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The Madness of Prince Hamlet and Other Extraordinary States of Mind
Among this stimulating book's questions and surprising answers, The Madness of Prince Hamlet asks, Was the Prince of Denmark suffering from Ganser Syndrome (also known as the syndrome of the almost correct answer)? Whether analyzing the tics of Tourettes's Syndrome, male phantom pregnancy, or "demonic possession" or explicating the extremes of ordinary behavior such as love, anger, or jealousy, Dr. Robert Youngson astonishes, entertains, and informs readers about the extraordinary processes of the mind.
306 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 6, 2015
I've been reading this for months. Its my handbag book. I started reading it as any other book but as I read one mental problem after the other I found I was suffering from almost all of them! So I thought I would ration this worrying, but somewhat enjoyable, hypochondriac state to situations like being stuck in the wrong line at the bank, or ten cars back in the gas station with the cheapest gas in town. Its so nice to know that my brain is utterly unique in its ability to be so incredibly disfunctional, to incorporate so many mental quirks, neuroses, psychoses and ooooh I can't even remember the names for all the disorders, derangements, maladjustments and other exciting instabilities AND I can still operate and fool ALL the people MOST of the time that I am a Completely Normal Individual (ummm, unless that's one of my delusions. Nah...)
This book is highly recommended for those that want to see just how truly mad they are, or conversely (and delusionally) aren't but every one else is! Also it may give you some original excuses for a sick day off work.
This book is highly recommended for those that want to see just how truly mad they are, or conversely (and delusionally) aren't but every one else is! Also it may give you some original excuses for a sick day off work.
November 24, 2011
I decided to read this book because of the review of it by a prolific Goodreads reviewer that I follow. I have to admit that it surprised me. I was expecting something like Sach’s The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, containing personal stories about people who experience “extraordinary states of mind.” Although there are some personal stories scattered about, a large portion of the text is composed of probable explanations for the reasons someone may be experiencing these “extraordinary” states.
Notice above that I said probable explanations; this is due to the fact that Dr. Youngman (He is an M.D. I looked him up.) tends to just throw in statements that apparently are to be accepted as fact. For example, if you tell me that, “Recent polls have indicated that about half of the population of the United States and Canada reject the scientific account of evolution and accept the biblical story of creation,” you better give me a citation. U.S.... now with the influence of the Tea Party...yeah maybe, but Canada? Come on! It’s statements like this that prompted me to do what I know that you should always do first, go back and read the Preface. Yep, there it is, right there first sentence, “The purpose of this book is to entertain and amuse—and perhaps stimulate and surprise—those who share my particular, slightly cynical view of the world...” Oh, OK, now I got it. Yes, and the good doctor is British after all.
A lot of the states of mind I’m not certain that I would even consider “states of mind,” like the mind of a talented musician or gifted mathematician. Perhaps I just expected, due to the title, that all would be associated with some type of madness. Having said that, a lot of the chapters are about a state of mind that most of us cannot fathom—pedophilia, autism, hypochondriasis and Munchausen syndrome, multiple personality disorder, etc. I’m just not certain that I can agree with suggestions like the one that implies that schizophrenia may be a state of mind chosen by the “sufferer” to make her life more bearable? Hey, from the schizophrenics that I know, that must have been a really crappy former life!
One of the most surprising chapters for me was “The celebrated Hahnemann delusion: homeopathy,” because I immediately recognized the name Hahnemann as the respected teaching hospital of my alma mater, Drexel University here in Philadelphia. Great, research, I love research. It seems that Drexel’s Hahnemann Hospital, established in 1885 forty-two years after Samuel Hahnemann’s death, was actually named after this guy. In a search on Hahnemann’s Web page for “homeopathy” you get “The key concepts of homeopathy are not consistent with the current understanding of science, particularly chemistry and physics.” Hmmm... Denying their namesake, interesting...
The chapter on transsexuals is interesting although I think I might wonder exactly who these “experts” are that consider “the way the child is treated during the early months and years of life...” the principal cause of a person being a transsexual. I was also surprised to hear that “...millions of people have devoted a substantial proportion of their time (and money) to the psychoanalytic process, mostly with no discernible effect,” and which the doctor considers a bunch of bunk. My ex-husband would love this guy!
As you can tell by my 4-star rating I enjoyed reading this book. It lives up, or down whichever, to the first sentence in the Preface, which is more than I can say for most books.
Notice above that I said probable explanations; this is due to the fact that Dr. Youngman (He is an M.D. I looked him up.) tends to just throw in statements that apparently are to be accepted as fact. For example, if you tell me that, “Recent polls have indicated that about half of the population of the United States and Canada reject the scientific account of evolution and accept the biblical story of creation,” you better give me a citation. U.S.... now with the influence of the Tea Party...yeah maybe, but Canada? Come on! It’s statements like this that prompted me to do what I know that you should always do first, go back and read the Preface. Yep, there it is, right there first sentence, “The purpose of this book is to entertain and amuse—and perhaps stimulate and surprise—those who share my particular, slightly cynical view of the world...” Oh, OK, now I got it. Yes, and the good doctor is British after all.
