Solitude: A Return to the Self

Rating:
Summary: Solitude is for the Sophisticated
Review: +++++

Question: what do these great achievers have in common?

(1) Isaac Newton (physicist)
(2) Fredrick Nietzche (philosopher)
(3) Rene Descarte (philosopher)
(4) Immanuel Kant (philosopher)
(5) Blaise Pascal (mathematician and physicist)

Answer: they all made immense contributions to society. None of them married and most of them lived alone. All of them craved solitude.

This is the kind of interesting information you'll find in this book by noted psychiatrist Anthony Storr.

Storr peppers his book with useful observations and insights. Some of my favorites include the following:

1) "Many human beings make so with relationships which cannot be regarded as especially close, and not all such human beings are ill or particularly unhappy."
2) "With few exceptions, psychotherapists have omitted to consider the fact that the capacity to be alone is also an aspect of emotional maturity."
3) "Those who are not too dependent upon, or too closely involved with, others, find it easier to ignore convention [and thus do not fear being original]."
4) "If we do not look at marriage as the principal source of happiness, fewer marriages world end in tears."
5) "Some of the most profound and healing psychological experiences individuals encounter take place internally, and are distantly related, if at all, to interaction with other human beings."
6) "The capacity to be alone is a sign of inner security rather than an expression of a withdrawn state."

Storr investigates the uses of solitude for ordinary people. For example, "the capacity to be alone is a valuable resource when changes of mental attitude are required."

This book is at its zenith when it explores the connection between solitude and creative personality. (In fact, I felt at times this connection was too thoroughly explored.) Here, Storr gives mini-biographies of scientific and artistic geniuses, explaining how solitude may have been essential to their creative genius. The principles derived from studying these solitary achievers are used to aid ordinary people. For example, a useful principle is that "creative attitude and the ability to have peak experiences depends upon being free of other people; free, especially, from neurotic involvements, from 'historical hangovers from childhood,' but also free of obligations, duties, fears, and hopes."

Finally, throughout this book, Storr uses the insights of other psychologists (for example, Carl Jung) to develop principles. Also, various themes run throughout this book. For example, "Man's adaption to the world is the result, paradoxically, of not being perfectly adjusted to the environment, of not being in a state of psychological equillibrium."

In conclusion, this is a book that discusses a neglected human need: solitude or the need to be alone. In order to understand this need, this book is essential reading!!

+++++


Rating:
Summary: A valuable study of solitude
Review: Dr Storr's book about solitude is very edifying. It is interesting to learn how many people of genius were lonely-goers: their creative talent, their mental instability and their incapacity for making satisfying personal relationships are closely linked. Such famous people as Descartes, Newton, Locke, Pascal, Spinoza, Kant, Leibniz, Schopenhauer, Nietsche, Kierkegaard, Kafka or Wittgenstein were all lonely people without necessarily being unhappy. These people were great thinkers and it is remarkable to see that thinking is essentially a solitary activity. The capacity to be alone is necessary for the brain to function at its best and it is also an aspect of emotional maturity. Learning, thinking, creating and maintaining contact with one's inner world are all facilitated by solitude. Great religious figures also have recognised that solitude promotes insight. Buddha, Jesus, St Matthew, St Luke and Mahomet all spent part of their existence in some sort of retreat. They all understood that solitude allows to escape from the pressure of ordinary life and is a way of spiritual renewal. It may well be that monastic seclusion and the absence of close personal ties in such institutions not only facilitate the individual's relation with God, but also fosters scholarship.
Solitude is a sign of inner security rather than the expression of a withdrawn state. It also appears probable that those who prefer to be alone are more at ease with inanimate objects or with abstract concepts than they are with other people. This need to be alone is derived from or is enhanced by some degree of insecure attachment in early childhood. This was the case of people like Rudyard Kipling, H. H. Munro, P. G. Wodehouse or George Simenon. For them, the process of creation was a way of protecting themselves against being overwhelmed by depression. Their interests take over some of the functions more usually performed by intimate relationships. Because the higher reaches of abstraction require long periods of solitude and intense concentration which are hard to achieve if one has to meet the emotional demands of friends or a wife and children. And it is a consolation to learn that people living in a secluded manner do not suffer at all because interpersonal relationships are not the only way of finding emotional fulfilment.
Dr Storr also devotes a fascinating chapter to enforced solitude and the harrowing effects that solitary confinement can have on the human mind. He quotes Francis Bacon: "The worst solitude is to be destitute fo sincere friendship".
Dr Storr's study of solitude is a marvellous book, very readable even for the layman in psychology and very instructive too.

Rating:
Summary: Superb and Comforting
Review: For those people who enjoy or need a lot of solitude and have often been told how weird or antisocial they are, this is an excellent exploration of how solitude and the need for it are very positive things.

The book is well-written and engaging. I highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in exploring their desire for solitude and learning how it enhances life and creativity.

Rating:
Summary: Let's hear it for solitude!
Review: Frankly, I've always wondered why most humans choose to run around in herds when they could have much more fun (and learn more) listening to their own thoughts. This book, written with great intelligence and insight, proves just how powerful (and un-neurotic) solitude can be. You can't create in the midst of the madding crowd, and a creative, original life is what we all should strive for, whether we're socially inclined or solitudinous.

It's easy, and safe, to jump on the social bandwagon. Storr talks convincingly about the value of the other side of the coin, about those who get away and listen to their own music, and are not afraid to play it out loud.

Rating:
Summary: In Our Solitude
Review: I agree with Storr that contemporary Western culture can make peace and solitude difficult to attain. In this book he examines why this occurs. Storr's 'Solitude' makes a philosphical and psychological examination of the therapeutic value of isolation, its effect on imagination, creativity, self actualization and general well being. It also highlights implications of extreme forms and discusses the benefit in times of grief, loss and suffering.

