The Passionate Reader

This, prominent Boston-based Dutch psychiatrist deals predominantly with PTSD, and childhood trauma of various types.

In the first part there is far too much neuroscience and neuroanatomy for the nonscientist reader, (I also got lost), with generalizations about the limited dichotomy of the rational vs the emotional brain.

The author expresses ambivalence about newer pharmaceuticals for a variety of psychoses, PTSD and depression vs talk therapy, with the inevitable side effects of the latter including obesity and diabetes, but he also shows the limited benefits of cognitive behavioral therapy as compared with a placebo. But he does document positive lasting effects of talk about PTSD therapy on the blood pressure and the immune function. And there seems to be positive effects on symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis by something called internal family systems therapy. His scepticism includes the prospect of finding genetic factors contributing to various mental illnesses, although he is cautiously positive about epigenetics.

The DSM-5, the “Bible of psychiatry” receives appropriate scorn as being complex and imprecise. Desensitization therapy is seen as of limited use.

Art, theatre, dance, and music therapy is praised but these are only evaluated in historical and uncontrolled anecdotes.

Both psychedelics and yoga practices with meditation are touted as very helpful in treating PTSD, with some limited convincing evidence presented. His greatest praise, however, is for something called EMDR, eye movement desensitizing and reprocessing, and for neurofeedback based on continuous monitoring of an electroencephalogram with very good controlled trials of both modalities.

In later chapters the author waxes eloquent about generalizations of the determinants of childhood abuse, and the social determinants of mental health generally, almost entirely confined to those in the U.S.

I may have sustained some mild form of PTSD, but never received any prolonged professional psychotherapy of any kind so I cannot easily relate to much of this discussion. Others who have been been less fortunate may well benefit more from reading this now somewhat dated and wordy book.

There is more than a whiff of self-congratulatory smugness with a distinct overabundance of quoting the results of his own research and experience, both in proper controlled studies and many anecdotes. The anecdotes include many patient names that would seem to violate usual doctor-patient confidentiality rules. And I wonder how applicable the findings are for those who cannot afford or access the best psychiatric help at Harvard.

3.5/5

This is the newest novel of the Somerset, England writer.

By about 100 pages from the end, the astute reader may conclude that the young widow is likely to become the bookseller’s wife. But they both deny their love and numerous obstacles seem to make that impossible. Only in the last few sentences do those obstacles disappear.

4.9/5

Thanks, Book Browze.

This is a Montreal Egyptian’s debut novel. I had trouble discerning whether or not it is in part autobiographical as it is written largely in the second person singular about a disgraced and alienated Egyptian doctor who moved to Montreal eschewing any contact with his wife and family. The faked death and then the real death years later in 2001 of the married man’s clandestine male prostitute lover and partime medical assistant haunts the whole story, but unlike many novels featuring gays, the sex is described discreetly and the emphasis is on the deep enduring love between them. A final emotional meeting of the narrator with his disgraced father provides the implied denouement.

The writing is insightful and careful. e.g. «Diction had pride of place. She never spoke of chance preferring the word fate…. The nuance was important. Not being on the side of losers, Meme had found that in fate she had a trusted ally to be certain of always landing on the winning side. Fate justified trials and tribulations and stamped the winners with the impress of divine intervention; chance reduced defeat to poor planning and victory to dumb luck. »

The LGBT community will love this novel but it also an intereating read for straight people like me.

3.5/5

The late Canadian/American novelist wrote this fictional story, imagining what it was like for the real Peggy Guggenheim to grow up in the moneyed aristocracy of New York and Paris before, during, and after WWl, and then up to 1958 for an Epilogue.

True to the facts, Peggy’s father, Benjamen goes down with the Titanic after working out the design of the Eiffel Tower. A variety of shallow meaningless rituals then consumes her life, with prescribed debutant balls and society feasts, until she rebels against the restrictions imposed by her mother.

Set in the moneyed world of Paris, London, New York, and Venice, Peggy flits back and forth, takes more lovers than anyone can keep track of, seeks meaning in life and finally seems to find it by establishing the surrealist art collection in Venice, also real and named after her.

The highly fictionalized story becomes nebulous and incomplete, in part perhaps because the primary author died before it was finished, leaving the final details to Leslie Jameson. But the picture presented is far from flattering with the heavy drinking, drug use and mental illnesses of the high profile Jewish families.

