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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780060938109
ISBN number: 0060938102
Label: Harper Perennial
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 384
Printing Date: January 01, 2006
Publishing house: Harper Perennial
Release Date: January 03, 2006
Sale Popularity Level: 19796
Studio: Harper Perennial
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Suddenly confronted with his own mortality after a routine checkup, eminent psychotherapist Julius Hertzfeld is forced to reexamine his life and work -- and seeks out Philip Slate, a sex addict whom he failed to help some twenty years earlier. Yet Philip claims to be cured -- miraculously transformed by the pessimistic teachings of German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer -- and is, himself, a philosophical counselour in training. Philips dour, misanthropic stance compels Julius to invite Philip to join his intensive therapy group in exchange for tutoring on Schopenhauer. But with mere months left, life may be far too short to help Philip or to compete with him for the hearts and minds of the group members. And then again, it might be just long enough.
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Rated by buyers 
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"The Schopenhauer Cure," is a lively work of fiction centering around eight people in a group therapy setting. It's about a psychologist who, upon learning that he has terminal cancer, contacts a former patient to try and validate the work in his life. The former patient discloses that his three years in therapy did him no good; a waste of his money to help him overcome his sexual issues. But he has been cured by virtue of the philosophy of Aurthur Schopenhauer and is training to be a therapist himself. He stirs the pot by becoming part of his former doctor's group therapy program where sparks fly and unexpected drama unfolds.
Rated by buyers -
Yalom is a psychotherapist who practises not only individual but also group therapy, and this novel is about the situation in a group therapy setting. After Julius Hertzfeld, the therapist, has been diagnosed with a fatal disease, he asks himself what in life he has achieved and where he has failed. He seeks out Philip Slate, a former patient of his of many years ago with whom he had failed, in order to find out whether after all some part of the therapy had been useful to Philip. It turns out that Philip, a cold fish if ever there was one, is training to be a therapist himself, though what he plans to offer is philosophical therapy, based on the teachings of Schopenhauer. But to qualify he needs a professional supervisor. Julius thinks Philip is totally unqualified to help others, but he agrees to act as his supervisor provided Philip very first attends his group therapy sessions - partly because he hopes that he might succeed in helping Philip this time where he had failed previously. Philip offers to tutor him in Schopenhauer's philosophy in exchange, which Julius is not particularly interested to learn about: Julius believes that a rounded life requires warm human relationships and an affirmation of life, whereas Schopenhauer and his disciple Philip believe that wisdom requires you to detach yourself from human relationships and to come to terms with the ephemerality of life and to see that, sub specie aeternitatis, almost everything which seems important to us and about which we worry - attachments to things and to people, to love and to hate, and above all any concern about what other people think of us - is in fact quite insignificant. Philip at times seems to be taking over the group, dishing up Schopenhauerian advice which most members lap up.
Julius, like the therapist in Yalom's brilliant earlier book, Lying on the Couch [see my review], has problems of his own, which also become a subject for the group's discussions. He has told the group about his fatal melanoma, and so his impending death - and of attitudes to death in general - are frequently touched upon.
Once you accept the somewhat unlikely premise of the bargain between Julius and Philip, the book works very well. The characterizations are excellent. I don't myself have experience of group therapy, but I thought the dialogue during the sessions was very convincing, and towards the end is very cathartic. What I found particularly interesting is that, though Julius often asked the crucial questions, the other members of the group learnt to do this as well. For this, what is needed is not only a developing emotional intelligence, but an intellectual intelligence also, and it is clear that all the members of that group - even the one who was `uneducated', possessed it. Julius himself calls it `high-powered'.
The narrative is interspersed with chapters about Schopenhauer's life and aspects of his work, presented not by Julius or Philip, but by Yalom, with the occasional psychological interpretation and the firm conclusion that this brilliant but aggressive and solitary man, with whom Philip so closely identified himself, would certainly be a candidate for psychotherapy were he alive today. On the other hand Schopenhauer's insights anticipate so much of later Freudian theory that - even if, in Yalom's view, there can really be no `Schopenhauer Cure' - the author obviously has considerable respect for him. Schopenhauer's view of life is a defence, a wall behind which unhappy men and women may shelter for a while; but walls cut you off from real life. And in his last writings even Schopenhauer softened his bleak view and his insistence on isolation.
