Narcissism: a new theory by Neville Symington. Published by  Karnac Books, London, 1993;  137 pages; £13.95. The Fragile Self the structure of narcissistic disturbance by Phil Mollon. Published by  Whurr Publishers Ltd, London, 1993;  206 pages; £15.00.

Here are two very different books on narcissism. Symington's is in lecture format and style and grandiose in proposing a new theory of narcissism. Mollon's is academic, precise, classificatory, based on other writers' work. Is it a surprise that they scarcely cover any of the same ground?

Symington reports in the preface that the book is the result of simply transcribing ten lectures on narcissism which he gave in Sydney, with the aim of preserving the lecturer-to-audience style. For me, this gain is outweighed by the loss in discipline and structure that it could have had, had he re-written it as a book. Although each chapter is said to address a separate topic, he often seems to be covering similar ground with only minor developments in argument. The obvious parallel is with his other book based on a lecture series, The Analytic Experience. There the lecture transcript model worked much more effectively; maybe this was because each lecture/chapter was so distinct, unlike this book, but also I suspect he put more work into transforming the lectures into separate chapters. With this book, he tells us he did not have time to edit his lecture transcripts into book form and had to leave it to someone else. I think it shows.

The central theme of the book is ‘the Lifegiver’ - a mental object that the mind can ‘opt for or refuse at a very deep level’. This is an emotional object associated with the breast or the mother, or in later life with another person, that a person seeks as an alternative to seeking oneself. If a person is to be ‘a source of creative emotional action’, there has to be a turning to and a taking in of this life-giving object; the turning away from the Lifegiver is the core of narcissism. Drawing on Fairbairn, he says that the Lifegiver cannot be wholly repudiated so the self is split, and one part turns against the Lifegiver.

Symington outlines a number of potential consequences from this turning away from the Lifegiver. The person can eroticise himself,