Selected Quotes from readers of Tara's book Emotional Alchemy
These are selected quotes- I selected them because they were the most negative. A lot of people liked her book, but I am not trying to present a "balanced" review here. I think the Golemans' already are making plenty of money.
Steve
--
To rain on your emotional parade..., April 20, 2001
Reviewer: A reader
...is something I'd like to avoid, so I'm giving this book three
stars for its
obvious helpfulness to so many people. But, in all honesty, I
don't understand
the awe around it. Bennett-Goleman does not say here anything
that has not been
already said by many psychologists, therapists and spiritual
leaders. The ideas
of mindfulness, cognitive schemas, meditation and
self-reflection, etc. are not
new or unheard of; in fact, they are the basis of any decent
self-exploration
(and psychotherapy) undertaken by sensitive individuals around
the world, who
want to know who they are and why they do what they do. I'm
rather perplexed by
the buzz around this book; but perhaps I shouldn't be. The
self-help market is a
bottomless hole, and there is always more money to be made by
repeating the
obvious, especially if it sounds palatable and reassuring. Having
a famous
persona endorse the book helps, too. To think of it, perhaps this
an example of
a new intelligence - of the self-promotional and marketing
kind...
Having put my critical two cents here, I'd say that reading it
probably won't
hurt and may help some people who are looking for a confirmation
of their
self-exploratory path or emotional and spiritual development. But
don't expect
to learn anything new.
--
Informative but dull and uninspiring, May 2, 2004
Reviewer: E. Minkovitch (Montreal, Quebec) - See all my reviews
This type of a book is not read for its entertainment value, that
it obvious.
The depth of the content is a primary consideration, and in the
case of this
book, the material is not lacking in depth, borrowing from a
subject as rich and
profound as the human mind itself - Buddhist phychology. However,
the message of
healing through mindfulness gets lost in the hopeless wandering
aroung in
circles, without ever really getting anywhere. Where is this book
going? By page
130 it was still not very clear. This seems more like a dry
psychology textbook,
filled with chapter after chapter of research results, case
histories and
impressive technical "buzzwords", than an inspiring and
sympathetic Buddhist
teaching on how to heal the emotions. I peronally have found Tich
Nhat Hanh's
wrtitings much more "Buddhist", in a sense, because
they are warm,
non-technical, practical and consise. The Dalai Lama himself has
written a
number of excellent books on the subject.
--
Repetitive theme, but where's the answer?, June 18, 2001
Reviewer: A reader
I had high hopes for this book. It is very repetitive in theme,
but does little
to explain fully how to resolve it. Where's the answer?
Mindfulness, obviously,
but how? There are many much better books than this on the
subject.
--
a good intention, May 4, 2002
Reviewer: A reader
Very valuable information but not usersfriendly.The essence of
the message is
very simple but the author does not seem to master the art of
simplicity to get
it across.As a self help you need a lot of persistance to go
through the whole
book.Also the exercices don t present anything new.Nevertheless I
found it a
good idea to combine Western psychology with Eastern wisdom in
one book.
--
Nothing new, August 10, 2001
Reviewer: Sarah Wellington (Vineyard Haven, MA) - See all my
reviews
I agree with much of what I found in this book, although nothing
in it was new
to me. I'm sorry to say the hype around this book is more
impressive than the
book itself. Anything that can manage to get the Dalai Lama's
name attached to
it these days seems to be an instant hit no matter what the
actual content or
quality.