Anthony Storr

Una aproximación a la influencia de la música en nuestras vidas.¿Por qué ejerce la música un efecto tan poderoso en nuestro cuerpo y nuestra mente? En este accesible libros sobre la experiencia musical, Anthony Storr sostiene que, en la actualidad, la musica alcanza al mayor numero de personas de toda la historia, y nos explica el porque de dicho fenomeno, cuestionando innumerables topicos al respecto.

Why does music have such a powerful effect on our minds and bodies? It is the most mysterious and most tangible of all forms of art. Yet, Anthony Storr believes, music today is a deeply significant experience for a greater number of people than ever before. In this book, he explores why this should be so. Drawing on a wide variety of opinions, Storr argues that the patterns of music make sense of our inner experience, giving both structure and coherence to our feelings and emotions. It is because music possesses this capacity to restore our sense of personal wholeness in a culture which requires us to separate rational thought from feelings that many people find it so life-enhancing that it justifies existence.

Originally published in 1988, Anthony Storrs bestselling meditation on the creative individuals need for solitude has become a classic.A pre-eminent work in self-help and popular psychology literature, Solitude was seminal in challenging the psychological paradigm that interpersonal relationships of an intimate kind are the chief, if not the only, source of human happiness. Indeed, most self-help literature still places relationships at the center of human existence. Lucid and lyrical, Storrs book argues that solitude ranks alongside relationships in its impact on an individuals well-being and productivity, as well as on societys progress and health. Citing numerous examples of brilliant scholars and artistsfrom Beethoven and Kant to Anne Sexton and Beatrix Potterhe argues that solitary activity is essential not only for geniuses, but often for the average person as well. For nearly three decades, readers have found inspiration and renewal in Storrs erudite, compassionate vision of the human experienceand the benefits and joy of solitude.

How do gurus get their power? Gurus are extraordinary individuals who attract fanatical followers and wield incredible and at times destructive control over them.In this remarkable study, Anthony Storr, the acclaimed author of Solitude and Music and the Mind, examines why we are so enthralled with these dogmatic figures who satisfy our need for certainty.Taking as his examples such diverse figures as Jesus, Sigmund Freud, Ignatius Loyola, and David Koresh, Storr traces the typical patternsoften involving psychotic illnessthat shape the gurus development, and reveals how certain gurus become monsters while others become spiritual beacons.

¿Por qué ejerce la música un efecto tan poderoso en nuestro cuerpo y nuestra mente? Es la más misteriosa e intangible de todas las formas de expresión artística. Aun así, Anthony Storr cree que, en la actualidad, la música constituye una experiencia muy significativa para un mayor número de personas que en cualquier otro momento de la historia. En este libro, que cuestiona innumerables tópicos, Storr intenta averiguar el porqué de dicho fenómeno. Mediante la exposición de una gran variedad de opiniones, Storr sostiene que las pautas musicales expresan la experiencia interior, aportando no sólo estructura sino coherencia a nuestros sentimientos y emociones. Son muchas las personas que consideran la música como un elemento que contribuye a mejorar su vida, porque permite recuperar el sentido de realización personal en una cultura que nos exige disociar el pensamiento racional de los sentimientos.

Aunque los actos de crueldad humana suelen ser atribuidos a instintos atávicos procedentes de anteriores etapas de la evolución biológica, lo cierto es que nuestra especie es la más despiadada de cuantas habitan el planeta: dentro del reino animal, solo el hombre ha llegado a extremos de conducta que llevan aparejada la destruccion sistematica de miembros de su propia colectividad. ANTHONY STORR, escritor y psiquiatra, estudia las diversas teorias que a partir de Freud han tratado de descubrir las raices de LA AGRESIVIDAD HUMANA y analiza las formas que esta adopta durante los sucesivos periodos de desarrollo humano y en los comportamientos neuroticos y psicoticos. El sano sentido comun con que ha sido escrito el libro subrayo en su dia Konrad Lorenz, una de las autoridades maximas en la materia lo hace comprensible para todo el mundo. A juicio de Storr, la agresividad del hombre es un instinto cuyos efectos pueden ser controlados y encauzados, pero en ningun caso suprimidos.Aunque los actos de crueldad humana suelen ser atribuidos a instintos atávicos procedentes de anteriores etapas de la evolución biológica, lo cierto es que nuestra especie es la más despiadada de cuantas habitan el planeta: dentro del reino animal, solo el hombre ha llegado a extremos de conducta que llevan aparejada la destruccion sistematica de miembros de su propia colectividad. ANTHONY STORR, escritor y psiquiatra, estudia las diversas teorias que a partir de Freud han tratado de descubrir las raices de LA AGRESIVIDAD HUMANA y analiza las formas que esta adopta durante los sucesivos periodos de desarrollo humano y en los comportamientos neuroticos y psicoticos. El sano sentido comun con que ha sido escrito el libro subrayo en su dia Konrad Lorenz, una de las autoridades maximas en la materia lo hace comprensible para todo el mundo. A juicio de Storr, la agresividad del hombre es un instinto cuyos efectos pueden ser controlados y encauzados, pero en ningun caso suprimidos.