There are many loose ends left dangling. For example, what became of Peggy’s sister who, maybe accidentally, was responsible for two toddlers falling to their death from the thirteenth floor of a Manhattan apartment building.

I did not enjoy this book, but it is to be discussed at our book club meeting next month.

2.5/5

Thanks, Caroline.

In this novel, by an Indian/Canadian, a man named Piscene Molitor Patel, shortened to Pi, is the son of the zoo owner in Pondecherry India. At age 16, he becomes a radical, espousing Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity, practicing elements of each, and discussing their commonalities in a rambling discourse on philosophy.

When the zoo closes, the whole family with a host of animals board a Japanese cargo ship called Timitsum bound for zoos in North America. But the boat sinks and Pi as well as his mother, an Orang-outan, a lion, an hyena, rats and a Bengali tiger named Richard Parker are stranded together in a life boat for 227 days in the mid Pacific. This is where the first person singular narrative becomes fancifull and unrealistic, sometimes following Pi’s apparent hallucinations, but it still informative with insights about the nature of nature and of wild animals. Eventually only starving Pi and the weakened, but trained Bengali tiger reach Mexico.

The highly unlikely survival tale with confusing ploys to conserve water, construct a hand-crafted primitive raft and avoid being eaten by the tiger may turn readers off, but I found enough surprising insights in it to keep me engaged.

Although this was made into Hollywood motion picture and was the winner of the Booker Prize in 2002, I put little faith in either of these accomplishments.

3.8/5

This American/Canadian writer now 84, needs no introduction to most avid readers. I loved one of his books and hated others. This is his latest.

A free floating stream of consciousness is woven into the long history of the Jews, the Holocaust, the longstanding pettish biases of New Englanders and wars, the history and pros and cons of circucision, and a host of other topics, in an almost schizophrenic narrative.

A married school teacher and a librarian in a fictional town in New Hampshire in the post Civil War period, ruminate endlessly about who to adopt next from an orphanage, already having several children. They shun any religious institutions, or any from Maine, and support the right to abortions. Then the narrative switches to the 1940s and beyond. There are so many characters that it is impossible to keep track of all of them. By half way through, I was totally lost. It seems as though the author is determined to show off his impressive knowledge of a wide variety of subjects, including the languages and geography of Austria, the techniques of wrestlers, and the details and hidden meanings in old Hollywood classics.

The queen Esther of the title is really a minor character in much of the book, although the surrogate mother of the much more prominent character, Jimmy Winslow. As usual with Irving, sex is a dominant theme, with Jimmy trying to find a suitable mate to marry and procreate with among the amoral women of Vienna and thereby avoid being drafted into the army and sent to Vietnam.

In my opinion, this book is far inferior to Last Night in Twisted River, and almost as bad as The Last Chairlift. Not recommended.

2.5/5

This late Australian/American wrote this personal memoir largely about the abuse of herself and many others at the hands of her father, and the late Jeffery Epstein. His partner in crime, Ghislane Maxwell first lured the author while she was a minor into the sex trade at Mar a Lago. As such it is very current and controversial, with Prince Andrew also implicated. But it is also agonizingly detailed and tragic, describing the vast network of powerful men with their wealth used to silence their many victims. And it is doubly tragic as the emotional scars inflicted on her lead to her suicide last year.

The shamelessness and endless use of legal professionals to cover up the sex crimes of the rich and famous raises questions about the morality of the whole legal profession as well, as they willingly and knowingly tell what are clearly lies, in smear campaigns to discredit victims.

I have little sympathy for most of those who want to live a life as victims, wallowing in self-pity, but this is a clear exception. Her heroic efforts to expose the perpetrators of these heinous crimes deserve the highest praise.

For me, the book raises troubling questions about the whole fashion and modelling industry, which still portrays women as needing to be physically beautiful to please men rather than to be themselves.

This is deeply troubling read about a brave, troubled devoted soul that exposes a pervasive social evil of our times. Not at all fun to read, but important.

3.5/5

This Oxford scholar of everything living was previously unknown to me, but when I got this small book, I consumed it in just 24 hours. She outlines the fascinating lives of 23 species or subspecies that are endangered, usually nearing extinction as a result of human activity including human beings. Some of this seems to be a stretch and her claim that there has been a 70 % decline of species in the last 50 years seems to me to me to be an exaggeration.

