Posted by Cindy W on October 6, 2000, at 22:33:33
In reply to Re: real life instruction manual? Hugs! And more.., posted by noa on October 5, 2000, at 11:23:05
> I just read a book, that I have somewhat mixed feelings about, but it was interesting, so I will pass the info on to you:
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> Making Loss Matter: Creating Meaning in Difficult Times, by David Wolpe.
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> It is written by a Rabbi, and draws a lot on traditional Jewish sources (Biblical characters, ancient rabbinic stories, and Hasidic stories), but it is quite universal in its approach. It is not unlike Harold Kushner's "When Bad Things Happen to Good People" in its intents, but is written in a very different style. Wolpe writes beautifully, but where Kushner writes in a more straightforward manner, Wolpe's prose has a distinctly spiritual/poetic flair. Sometimes, I found his psychological analysis of Biblical stories unsatisfying, simply because his poetic flair seems at times to add to a sort of looseness in how he explains what he is able to draw from the stories. But I was never bored, and it was not repetitive in the way that the typical inspirational/self-help book is. One of the main points of the book relates to letting go of the idea of going back to the way it was or should have been, that we all long for when struggling to cope with life's difficulties. It was also interesting that his treatment of the concept of loss covers "real" and tangible losses, as well as psychological losses. In addition to drawing upon traditional sources, Wolpe shares his pastoral counseling experiences (sometimes these fall into the trap of seem a bit too slick, the way many authors relate their "magically" successful case examples), as well as some of his personal struggles.
>
> In any event, Cindy, if you read this or any other book I would love to hear your comments.Noa, thanks for the book recommendation! Will check it out. --Cindy W
poster:Cindy W
thread:395
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20000813/msgs/871.html