Brings excellent news for those who, whatever their reasons for doing so, live alone Heartening Anita Brookner, Spectator Storr is an incapable of writing an uninteresting paragraph Sunday Times How can we find value in spending time alone? Many of the historys geniuses were, by nature or circumstance, often solitary. Beethoven, Beatrix Potter, Henry James, Wittgenstein, Kipling. In this book, acclaimed psychiatrist Dr Anthony Storr explores the psychological value of spending time alone. How can we reconnect with what matters to us outside of our social relationships? How can we find an emotional difference between being alone and being lonely? Insightful and inspiring, this is a book that can help us feel more comfortable spending time alone, and show how to use solitude to focus on our interests, values and creative energies beyond the social sphere.

El fenómeno auditivo y el porque de las pasiones.Una aproximación a la influencia de la música en nuestras vidas. ¿Por que ejerce la música un efecto tan poderoso en nuestro cuerpo y nuestra mente? En este accesible libros sobre la experiencia musical, Anthony Storr sostiene que, en la actualidad, la musica alcanza al mayor numero de personas de toda la historia, y nos explica el porque de dicho fenomeno, cuestionando innumerables topicos al respecto.

Extremely engaging A book full of good moments and humane insights.Alan Ryan, Observer This book collects the essays of one of Englands best-known and most distinguished psychiatrists. Its theme is creativity. What internal dynamic forces artists, scientists and politicians to devote so much time and energy to creative invention? Anthony Storr weighs and tests Freuds theory that creativity is the result of dissatisfaction by examining the impulses which drove such figures as Churchill, Kafka and Newton. Whether he is exploring the divine discontent that motivates creativity, analysing Jungs mid-life crisis, assessing the psychology of jealousy in Othello or denouncing the abuses of psychiatry, Storr brings wisdom, erudition and compassion to all his subjects in this highly readable and human collection, which is accessible to those who know nothing about psychoanalysis as well as to those who know a great deal.

There are many reports of strange cults which enthral their followers and cut themselves off from the world. Invariably led by gurus, or "spiritual leaders", the fruit of these cults are mass suicides in the South American jungle or the self-immolation of hundreds in besieged fortresses. There are said to be at least six hundred New Religious Movements in Britain, and many more in other parts of the world. They range from benign, charitable organisations to corrupt, dangerous cults which may end in murder or mass suicide. Since cults have a special appeal to the young, anxious parents have prompted a good deal of research into who joins cults and why. Less has been written about the gurus who institute and lead such movements. Gurus are extraordinary individuals who cast doubt upon current psychiatric distinctions between sanity and madness. A guru convinces others that he knows a persuasive capacity which can bring illumination but which may also and in disaster. Anthony Storrs book is a study of some of the best-known gurus, ranging from monsters such as Jim Jones or David Koresh, to saints such as Ignatius of Loyola. It includes both Freud and Jung because, as Storr demonstrates, what ostensibly began as a scientific investigation became, in each case, a secular path to salvation. Feet of Clay is one of Anthony Storrs most original and illuminating books. It demonstrates that most of us harbour irrational beliefs, and discusses how the human wish for certainty in an insecure world leads to confusing delusion with truth. No-one knows, in the sense that gurus claim that they know. Maturity requires us to be able to tolerate doubt. The book ends with reflections upon why human beings need gurus at all, and indicates how those in need of guidance can distinguish the false and dangerous from the genuine and good.

Why does music have such a powerful effect on our minds and bodies? It is the most mysterious and most intangible of all forms of art. Yet, Anthony Storr believes, music today is a deeply significant experience for a greater number of people than ever before. In this challenging book, he explores why this should be so. Drawing on a wide variety of opinions, Storr argues that the patterns of music make sense of our inner experience, giving both structure and coherence to our feelings and emotions. It is because music possesses this capacity to restore our sense of personal wholeness in a culture which requires us to separate rational thought from feelings, that many people find it so life-enhancing.