A lot of the states of mind I’m not certain that I would even consider “states of mind,” like the mind of a talented musician or gifted mathematician. Perhaps I just expected, due to the title, that all would be associated with some type of madness. Having said that, a lot of the chapters are about a state of mind that most of us cannot fathom—pedophilia, autism, hypochondriasis and Munchausen syndrome, multiple personality disorder, etc. I’m just not certain that I can agree with suggestions like the one that implies that schizophrenia may be a state of mind chosen by the “sufferer” to make her life more bearable? Hey, from the schizophrenics that I know, that must have been a really crappy former life!
One of the most surprising chapters for me was “The celebrated Hahnemann delusion: homeopathy,” because I immediately recognized the name Hahnemann as the respected teaching hospital of my alma mater, Drexel University here in Philadelphia. Great, research, I love research. It seems that Drexel’s Hahnemann Hospital, established in 1885 forty-two years after Samuel Hahnemann’s death, was actually named after this guy. In a search on Hahnemann’s Web page for “homeopathy” you get “The key concepts of homeopathy are not consistent with the current understanding of science, particularly chemistry and physics.” Hmmm... Denying their namesake, interesting...
The chapter on transsexuals is interesting although I think I might wonder exactly who these “experts” are that consider “the way the child is treated during the early months and years of life...” the principal cause of a person being a transsexual. I was also surprised to hear that “...millions of people have devoted a substantial proportion of their time (and money) to the psychoanalytic process, mostly with no discernible effect,” and which the doctor considers a bunch of bunk. My ex-husband would love this guy!
As you can tell by my 4-star rating I enjoyed reading this book. It lives up, or down whichever, to the first sentence in the Preface, which is more than I can say for most books.
March 13, 2008
This series of short essays on extraordinary phenomena of the human mind is a wonderful read. Each chapter is between three and seven pages long usually, and can be read in just a few minutes. This book is full of interesting information, often on obscure subjects, and reasoned arguments.
October 30, 2012
I picked up this book hoping for a good overview of mental illness. The back cover states that this book is "controversial" - so I went into it with some trepidation, wondering what was so controversial about it. I was fairly disappointed; the book consists of 2-3 page "chapters" covering the bare bones of different states of mind. I wouldn't call most of them mental illnesses. Transgender people are covered in one of the chapters, while depression and anxiety and some more common mental illnesses aren't mentioned at all.
The author seems to have built the book on some hype that doesn't deliver (the back cover says something along the lines of "alien abductions explained" but the chapter on alien abductions consists of three pages of talking about what alien abductions are and concluding that they can't be explained.) Many of the statements that the author presents are clearly his own personal opinion, but he repeats them over and over as if they were fact.
Overall, disappointed by the shallow scope of this book.
The author seems to have built the book on some hype that doesn't deliver (the back cover says something along the lines of "alien abductions explained" but the chapter on alien abductions consists of three pages of talking about what alien abductions are and concluding that they can't be explained.) Many of the statements that the author presents are clearly his own personal opinion, but he repeats them over and over as if they were fact.
Overall, disappointed by the shallow scope of this book.
December 22, 2022
Extraordinary states of mind: Robert M Youngson was a medical professional but he described all extraordinary and ordinary states of minds from social and philosophical point of view.
Small chapters and subject wise classifications made it an easy read.
Well written, excerpts from literature and other social thinkers, historical backgrounds and witty remarks will keep the readers glued to the book.
Love, hallucination, schizophrenia, delusions, superstitions, autism, prejudice, creativity, intelligence - even the absent mind was not absent from his coverage of the subject: mind.
Extraordinary were the last chapters - aging and at last, dying minds.
On downside, Dr. Youngson couldn’t do the justice on some types, like mind of the writers, or mathematicians, and he kept on discussing the subject instead of its relationship with the mental state - this made the book a little boring on way.
Overall, three stars - will recommend it to general readers interested in human behaviours.
Small chapters and subject wise classifications made it an easy read.
Well written, excerpts from literature and other social thinkers, historical backgrounds and witty remarks will keep the readers glued to the book.
Love, hallucination, schizophrenia, delusions, superstitions, autism, prejudice, creativity, intelligence - even the absent mind was not absent from his coverage of the subject: mind.
Extraordinary were the last chapters - aging and at last, dying minds.
On downside, Dr. Youngson couldn’t do the justice on some types, like mind of the writers, or mathematicians, and he kept on discussing the subject instead of its relationship with the mental state - this made the book a little boring on way.
Overall, three stars - will recommend it to general readers interested in human behaviours.
December 15, 2012
On the surface, this is the perfect book for me: a discussion of interesting psychological phenomena with frequent connections to literature and history. But Youngson's style started to grate on me before I'd even emerged from the Preface, which made me less likely to forgive the minor errors, gaps, and unnecessary repetition in some of the sections. I did learn many interesting facts and will possibly keep the book because of that, but I'm disappointed that it failed to meet its potential.
3.5 for content
2 for style/attitude
3.5 for content
2 for style/attitude
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews