by Debra Found

Interesting & Well Written

Steven Colborne, the author, contacted me to ask if I would be interested in reading this book & reviewing it. As mental health is a subject that I find interesting, I was keen to read this autobiographical work which includes details of Steven's struggles mentally & philosophically. The review is a true representation of my thoughts about this book.

This book is clearly split into 2 halves. The first half tells of Steven's struggles within himself which led finally to psychological breakdown. I found this very interesting & my biggest complaint was that it was so short. I would have really appreciated far more detail on Steven's feelings. Steven attempted to find answers in a variety of ways through Eastern & Western religions & spiritual cults. Again this is a subject that interests me greatly & I would have appreciated more detail on the beliefs & structure of these. Perhaps one day Steven will write a work on how some of these organisations did seem to prey on his frail mental health & the damage that they have done, not just to himself but to others both vunerable & seemingly strong. I found it most interesting that it was focussing on himself, & who he was, as opposed to outside influences which helped Steven the most.

This first part of the book was well written & easy to read. Being quite short I read through this section in one sitting as I wasn't keen to put it down. The narrative does jump around a bit chronologically so do keep an eye on the dates at the top of the chapters, they are there for a reason! I did find myself jumping backwards & forwards checking on the sequence of events in time.

The second part of the book I found more difficult to read. I suspect that the main reason for this is that philosophy isn't something that I have had any real knowledge of or interest in. It was, however, relatively easy to read & not strewn with long words. The author is trying to get his thoughts across to the reader & not attempting to show off using incomprehensible words & thoughts!

I think the insight that this book provided was interesting & I am glad that I read it. It is an intelligent, well written book without being too "high brow". I would like to see a longer & deeper work by this author which I would look forward to reading.