The species featured include the crow, the stork, the hermit crab, the tuna, the spider, the pangolin, the elephant, the giraffe, the wolf, and the bear. While some of these are certainly in danger in parts of the world or for some subspecies, I doubt that most of them will become extinct worldwide. There is an emphasis on the critical destructive role of habitat destruction and climate change.

There is extensive discussion of the role that these 23 species have played in folklore and mythology, some of it quite outrageous. But there are also fascinating little known facts of their unique life cycles and their interactions with Homo sapiens, most of it new to me and I am in awe of her vast knowledge. Highly recommended.

4/5

Thanks, Book Browze.

The well known Neufie and Great Big Sea band guitarist and singer waxes eloquent about the land he loves, i.e. Newfoundland and Labrador, as he takes the reader on a grand guided tour. This includes a lot of history that was new to me, and makes the Rock seem extremely attractive. I think the Newfoundland Tourism agency or whatever it’s name is should be rewarding him handsomely.

Anyone who has spent any time exploring the newest Canadian province will recognize some of the unusual features of this remarkable island and some of the places he features, but by no means all. Those who have not done so will want to after reading this book.

They do not take themselves too seriously and provide a remarkable often humourous perspective on life. Of Cape Spear the most easterly point in North America, he says « It is a great spot to whale watch or gaze out over the cityscape, especially on the three afternoons a year when it isn’t blowing a gale hard enough to take the braces off your teeth. »

The people are certainly unique- uniquely friendly and inviting in their own way, with a culture of acceptance and a language that goes back centuries. Their sporadic hard drinking seems almost forgivable. The history is also intriguing going back to before Columbus discovered America. Although I have been there several times and did a lengthy tour with McCarthy’s Party, I learned a lot more about this one-of-a-kind culture, geography, and people by reading this travelogue. A light and enjoyable read. Highly recommended.

4.8/5

Thanks, Vera

This is a droll account of how to “delete” your boss, by this well known Gloucestershire author, playwright, and photographer based on the experience of others who have attended his fictitious McMasters Conservatory. This is at an undisclosed location and sometime in the mid 2000’s; it masquerades as a 1200 acre Home for the Criminally Insane. What they really teach in the prison-like compound is how to “delete” anyone you want to be rid of, with recruitment in part from those who have made failed attempts. This comes complete with homework, tutorials, and residences, a fake chapel, and hospital, and students matriculate and write a thesis. No one escapes unless their deletion succeeds and is acceptable to the “faculty”.

Cliff Iverson is one such failure and is trapped by recruiters. After trying to escape, he becomes an ardent student, and “graduates” to become a successful “deletist.”

The thesis is preposterous but ingenious. Unfortunately the execution (pardon the pun) becomes convoluted with many layers of confusing and tortuous complications, but continues to be engaging and, while very unrealistic, is nevertheless entertaining, with many puns and double entendres.

One great quote among many: “If he ever did any soul searching, he’d find nobody home.”

Apparently, the author plans a follow-up featuring the same McMaster Conservatory. As good or better than any murder mystery writing, I will nevertheless take a pass on future editions as I only can stand murder mysteries in small doses.

4/5

Thanks, Vera.

A friend, unlike me, has a penchant for discussing books that have won recognition with international prizes, whether or not he has read them. Such is the case for this book, which I am sure he has not read. I am not sure which of many literary prizes it won. But because of this, I struggled through it.

Four Nigerians, like the author, relate a complicated tale of their lives with far too many characters with foreign names to ever keep track of. They all are extremely insecure and questioning their self worth, trying to understand each other, and forever taking offense where none was intended. For example, traveling around the world, one rich corrupt banker involved in extensive money laundering, in graphic scenes beds many men, consumes huge amounts of whiskey, and claims to be a devout Catholic, attending Mass regularly, while bemoaning her unwed status. Another character, a hotel maid, is raped by a famous guest as a stand-in for the infamous Straus-Kahn case.

The complicated names of food items and the traditions of various tribes of Nigerians and Ghanaians is just too foreign to me to comprehend. Choppy and incoherent, the book does not come to a unifying end- it just stops, but not in time to avoid disappointing me.

I cannot recommend this book.

1.5/5

I picked this book up, abandoned in our mail room, and decided to read it even though it seemed unrelated to my situation.

