a year later (Dec of '93) I got the opportunity to go to England and while there, I searched book stores in London in the pouring rain dragging my reletives around. We got soaked in the rain but I found it in only a couple of hours. I was very surprised that this book was even considered a children's novel. I found it VERY dark and eerie. Don't know of many children who would really get into this book. I would recommend it to older teens and adults. I actually found the book to be darker and eerier than the movie. If you can get your hands on this book, it is worth every penny!

This was a gorgeous show, but kind of conservative -- made Richter into the new "master" of painting, sidelines all his weirder and more "conceptual" work. And why does Robert Storr have to try so hard to put himself at the center of everything?? I saw the Richter show in SF around 1990, so no, this is NOT "the frist American retrospective." And Storr's dismissive (and often really uninformed) treatment of other critics (especially German critic Benjamin Buchloh, who's written on Richter for like, decades) shows what a limited writer and scholar Storr really is. But for better or worse, the pictures are great, and a lot of the other material is really good.

A lot of words been written lately about the 'unexpected revival of painting' fueled by the current Gerhardt Richter painting retrospective captured in this book. It seems, according to some influential art scribes writing in the trail of this traveling exhibition, that the much heralded demise of painting, much like Mark Twain's death, has been greatly exaggerated. Showcasing about 120 works over a 40-year period, this book is one of the most comprehensive retrospectives ever mounted about a contemporary painter in recent memory, and that by itself is a strong enough reason to buy it. However, it is what has been proven by Richter's career and accomplishments, and unexpected stature in the art world (Sotheby's recently dubbed him the 'most influential living artist in the world') and now driven home here, that makes this a-once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn some lessons about the contemporary art world. You see, Richter doesn't fit the formula for success that many art curators and influential critics and other art powers-that-be have carefully crafted in the rarified atmospheres of the upper crusts of the art world. In fact, Richter breaks every 'rule' that often starts being pressed upon 18-year old art students and then is hammered home in reviews and lectures by many contemporary art critics and curators. Rules like 'you better have your own recognizable style!' or 'only new is good' and the oddest rule of all: 'painting is dead!' But Richter is not only a painter in an era forced to focus on video artists, performance stars and PhotoShop wonders, but also Richter wanders from style to style with an ease and speed that makes this book a lesson on half a dozen art movements of the last century beautifully continued onto the current one. Thumb through the pages here and you'll soon discover that Richter is as much as ease with photorealism ' some ultra sharp and some foggy in detail -- as he is with pure abstraction and with romantic paintings of pretty clouds and scenic waterfalls. This is an artist who is not just happy with thumbing his nose at the well-enforced rule that a good artist has to have a clearly identifiable style and do something 'new', but who also seems intent on destroying the other forced formulas of the modern art world: he copies other artists' works, works directly from photographs, blah, blah, blah ' all sins that would make all my art professors and most art critics sigh in disgust. But above all, Richter paints, and he paints in a time when painting has been dismissed as 'ailing' and 'ancient.' New is good, technology is good' painting is dead.' Why does Richter paint? Doesn't he get it? NOPE!! It's because it is all about painting! And managing to make fools of critics who forget that their job is to follow the artist ' not to lead the arts. What those who consider painting an 'ailing' form will never understand (mostly because they are not painters), is that Richter can't and won't stop painting, because through his veins runs the same intoxicating venom that fueled their ancestral kin in the caves of Altamira and which will continue to drive painters long after today's critics and curators are forgotten dust. This book shouts: Art does not have to be 'new' to be good, and technology is not the only venue to deliver great new contemporary art - it also continues to prove that painting will never die.

Gerhard Richter is one of the finest Pop artists of the 20th century. ("Pop" because he is highly non-ideological, even depicting ideological subjects in a completely neutral fashion. His works are plain-old nice to look at.) This book is a beautiful representation of his work, chock-full of his painting, from his earliest works to his most recent, printed nicely in full color. It is specifically the catalog for the exhibit of his works at MOMA in early 2002 (which this reviewer attended, with great delight), but the exhibition was so broad, with a wide range of paintings across Richter's full career, the number of paintings in this book is satisfyingly broad.

