Book review - Solitude (Anthony Storr)
Jan. 16th, 2011 04:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cybermuleCan't remember where I saw this book namechecked, but I remember it appealed to my surly bastard nature, so I put it on my library list. And it did vindicate my need to have periods of being a miserable sod, as it provide an argument against the current trend of promoting healthy relationships as a form of maintaining mental health, plus the guy's a psychiatrist so has more weight than the average self-help blathermouth.
Several chapters deal with eminent creative people who thrived on solitude, and also how their childhoods may have contributed to this. There's also a chapter drawing together different personality type theories and how they explain peoples' need for solitude, and some treatment of how your need for relationships may change as you get older, or how it develops as a child. Interestingly, it flagged the capacity to be alone as an important part of mature psychological development.
All in all, vindication aside, a very interesting read.
Several chapters deal with eminent creative people who thrived on solitude, and also how their childhoods may have contributed to this. There's also a chapter drawing together different personality type theories and how they explain peoples' need for solitude, and some treatment of how your need for relationships may change as you get older, or how it develops as a child. Interestingly, it flagged the capacity to be alone as an important part of mature psychological development.
All in all, vindication aside, a very interesting read.
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Date: 2011-01-17 03:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-17 09:24 am (UTC)