On Balance was a charmingly eclectic range of somewhat abstract essays in the field of psychoanalysis. For the absolute layman like myself, who can't tell id from ego, the texts may be a bit of a challenge sometimes, but if you simply look up the terms you should be able to follow his argument well enough. I enjoyed every topic Phillips discussed, and it was very interesting to read a couple of psychoanalytical perspectives on literature.

For a book On Balance, I don't think it was achieved. The focus was on excess and I can accept that excess is the opposite of balance and understanding excess produces an understanding a balance. The author did a solid argument as to why excess is necessary. Then things devolved (in my opinion) to psychobabble and Freudian-focused at that. I did gain some insight and realized when reading this, that persecution of the Jewish people in Europe even during Freud's lifetime must have influenced his work, which probably would have still had a heavily sexual bent but the persecution adding to the twisted, not being accepted theme. That just goes to show how terrible racism and its results are. Drawing from Freud's and one of his daughter's, Anna Freud, works, I found myself grateful that the author was not my psychoanalyst (not that I use one). For example, the last part of the book was examining fairy tales like Jack in the Beanstalk and Cinderella. Granted, these presented his interpretation but perhaps how an adult (who obviously wrote them) would interpret. Personally, I think these are tales for children about obedience, mischief that happens when one does not follow instructions, and since it's a fairy tale, all ends well. This author sees it quite a bit differently such as erections can be considered magic to a child (that puts a whole new spin in that beanstalk doesn't it). I was really glad to finally finish this book.

Exactly the kind of psychoanalytic reading I enjoy. Also glad that it's the 1000th book I've logged on Goodreads.

Some books leave a lasting profound effect on you, leave you wanting to carve their words inside your mind, to live by and to ponder over everyday. This book is one of them. Adam Phillips is a prodigy, and despite his tendency to be repetitive while elaborating on a topic in other books of his, this one flows perfectly and is relatively easier to follow and grasp.