This right wing New York writer and member of the Manhattan Institute seems to despise affirmative action in all of its dimensions as it applies to on-campus life in America. With abundant examples, she documents the negative effects of not just admissions policies, but of the whole process. Seemingly a vocal advocate for freedom of speech, she relates personal experiences where her scheduled lectures have been cancelled by student protests, with inadequate responses to those protests by administrators and police. The expenses of mandatory diversity and inclusion training in universities around the country at the expense of real science and humanities teaching is sarcastically exposed. There is a long section on the largely false peril of on campus sexual assault and rape and the need to teach about inclusion and tolerance of the many sexual categories of students which could be summed up simply as the need for tolerance.

There is much about this book that makes a lot of sense, and it is a counterweight to the popular narrative about prevalent victimhood. However, it is also entirely oriented to American culture and universities with limited application elsewhere. Perhaps most telling of her contradictory stand is that in spite of her advocacy for more teaching of classical music, language, and history she nowhere criticizes Trump, but castigates Obama’s policiesc in several places. To quote Shakespeare: “The lady doth protest too much, me thinks.”

3/5

This is the delicious debut novel of a former attorney, judge, and musician from Georgia, U.S.A. From Portugal, obviously very wealthy, with connections around the world, it is unclear why Theo decides to spend a year in the mythical Golden when he is 87, in 2019, until late in the book. He is a total mystery, known only by his first name, an alias, buying up portraits by a local artist hung in a coffee shop, then bestowing them on the people portrayed. His is a connoisseur of fine art, concert music, and nature, seemingly able to detect all kinds of emotions in the eyes of the portraits and everywhere in nature. There is an ephemeral spirituality throughout but with emphasis on the beauty of this life rather than any next one.

I had him pegged as an ex-mob member turned religious fanatic, for much of the book, but could not be more wrong, as revealed in the ending. He seems to be too good to be true.

The character development and scenery of the locals is superb with many very colourful but realistic people and scenes. There is little violence, except for one character’s unparalleled description of his experiences in the Vietnam War , and no foul language nor graphic sex.

The writing is lyrical and engaging, reminding me of Amor Towe’s A Gentleman in Moscow, and it just as good as that one.

4.8/5

Thanks, Carolyn and Vera.

This New York Times reporter has followed Donald Trump’s life for most of its existence and researched carefully what came before her time. She documents in detail his crooked deals as a New York City developer, his misogynistic racist beliefs and his narcissistic all consuming hunger for power, with no consideration for the ordinary American or the law. Many direct quotes, often liberally laced with very foul epithets, testify to his short temper and intolerance of any dissent.

There are few surprises in this document other than the shallowness of his beliefs about such issues as abortion. What was a bit surprising to me was the number of people who seem quite willing to abandon any moral principle or pretence of adhering to the law just to be close to the power he craves, and the constant churn of personnel and infighting, in the chaotic White House.

After the first half, this book becomes a bit stale with ever more examples of the same frightening lack of democratic leadership, even if the details are new. It only covers the story up to the 2020 election and the storming of the Capitol, with vague hints that he would try again.

3/5

Thanks, Mike.

This British journalist has written this timely booklet targeting the relatively naive early teen or even preteen reader bombarded with information from various social media sites. Most of the advice would be considered to be basic common sense by sophisticated readers, but that seems to be a rare commodity on social media sites.

He distinguishes misinformation from the more dangerous disinformation designed to deceive, sometimes for nefarious purposes, and gives examples of both. And he distinguishes between healthy skepticism and more harmful cynicism.

A simple little book well worth sharing and discussing with any teen.

From the London, Ontario journalist, and longstanding host of CBC’s As It Happens, this is not what I exected when I borrowed it from the OPL. It s not mainly anecdotes from her interviews with many public figures, but a discourse on the power and meaning of six different words: Freedom, Democracy, Truth, Woke, Choice, and Taxes, and how those six words are used and distorted by autocrats and the rich and famous of the modern world to maintain their power.

Far ranging and detailed with examples from around the world, and with a very personal touch, she documents how would-be dictators use and abuse these words, changing their meaning, to maintain their status in politics and modern culture.

I will not spoil your reading by giving any specific examples, but this is a must- read book for anyone with interest in world affairs and even an iota of compassion for their fellow human beings, although a bit frightening. The rich and autocratic no doubt use their power to minimize her readership, but her message of tolerance for different viewpoints should be widely appreciated. I did not even find her message to be particularly left wing.

5/5

Thanks, Goodreads.