Storr illustrates his ideas with some rich examples and quotes from famed artists, writers, composers and other creative people regarding how their creative processes, works, temperaments and lives have been influenced by their solitude or by their lack thereof.

While highlighting the creative utility and positive contributions of solitude on the 'self', this book in no way devalues the need for relationships. I like the idea that solitude is rather, part of a process which by making us more authentic, makes our relationships with others and our world more genuine and satisfying.

Rating:
Summary: In Our Solitude
Review: I agree with Storr that contemporary Western culture can make peace and solitude difficult to attain. In this book he examines why this occurs. Storr's 'Solitude' makes a philosphical and psychological examination of the therapeutic value of isolation, its effect on imagination, creativity, self actualization and general well being. It also highlights implications of extreme forms and discusses the benefit in times of grief, loss and suffering.

Storr illustrates his ideas with some rich examples and quotes from famed artists, writers, composers and other creative people regarding how their creative processes, works, temperaments and lives have been influenced by their solitude or by their lack thereof.

While highlighting the creative utility and positive contributions of solitude on the 'self', this book in no way devalues the need for relationships. I like the idea that solitude is rather, part of a process which by making us more authentic, makes our relationships with others and our world more genuine and satisfying.

Rating:
Summary: I'm not the only one?
Review: I am often called upon to defend my decision my decision to lead a relatively non-social life. Good manners prevent me from answering that I generally have more fun by myself than at parties or dinner out or weekend trips to the country. How relieved was I then to find this book!

Anthony Storr's Solitude renders eloquent arguments that a craving for solitude is not a pathology, but instead, for some people, is lifestyle. He pulls examples from history, limning a clear pattern from the lives of Kafka, Trollope, Wittgenstein, Henry James and others. Those interested in literary lives will certainly find new material in these profiles.

It is true that the book explores the role of solitude in the lives of creative people: "It may be the case that, the less a person feels himself to be embedded in a family and social nexus, the more he feels that he has to make his mark in individual fashion." Any artist, undiscovered or famous, will find solace in these pages. However, anyone who finds herself quite happily content living life solo will also find good company in these pages.

Ultimately, Storr concludes that the creative geniuses who lived lives of solitude have pushed up the bar of achievement for humankind. Most of us would agree after contemplating a world unenriched by Newton, Beethoven and Beatrix Potter (author of Peter Rabbit!).

Storr's book also offers a condensed and imminently readable history of psychoanalysis, with Freud and Jung as the main characters. Storr, to my mind, shows the initial insights into motivation that Freud had, insights that can still hold water today. Storr is also quick to point out how that history of psychoanalysis lead to today's misguided (and frankly, offensive) maxim that if one is not in a relationship, one needs to be in therapy to deal with the issues about why not. No thanks, I'd rather be by myself.

Rating:
Summary: Solitude as an artistic inspiration
Review: The subtitle of "Solitude", by noted British Psychiatrist, Anthony Strorr is "A Return To The Self." It is about knowing the self - you. There are many great books about solitude - Merton, Thoreau, Emerson and Grumbach, but this well written book is not about just solitude; it is about the value of solitude. The most interesting thing is that Storr first sets the stage by discussing the importance of relationships.

He starts with: "Love and friendship are of course, an important part of what makes life worthwhile." And then: "If we did not look to marriage as the principle source of happiness, fewer marriages would end in tears." and "If it is accepted that no relationship is ever ideal, it makes it easier to understand why men need other sources of fulfillment."

And finally, "Two opposite drives operate throughout life: the drive for companionship, love, and everything else which brings us closer to our fellow men; and the drive toward being independent, separate, and autonomous."

He implies that isolation is a psychological prison out side of society. Cults that isolate people are outside of the accepted mythology of humanity. If you cannot share your insights with your relationship or your community then you have experienced something other than solitude.

Storr reminds us that solitude is at it's best when it is an individual excursion from a fulfilling relationship. Storr explains the need for the paradox of the comfort of companionship versus the solace of solitude.

Solitude is not about an escape from life, but a re-entry into life with new insights from your time of solitude.

Please be patient with his summary of psychological history, because it is the explanation for the need of solitude in our lives.

This is the perfect book to read if you are starting your journey for the meaning of life. Your personal enlightenment, wherever it comes from, only has value when you share it with the place you came from. To embark upon Joseph Campbell's "Hero's Journey" start with this book.
Bon Voyage.

Rating:
Summary: Solitude, a much neglected necessity.
Review: This is a rare book on an important subject. The author made a strong case for the use of solitude. But the book is over-extended and I found myself proceed with diminishing interest when the narrative sounded more like usual psycho-analytical platitude.

Rating:
Summary: A Meditation with plenty of truth stirred in the mix
Review: Yes, Storr argues that solitude is not the indicator of insanity (impending or otherwise) that American culture often sees it to be. Yes, he includes often touching micro-biographies of some of the greatest artists of the near and distant past (and never without stooping so low as to 'show off' all he's read or listened to)---the biographical selections are so well-tuned to his thesis that it's obvious he's not grasping at straws, but drawing from a wealth of experience in the humanities....

But the best thing about this book is the author's way of making argument and biography read like a prose poem. As important as his argument is, Storr's style and the pace of his presentation are gentle and very unpretentious. Instead of merely selling a ramshackle semblance of new age guru-spiel, as many of his peers have attempted to do, Storr pursues the wonder of our species, inviting us to go with him.

This is as much a pleasurable read as it is an informative one!