You Can’t Make This Stuff Up

The saying, “You can’t make this stuff up” lives in the cases Irvin D. Yalom shares with us. Considering that not much action happens in most of the stories, each has its own way of reaching out and touching you, deeply. Some stories don’t just touch, they grab and hold on. We all, each of us, struggle. In excellent narrative form, Yalom consistently weaves this thread throughout and between the stories. This connected commiseration binds the reader/listener to the perspectives of both the therapist and his patients, while it also keeps the reader/listener in full appreciation of the art of narrative, simply for the sake of story, which in this collection happens to be true and, as such, more intriguing.

Please note, I did not pay attention to the narrator’s by line before engaging in the listen— I know, shame on me. The certainty that the voice in my ear was author Irvin D. Yalom remained fully in tact until the writing of this review. Narrator C.M. Carlson speaks the trials in this book with the ease and connectedness of a person who has known firsthand knowledge of and experience with each patient. Carlson delivers a quintessential voiceover experience— one that is free of a grating voice; over dramatization; insufficient pitch or enunciation; poor or non-existent character distinction; and most difficult of all (in my humble opinion), detectible gaps between story and narrator. I dropped a star because in several areas, extraneous background noise injects itself into the production. Had the noise been more strategically placed, it would have worked well as chapter markers, which was exactly what I thought it was at first. The noise occurs more frequently in the first few stories than the latter. It took me a while to figure out that the rather jilting interruptions were jet engines. This is another prime example of why Audible should add an “Editing” or “Production” rating category. Since there is none, and because the likelihood that Carlson was aware of his proximity to an airport and the correlating noise level, I’m knocking off what could have been a perfect narration score.

25 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Required reading for any therapist

I didn't know this is what I have been looking for until I read it. A must read for therapists, or potential therapist, gives a colorful representation of what it is like to work with clients.

11 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Espectacular read

Personal, incisive, honest and exposing. I enjoyed every single story and the connections that each patient had with my own fears, shame, anger and disappointments. Yalom's candid observations about himself were so meaningful as well. Wow...What a gift of a book!

7 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

One of my favourite book

This is probably the third time I read this, but the first time reading this by audiobook. It was portraits quite nicely, and the voice change helps me getting into the scene. Well done!

5 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Beautifully written, wonderfully read!

Carlson beautifully reads these wonderfully insightful case presentations from Yalom, which should be read by any aspiring counseling psychologist. Very difficult to stop listening!!

5 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Fascinating insight into a therapist's world

Beautiful short stories from the practice vault of Dr Yalom. Candid, heartwarming, sometimes shocking. I found some parts of the narration challenging. As each chapter is distinct from one another it was disconcerting to go from one to the next without so much as a pause. It was also difficult to tell the characters apart in some of the stories as there was no change of voice (or maybe i needed to concentrate more!).

4 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Amazing!

There's not much to say that hasn't been said. The stories are enthralling and heart wrenching. The insights are invaluable and made me take pause to look at my own life.

The narrator is fantastic and the best I've heard so far.

3 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Great novel about psychotherapy.

Loved to listen to this novel. The story does show it was written 30 years ago but the themes are relevant to today's culture.

2 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

must read for any clinician

aa a therapist this book was very important to me for Yalom's open self-disclosure. it was refreshing for a clinician to open up about their insecurities. very well done, as usual for Irvin Yalom.

the narrator was very good with the exception of the voice for Marvin, that felt a little fake and lazy to me, otherwise the voices were great.

2 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Amazing

Any additional comments?

I couldn't stop listening and I wanted more
This book is thought provoking and for me that's very important when I am reading a book
It gives you the chance to think about the case being presented, and also to think about yourself, similar stories in your life or your loved ones' lives
I did learn a lot, while I absolutely enjoyed it
Learning should be this way, it's not a chore, you listen to true stories and you are learning and growing along with it.
I highly recommend it

2 personnes ont trouvé cela utile