Richter has dabbled in many styles, and continues to produce works to this day, but most often works with abstraction or semi-abstraction. His sense of color is wonderful, and his sense of vision is superb, by which I mean his paintings force you to stop and stare for long periods of time. Many of his paintings are like photographs taken just slightly out of focus. (He uses a projector, but modifies the image just enough to make you know a human did the work.) Their beauty truly makes you look long at them, and their skill makes you wonder how a person can achieve such subtle effects of lighting in painted oil on canvas.

This book also contains good explanations of Richter's work, but these can become tiresome at times. The worst is that the reviews and the plates are not indexed very well, so it is frustratingly difficult to find a given work, either in the list of plates, or in the various texts. This is a major disappointment, but never mind. The reason to purchase this book is the art. The text is explanatory enough to teach the reader about Richter's career and work, and serves its purpose well enough.

It is not clear whether the reader unfamiliar with Richter's work, or who has not seen it in person, can enjoy this book on its own merit, but for the reader even slightly aware or curious of Richter's career, this is a welcome volume for the library.

To prick a thorn out of a lion's foot one will surely gain new friends and old enemies. The story of Androcles, a Christian who is about to be sent to the lions for being a heretic in the Roman Empire. A cynical, humerous, poignant, and hypocritical story of religion versus humanism. The book is intended with the introduction with Shaw's discourse on Jesus and Christianity. Although I found it dryly written, which some wit involved, he makes some good remarks on the problems of Christianity. Mainly is the devout in which they will surely go to the lions before giving up their gods. Hypocritically the Romans could care less who their gods were or whether they believed in them, so long it was not a Christian god. The introduction acts as a set-up to put one in the mind set of Shaw and to understand his point of view which makes the play that much easier to understand and funnier to read. The play itself is a wonderful entry into the classics of the thearter.

Androcles and the Lion is an allegorical work which points out that kindness is not necessarity altruistic - it can be of worth. Shaw's writing is brilliant and well worth the reading.

Do not be tempted to pass over the essay that begins this book. It is a delightfully thought provoking essay that sets up the story of the play. Shaw writes of his views of organized religon with support for his thesis. It is important to read this before diving into the play itself.

The play is wonderful, but the theater program must be 200 pages long. You need all the 111 pages before the play to get all of the meanings of the play.

Psycho-history using pschoanalysis as a historical tool often apears on shaky ground. Yet Storr's work is a first rate piece of writing based on scholarly analysis and adds immeasurably to our understanding of churchill and the forces thar drove him on and on. The first essay is the finest but all the others have a solid quality to them. Yet the Churchill essay is the finest. By realising the immense personal challenges he faced, it adds to his reputation. The internal obstacles were often more than the external ones. A fine book that rewards continual rereading.

The late Anthony Storr was British. As you read this insightful book, it is good to keep this in mind. He had a neighbor's perspective of Winston Churchill and (although centuries separate their lives) of Isaac Newton. These essays were the most valuable of the entire book. These men were two of the most influential men that the world has ever produced. With the knowledge of their exquisite gifts, emotionally both of these men had to conduct their lives. Churchill's 'black dog' makes us wonder if today he would have been able to hold a powerful public office, with society's fear of mental illness. Storr documents much of Churchill's emotional life and discusses Newton's also, which is very valuable to the reader. This book was written by one of the most prominent psychiatrists of the 20th Century, who in the same vein as the neurologist Oliver Sacks, fortunately decided to expand his career by publishing books.

if you're unacquainted with Jung (as I was) and are looking for an introduction and overview of his contributions to psychology, then this is going to be a tough read and probably not what you want.

Essentially this book contains various writings of Jung which are a sampler, if you will, of the important ideas that he contributed to psychology such as the concepts of the collective unconscious, archetypes, personality types, syncronicity, mandalas, dream interpretation, etc.

