8 Aug 2017

Review: Hatching Charlie: A Psychotherapist's Tale


''Each of us lives a life of illusion as the protagonist in his or her own often too polished and too edited personal play. I have no qualms with this. We can each have our truth. The important thing is to leave room for the truths of others.''
 
★★☆☆☆

 Originally, picked this book up because of my interest in the human brain and psychology. When looking into that aspect of the 'why' I really liked what the book had to offer. Theories and deductions based on those. The author goes through his life systematically from his early years to the present date reflecting everything he has learned in school and during his career. He makes connections and between different phases of his life completing what to a armchair psychologist appears to be a full detailed analysis of his life.

The entire book is gripping and easy to read, so you don't have to have a masters degree in psychology to understand it.

Then to the reason why the book dropped from my original four-star rating to a two. Some books have a great narrating. The narrator takes the reader to a journey and let's the reader be a part of the book in some way. Hatching Charlie felt more like a 450-page-monologue. The style of narrating fits better to a bit shorter works because the author's own voice dominates the story too much. The reader, in most cases, just sits on the sidelines. And that is why in the end got only two stars.

I would recommend this to those who find psychology interesting and is not too much bothered by the style of it's written.

While writing the last sentence, a thought popped into my mind: Since the author's voice is so strong and recognisable throughout the book, this would make an amazing audio book. Just sayin'.

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