Thorsons Principles of the Enneagram

by Karen Webb

A concise introduction to the popular system of analyzing personality types.

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 25, 1996

Reviews

[Prishatoes · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t recommend reading this if you’re interested in Enneagram. The majority of this information you could generally find online, and most of it is quite surface-level and trite. Additionally, while I’m certainly not an expert, I’ve been engrossed in Enneagram for almost 5 years now, this book reads as if it were written by someone who had recently discovered the theory.

While I may have enjoyed this like 4 years ago, this just reads very differently now with more information. I wouldn’t recommend this to beginners or intermediates in Enneagram, but to most who are well-versed in Enneagram, this could be an interesting read. While the majority of this information is rather cliched, some of the quotes and references are intriguing and caught my attention.

Overall, I don’t recommend this book to anyone unless you want to reread information plastered all over the internet with some occasionally fascinating perspectives. I will say that some descriptions, especially with subtypes, were highly inaccurate but I’m not entirely sure if that’s because Enneagram has changed drastically since this book’s publication or if this author was just that wholly unaware of the subject.

[Lynette Lark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Know thy self! Discover what motivates you to do the things you do. Begin with Don Richard Riso's books first, then move on to other authors.

[Stacey Attew · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have many books on the Enneagram, as it is a hobby of mine. I think this one is the worst I've run across. It's pretty over-the-top negative; I don't really feel that it explores the totality of each type and instead just includes the most gross generalizations you can think of. Blech.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent and comprehensive introduction to the Enneagram. It gives very full information the beginner in this field, and also many insights of value to those more experienced.
Ms Webb writes with clarity in a very inspiring way. I have found this book positively life-changing!