The Schopenhauer Cure

This novel tackles the biggest question: how should one face death--and death without the consolations of religion. Yalom's honesty approaches this question in several of his books: here the novel has a dying protagonist, a psychotherapist, who decides that the best way of facing death is to do what one always does: live one's chosen life to the bitter end. The psychotherapist brings one of his previous patients, one of his failures, into his group therapy meetings, and the remainder of the novel charts the developments of the therapeutic work accomplished by the circle until Julius, the protagonist, dies. Its strongest features are the portrayal of the dynamics of group therapy: the tactics, strategies, and discoveries of the various participants, the picture of how it all works. The novel is interspersed with episodes from the life of Schopenhauer, whose bleak philosophy dominates the mind of the 'failed' patient, and is offered by him as support for the dying man.As a novel The Schopenhauer Cure is perhaps less successful than others by Yalom: the characters are thin and schematic, and the ending seems contrived, but the picture of therapy is nearly as fascinating as his more factual accounts.

Still reading the book. It provides a good bio of Schopenhauer, which is educational, and an example of how group therapy progresses. Yalom’s writing is wistful as usual.

It was a gift! My best friend loved it!

Nach When Nietzsche Wept las ich dieses Buch - zufällig genau in der richtigen Reihenfolge - und war genauso angetan davon. A real good read! An unputdownable pageturner! Es ist in einem sehr flüssigen, ausdrucksvollen Stil geschrieben, gibt dem Leser spannenden Einblick in eine Gruppentherapie und die Gedanken und Erfahrungen des Therapeuten. Gleichzeitig erfährt man ganz nebenbei auf unterhaltsame Weise vom Leben des seltsamen Philosophen Schopenhauer und seiner misantropischen Weltsicht. Es ist ein Buch für alle interessierten Psycho-Laien, die den Blick nach innen wagen, die interessiert, wie Menschen ticken, die unterhalten werden wollen und dabei gerne auf unangestrengte Weise ihre Allgemeinbildung erweitern möchten. - Aber auch schon ausgebildete Therapeuten habe ich davon schwärmen hören ;-)

This is the fifth of Yaloms books that I am reading and so far the best! As a young psychologist and therapist, he gives me a lot of courage in my practice by humanizing all of the confusion we continue to experience as therapists !