Be aware that in these writings, Jung is addressing himself to his contemporaries who are well versed in the jargon of psychology.

Overall, I learned quite a bit about Jung and his ideas by reading this book but I also feel that I would have benefited more if I had already read some type of layman's guide to Jung's ideas before tackling this book.

Stor has done a wonderful thing in presenting Jung's voluminous works in a single volume. Although the content may at times be intimidating, the sections flow easily enough. If you are going to read any book this year, then this should be the one. Jung makes it absolutely clear the challenge that faces the modern mind, caught between reason and faith. In the last section he gives due emphasis to the struggle between the individual and the state. In short, this book is true wisdom for all to meditate upon.

I was hoping for a book that looked into the psychological aspects of solitude for people in general.

This book gives a selected account of how differnt artists have been inspired by being alone.

While this may be interesting to some, i got no real insight into why ordinary people choose solitude or its different aspects.

The subtitle of "Solitude", by noted British Psychiatrist, Anthony Strorr is "A Return To The Self." It is about knowing the self - you. There are many great books about solitude - Merton, Thoreau, Emerson and Grumbach, but this well written book is not about just solitude; it is about the value of solitude. The most interesting thing is that Storr first sets the stage by discussing the importance of relationships.

He starts with: "Love and friendship are of course, an important part of what makes life worthwhile." And then: "If we did not look to marriage as the principle source of happiness, fewer marriages would end in tears." and "If it is accepted that no relationship is ever ideal, it makes it easier to understand why men need other sources of fulfillment."

And finally, "Two opposite drives operate throughout life: the drive for companionship, love, and everything else which brings us closer to our fellow men; and the drive toward being independent, separate, and autonomous."

He implies that isolation is a psychological prison out side of society. Cults that isolate people are outside of the accepted mythology of humanity. If you cannot share your insights with your relationship or your community then you have experienced something other than solitude.

Storr reminds us that solitude is at it's best when it is an individual excursion from a fulfilling relationship. Storr explains the need for the paradox of the comfort of companionship versus the solace of solitude.

Solitude is not about an escape from life, but a re-entry into life with new insights from your time of solitude.

Please be patient with his summary of psychological history, because it is the explanation for the need of solitude in our lives.

This is the perfect book to read if you are starting your journey for the meaning of life. Your personal enlightenment, wherever it comes from, only has value when you share it with the place you came from. To embark upon Joseph Campbell's "Hero's Journey" start with this book.
Bon Voyage.

Frankly, I've always wondered why most humans choose to run around in herds when they could have much more fun (and learn more) listening to their own thoughts. This book, written with great intelligence and insight, proves just how powerful (and un-neurotic) solitude can be. You can't create in the midst of the madding crowd, and a creative, original life is what we all should strive for, whether we're socially inclined or solitudinous.

It's easy, and safe, to jump on the social bandwagon. Storr talks convincingly about the value of the other side of the coin, about those who get away and listen to their own music, and are not afraid to play it out loud.

Storr never fails to amaze me with the depth of his perceptions. He dicusses 'head-on' the kind of ideas that one has thought of before, but never persued. He manages to cover every view-point without obvious bias...I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in the reasons one is drawn to create, and the links between mental illness and creativity/madness and genius......

I wish this had been the first book I read for a semester of independent research on the relationship between creativity and mental illness- this is an extremely clear, comprehensive look at a variety of questions within the field. The only failure in this is Storr's habit of raising interesting questions and never answering them. Overall, an excellent read, borrowing much from Jung's idea of integration.

Storr not only clears up much of the misinformation surrounding creativity and madness, but once again proves himself to be a remarkably clear interpreter of both Freud and Jung.

I don't know why The Ages of American Law is regarded as a classic of American legal history. It's clearly written but tries to cover way too much ground in a very short space (111 pages of text with large print and big margins). Based on a series of lectures, The Ages of American Law strings together short observations on legal topics ranging from Lord Mansfield to the development of the Uniform Commercial Code. No subject is developed in depth: at best, the "book" is notes for a real book. One of my professors at law school used to rave about this book. It must have been because he's mentioned favorably in an endnote.