Rated by buyers -
First, I'm a big fan of Schopenhauer and I'll read anything with the word Schopenhauer in a sentence! I had never heard of Dr. Yalom but I was pleasantly surprised by his style, the plot and tidbits from Schopenhauer's life.
I thought I knew everything about Schopenhauer's life, but Dr. Yalom made me aware of very interesting details that are very valuable for understanding the connection between Schopenhauer's philosophy and his personality. It's absolutely clear for me now that the former was affected by the latter, but it's important to remember that that fact doesn't diminish the grandiosity of many of his ideas and their validity. This last point however was not made very clear in the book.
The plot was riveting for me. It's the very first book in English that I read with ease -- English is not my native language. If you have a thing for Schopenhauer you will likely enjoy the book. Tears came to my eyes when I was reading about Phillip (a character in the book) and his breakthrough in the therapy group. I had no idea about group therapy and the complete baring of the self (in front of others) it requires. It's very enlightening.
Enjoyed!
Rated by buyers 
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I'll confine myself to some comments directly related to Schopenhauer, although I realize Yalom's book is larger and more complex than that.
I confess to being a fan of Yalom's. "Love's Executioner" and "Existential Psychotherapy" are great books. But at times Yalom overextends himself, and this book is an example of that.
Yalom may never have intended his book to be a philosophical one. Nevertheless, Schopenhauer is known as a philosopher, and for a book entitled "The Schopenhauer Cure" it is strange that there is no more than a single page of philosophy in it.
While reading through it, I just never had the impression that Yalom was very familiar with Schopenhauer's work. Lack of references was apparently not the problem, because Yalom includes an extensive and impressive bibliography. It's just that Yalom seems more interested in lives than philosophy. But in the case of Schopenhauer, that reverses importance. Schopenhauer's writings can be thrilling in their insights; however, as a person, Schopenhauer was obviously far less than admirable.
Still, by skimming through this book and reading just those parts about Schopenhauer, an accurate thumbnail's sketch of Schopenhauer's life can be found.
But, in sum, my opinion is that Yalom has skipped over Schopenhauer's legacy of insights to a direct study of his life. On this, Schopenhauer had something to say:
"The veneration that is shown by the great educated public to genius degenerates in just the same way that the veneration shown by the faithful to their saints degenerates into the puerile adoration of relics. Thousands of Christians adore relics of a saint whose life and teaching are to them unknown. ... Shakespeare's house at Stratford with his chair, Goethe's house in Weimar with its furniture, Kant's old hat, likewise their respective autographs, are gaped at with awe and attention by many who have never read the works of those men. They cannot do anything more than gape. ... [Then there are] are those who earnestly strive to investigate and become thoroughly acquainted with the subject-matter of poetical works, for instance with the Faust legend and its literature, and then with the actual personal circumstances and events of the poet's life which gave rise to his work. They resemble the man who sees at the theatre a fine piece of scenery and then hurries onto the stage to examine the wooden scaffolding whereby it is supported. ... Those who make themselves acquainted with the story of a philosopher's life, instead of studying his thoughts, resemble those who, instead of studying a painting, are more interested in the frame and consider the style of its carving and the cost of gilding it."
--Arthur Schopenhauer in section 59 of vol. 2 of the Parerga and Paralipomena.
Rated by buyers -
This book explores values and life in an unconventional way: through the use of a group therapy context. In that group, there is a character, Phillip, who represents the philosopher Schopenhauer. Once the premise of the book is established, the chapters alternate between group therapy sessions and essays about Schopenhauer.
True,Yalom is not a novelist in the conventional sense, but he does create interesting characters who represent ideas. It's a very thought provoking book that invites deep questions about how to live a meaningful life in our fast paced, technology world. This book is not for everyone. It's serious, but it makes way for humour too. So be prepared for a very challenging and unusual read.
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