Tales of Psychology: Short Stories to Make You Wise by Alma H. Bond, Ph.D.

Paragon House, 2002

By Trish Riley, Published at Books and Authors.net

Tales of Psychology is both a self-help instructional manual and a fine collection of literature offered by highly regarded authors such as Joyce Carol Oates, John Cheever, Anne Tyler and Woody Allen. Dr. Alma Halbert Bond lends insights gained through her 35-year career as a psychoanalyst, analyzing each story as if its protagonist were prone upon her office chaise, introducing readers to classic dynamics of Oedipal complexes, depression, death and grief.

Dr. Bond's comments following each story don't attempt to resolve the dilemmas presented, only to help readers recognize the psychological indicators and implications. The stories themselves, culled from a lifetime of personal and professional study, present compelling struggles of life. Ranging from emotional insecurities to alcoholism to parenting to suicide, each delves into a different theme threading through the path of survival. Some are even horrific, like, "A Distant Episode," by Paul Bowles, which tells of a man's struggle to cope with physical attack and confinement through distancing and repression. But eventually the pain of his reality breaks through his mental barrier, as it must always, in some way.

In analyzing these hand-picked favorite tales, Dr. Bond gives of herself in unexpected ways. In her summation of the first story, "A Small, Good Thing," by Raymond Carver, she writes, "The end of the story made me break down and sob," revealing that even the psychoanalyst is also a human, feeling person. It seems rare for an analyst to shed the professional shield and admit to her own wrenching emotional reaction.

" In a Region of Ice" is Joyce Carol Oates tragedy of unreleased emotional love, Anne Tyler's "Teenage Wasteland" gives a glimpse into the heavy responsibilities of parenting that extend far beyond shelter, food, clothing and education to include the more important intangible qualities of caring and understanding. Dr. Bond says she's certain many lives have been saved when suicidal patients were instructed to read "Paul's Case," by Willa Cather. It is a tale of a young man's dreams of a grand life being dashed by his reality, plunging him into an unforgiving escape. But just as his body falls through the night and into the path of an oncoming train, he realizes all that he has robbed himself of, suddenly remembering the beauty of a sea he'll never see.

In the end, Dr. Bond reveals her own concern with death, and how her quest for understanding has led past the existentialists, to the philosopher Seneca and finally, surprisingly, to Woody Allen, whose wit confirms her greatest fear - that death is an unspeakable horror. In his quick story "My Apology," Allen concedes a fear of unknown horror when contemplating death.

Perhaps the wisdom promised is the knowledge that ultimately there are no right ways of thinking and behaving, and no definitive precedent or authority on such matters. Life presents a complex buffet of experiences and means of coping with its challenges. Unraveling its mysteries is a personal quest for each individual to undertake. Learning from one another's experiences with the helpful perspective of a professional will help readers navigate their own paths more successfully. Learning with Dr. Bond is a pleasure.