A very interesting history of American law, useful for those about to enter the legal profession or enroll in law school, or anyone wishing to learn more about the history of ideas in law.

When Lawrence M. Friedman wrote his landmark "A History of American Law," he remarked that American legal history has been a neglected field. Some progress (although not enough) has been made in the field since Friedman published his History in 1973. Part of that progress has been the publication of Grant Gilmore's little book, "The Ages of American Law," which is justly considered to be a classic. The book is based on the lectures Gilmore gave during the 150th Anniversary of Yale Law School for the Storrs Lecture Series in 1974. Although "The Ages of American Law" is an "expanded" version of the Storrs Lectures, the book is still remarkable for its concision as well as for its clarity. Gilmore does not purport to offer an authoritative history of American law in the same vein as Friedman's History. Rather, he captures the grand sweep of history and condenses it into a gem of 154 pages. It remains in print nearly twenty-five years after first publication for good reason-it is well worth reading.

The jacket and reviews of this book claim that it is written by a psychologist. This is wrong, it is written by a psychiatrist, with all the difference once expects between the two professions.

I bought this book hoping for a scientific discussion of how music influences us, for example things like: the influence of music of different types on animals, the reactions of children to different types of music, what MRI and PET scans tells us about the effect of music on the brain,

differences in music across cultures; stuff like that.

What I got was a text in the worst traditions of Freud and Jung, a rambling collection of fragments and observations from the writings of Western Civ over the last two thousand years and presumed to be true simply because their language is resonant and evocative. This is doubtless of interest to some people, but is of very little interest to me.

To people like myself, interested in what is actually known about music and the mind, rather than interested in simply reading a hundred different ways in which people have essentially said the same thing "Music has a profound and mysterious effect on the mind", this book is a complete waste of time and money. I cannot warn you strongly enough that it will do nothing but disappoint you.

The author is an acclaimed psychiatrist whose personal life was very sad and lonely; he attributed his passion for music as the element which preserved his sanity and emotional equilibrium. Out of the many books he wrote, this was his favorite. He attempts to discover what it is about music that so profoundly affects us, and why it is such an important part of our culture. In doing so, he quotes a vast array of opinions; actually he draws more from what other peole have had to say about music than his own personal opinion.
Storr sees music as subjective, emotional need for communication with other human beings; it structures time and brings order out of chaos, and it has a positive effect upon patients with neurological diseases. Physiologically, the emotional response is centered in the right hemisphere whilst the ability to appreciate structure and make critical judgments is located on the left side of the brain. He is of the opinion that music originates from the human brain rather than from the natural world and its universality depends on the urge to impose order upon our experience. He criticizes the dispute between formalists and expressionists since for him it is obvious that appreciation of both form and emotional significance enter into the experience of every listener and cannot be separated. Contrary to Freud's opinion, Storr holds that music is not an escape from reality but a means to structure our auditory perceptions and can also serve as a precursor to creative discovery.
The last few chapters are dedicated to a philosophical analysis of the views held mainly by Schopenhauer, Jung, Nietszche with respect to music. Storr does not fully accept Schopenhauer's "unus mundus" or Jung's "pleroma," and is more inclined to accept Nietszche's concepts: music reconciles an individual to life and enhances it, it is physically and emotionally based, and it links the two principles of Apollo and Dionysus.
Storr gives a historical, psychological, philosophical, and above all a passionate account of importance of music in the life of an individual. Quoting his own words, music is "something for the sake of which it is worthwhile to live on earth... it is an irreplaceable, transcendental blessing."

Storr synthesizes his knowledge of biology, psychology, history and evolution and fuses it into a mindful musical journey. This is a thought provoking and comprehensive integration of music and the human psyche, and like many of Storr's books, it enhances your self awareness with each chapter.

Whether, stimulating & arousing or relaxing & calming, music has enormous emotional power. Storr has written an eloquent treatise on how music serves as one of the bridges connecting mind and body.