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Despite the prevailing skepticism about the value of guides for the layman on psychiatry and psychoanalysis, a skepticism shared by Freud, they seem to present a perennial temptation to authors and readers alike. Dr. Berne's essay is highly praiseworthy. Psychoanalytically oriented, it presents succinctly the dynamics of the development of personality in health and in illness, with originality and humor. The choice of language is simple, engaging the reader's
interest without condescension. Dr. Berne was free, as Brill states in his preface, 'from the affectivity of the older freudians … [to] evaluate Freud's contribution as part and parcel of the whole progressive development of psychiatry'. A noteworthy outcome of this freedom is the simultaneous consideration of all behavior in terms of libido and 'mortido' tensions. The results are enlightening and practical, proving wrong the frequently expressed belief that the death instinct has no demonstrable clinical application.
Dr. Berne's clinical histories are presented like characters in a novel, an interesting literary device, but at times overdone, as are the analogies to complicated mechanisms of the automobile.
To our knowledge this book is the best of its kind: an integrated picture of the mind in action.