In various parts of Mississippi and the rural south, in the Great Depression era, and in alternating sections with many of the same characters 40 years later, a series of mysteries unfolds and conflicts arise in several families living in the small towns of this southern native author.

The somewhat overwrought theme of disputed paternity, divided loyalties and family secrets rears its head a lot resulting in fierce family fights, child custody battles and a kidnapping. And the ultimate mother-in-law from hell.

Too many characters to keep track of, mostly single mothers, too much emotional conflict, too much time shifting, and too many unexpected deaths spoiled this book for me. Although the Mississippi River is frequently visited, there is nothing to connect it to the title.

2/5

Thanks, Book Browse.

I don’t usually read books about how to do anything but this one came recommended by a reliable source.

This Toronto writer and outdoors person became obsessed with the fatal attack on two people in Algonquian Park in 1991 and mingles her investigation with autobiography in this memoir. With extensive experience and multiple contacts, she details the life of bears, moose and coyotes, with their imagined adventures, thoughts, fights, and musings. She attributes human-like thought processes to bears and shows great respect for their intelligence.

Along the way, mixed in, is her personal story of losing her father to cancer and dealing with melanoma herself. I can’t resist commenting on the common advice to avoid sun exposure to prevent the development of melanoma, when most melanomas develop in areas well covered by clothes, unlike the seldom-fatal squamous cell carcinoma , as I discussed in Medicine Outside the Box, and hers is associated with a genetic mutation. I suspect that her extensive efforts to avoid exposure to sunlight are unwarranted.

I have encountered black bears on many occasions, usually while fishing in Ontario’s backwoods and seldom felt threatened, always yielding territory at some distance.

The writing flows smoothly but sometimes deviates to unrelated reflections on life more generically, but is a good education for anyone interested in an outdoor life.

4/5

Thanks, Rhynda

This somewhat outdated screed by a former libertarian New York T.V. host and investigative reporter on ABC’s 20/20 program provides an obviously slanted view of government regulations, that is nevertheless an interesting thought-provoking read. I found it abandoned in our mail room.

He quotes another controversial conservative figure of the same era on climate science, that of Patrick Moore, who wrote Confessions of a Greenpeace Dropout, that I reviewed a week ago. If I am not careful to balance my reading, I may be in danger of becoming a conservative!

The victim mentality comes in for particular scorn. I have some sympathy for this as I was once shown out of a hepatitis C meeting when I pointed out the folly of paying people to be ill. He points out the equal folly of FEMA’s federal flood insurance, saying it is like giving a drunk a new car when he wrecks his.

Amir Raz’s The Suggesible Brain, is an interesting counterbalance as he shows how easily we can deceive ourselves.

It is very easy to point out government overreach and senseless or even contradictory regulation. However, he takes equal delight in exposing the prevalent scamming of the public via promotion of useless cures, deceitful advertising, and monopolies, without ever acknowledging that these widespread practices are the inevitable consequences of the free market economy that he enthusiastically promotes. I am concerned that he is after all, a T.V. broadcaster without any specific training in economics. I am anxious to learn what my Ph.D. economics professor daughter thinks of this book. In the interim, I am giving it a generous

2.5/5

If this is, as stated, a fictionalized memoir by the San Francisco writer, it covers only about seven years of his youth, and the the best word for its first person singular narrative is bizarre.

Both midwest parents die of cancer within five weeks when the narrator is nineteen and he is left to care for his seven year old brother in California, with some help from his older sister. The title seems to be a mockery of the resultant chaos, mostly based in the 1990s.

There a few page-long sentences, and far to much vulgar language with up to ten F words with exclamation marks on some pages. The 70 page interview questions and answers as he applies for a role on a MTV’s series is disjointed and a bit silly. The chapter in which he and other hippies try to make a go of a radical magazine they call Might is no better.

The fanciful dreamy imaginings of the future for the author are very unrealistic, and his fears seem schizophrenic and make no sense: “I feel wretched much of the time, know in my heart that because I do not make him breakfast and drive him to school, he will grow up to skin rabbits, and recreate with crossbows and paint guns.”

The chapter planning the faked death of a movie star to mock the meaning of fame and celebrity does raise interesting questions about why people seek fame and influence even as the author is doing so himself at the expense of the said star.

I often fail to understand what others find appealing in books, especially some influential reviewers. This is no exception. Don’t waste your time on it.

1/5

Thanks, Jean.