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Rating: 
Summary: Could even be life changing
Review: I had to read this book for a psychology class and ended up loving it. The book goes through the life cycle and explains the losses we must make at each stage in order to move on to the next one. If this book does not move you than you are made of stone.
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Summary: Delightful and Scary
Review: I spent a couple of years of my clinical training working at an agency that offers grief counseling and maintains a twenty-four hour suicide prevention hotline. I chose Ms. Viorst's wonderful book to write a report required for the agency's training class in grief counseling. We also were given an assignment to prepare a list of the losses we experienced over the course of our lives. What an enlightening exercise, especially as we listened to fellow students share what they'd written! Others' losses reminded many of us of events we'd forgotten, events that had affected us profoundly. It is so easy to forget what is most painful!Contrary to what some reviewers have said, the information that Ms. Viorst offers in her excellent book is not widely appreciated. I've worked with grief clients whose therapist referred them to the agency when they experienced a significant loss. I've been on the hotline when therapists as well as regular folks called with their bewilderment at how to respond to the loss of a loved one, or equally baffling, how to be with a friend who has experienced such loss. Ms. Viorst normalizes the inevitability of loss and rightly observes how our growing capacity to hold ourselves open to these losses deepens our human experience. I've recommended the book many times to both clients and friends. I encourage those who pick up the book to slow down and digest what she has to say. Let the thoughts seep through your days and weeks, your meetings with friends and family. Buddhists meditate on the vase already broken. In truth everyone we love will be lost to us, whether through their passing or our own. It is not morbid to recognize that fact. Rather it can become the beginning of appreciation and gratitude. Ms. Viorst is not a Buddhist, so far as I know, but she clearly recognizes this ancient wisdom. Opening one's heart to loss is a sure way to open to love.
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Summary: The best psychotherapy you can get from a book !
Review: I wish I had read this book years ago - it would have saved me so much money, time & grief. In this book, Judith Viorst holds your hand as you navigate all the painfull places you have avoided before - losses, anxieties, dreams, expectations, fears, aging & death. In the process we gain an understanding of what has happened in our lives & in the lives of those we love & hate. She then teaches us how we can transcend those feelings, losses & fears to reach new levels in our growth - to become separate, responsible, reflective & connected people. We learn that there is life after loss, & if we learn how to look, we can see that real life can be infinitely sweeter than the expectations, dependencies, illusions & loves we have had to let go along the way.
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Summary: Adult Developmental Psychology for the Layperson.
Review: I wish I had read this book years ago. In this book, Judith Viorst holds your hand as you navigate all the painfull places you have avoided before - losses, anxieties, dreams, expectations, fears, aging & death. In the process we gain an understanding of what has happened in our lives & in the lives of those we love & hate. She shows how we can transcend those feelings, losses & fears to reach new levels in our growth - to become separate, responsible, reflective & connected people. We learn that there is life after loss, & if we learn how to look, we can see that real life can be infinitely sweeter than the expectations, dependencies, illusions & loves we have had to let go along the way.
Rating:
Summary: Very inspiring!
Review: This book allows us to understand that letting go of some things is part of a maturation process in life. Though many people commonly feel like letting go is like giving up and being a loser, we also know that the most important lessons in life are learned from our losses. This author sheds some light on the important difference between these two things by providing us with interesting examples from her experiences. I think this book is excellent for people who are at the brink of letting go of something important to them. It gives them an extra bit of inspiration to let go and move on with their lives. For people who are not near this stage, this book may not make much sense simply because they are not yet emotionally ready for the next step. Another book that is excellent in explaining the emotional process of letting go and how that relates to personal development is "The Ever-Transcending Spirit" by Toru Sato. It explains these seemingly complex things in such a simple way that it is absolutely stunning!
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Summary: Not Revolutionary, Original, or Complicated, But Very Good
Review: This book is mainly about perspective and coping. The general idea is that not only are losses unavoidable in life, they are also necessary. Every decision involves loss (i.e., when you choose A over B, you lose the the chance to also choose B), and every loss involves learning and growth. When we lose someone or something important to us, we have the opportunity to discover strengths within ourselves. Viorst is not glib about these losses, however, and does not dismiss the pain involved. The pain is part of the growth and self-discovery. This theme is a first cousin to "Anything that doesn't kill me, makes me stronger." The book also has some interesting ideas about how losses are key elements to human development across the entire lifespan. It is a bit sobering to read, but is very worthwhile.
Rating:
Summary: Not Revolutionary, Original, or Complicated, But Very Good
Review: This book is mainly about perspective and coping. The general idea is that not only are losses unavoidable in life, they are also necessary. Every decision involves loss (i.e., when you choose A over B, you lose the the chance to also choose B), and every loss involves learning and growth. When we lose someone or something important to us, we have the opportunity to discover strengths within ourselves. Viorst is not glib about these losses, however, and does not dismiss the pain involved. The pain is part of the growth and self-discovery. This theme is a first cousin to "Anything that doesn't kill me, makes me stronger." The book also has some interesting ideas about how losses are key elements to human development across the entire lifespan. It is a bit sobering to read, but is very worthwhile.
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Summary: Excellant Read; Revealing More as You Go Through Life
Review: This book was long and tedious to read. It did not offer anything fresh or new to me as I read through the book. The author obviously loves Freud because as I was reading through this lengthy book it seemed every other quote was from Freud. If you have a degree in psychology or human development do not waste your precious time reading through this dribble. All this book does is give you boring story after story and eventually gets to the authors point. Sure we all grieve and lose things throughout our lives, but who is this author to say that what she has written is fact? She quotes Freud relentlessly and who is to say he is correct? If you're a critical thinker don't read this book. If you don't have much time to read, don't read this book. It would be better for you to go get a biography of Freud then to read this book, because you will learn just as much there as you would in this book. I'm giving this book 2 stars because the author did make a few points, although they were vague in comparison to her points on Freud.
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Summary: Very inspiring!
Review: Unless you're totally against anything that has freudian concepts in it, then buy this book.
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