Prisoners Of Childhood-reissue [Hardcover]

Alice Miller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 4, 1996

The “drama” of the gifted—i.e., sensitive, alert—child consists of his recognition at a very early age of his parents’ needs and of his adaptation to those needs. In the process, he learns to repress rather than to acknowledge his own intense feelings because they are unacceptable to his parents. Although it will not always be possible to avoid these “ugly” feelings (anger, indignation, despair, jealousy, fear) in the future, they will split off, and the most vital part of the “true self” (a key phrase in Alice Miller’s works) will not be integrated into the personality. This leads to emotional insecurity and loss of self, which are revealed in depression or concealed behind a facade of grandiosity.Alice Miller defines the ideal state of genuine vitality, of free access to the true self and to authentic individual feelings that have their roots in childhood, as “healthy narcissism.” Narcissistic disturbances, on the other hand, represent for her solitary confinement of the true self within the prison of the false self. This is regarded less as an illness than as a tragedy.The examples Alice Miller presents make us aware of the child’s unarticulated suffering and of the tragedy of parents who are unavailable to their children—the same parents who, when they were children, were available to fill their parents’ needs. In her psychoanalytical work, Dr. Miller found that her patients’ ability to experience authentic feelings, especially feelings of sadness, had been for the most part destroyed; it was her task to help her patients try to regain that long-lost capacity for genuine feelings that is the source of natural vitality. Many people who have read her books have discovered within themselves for the first time in their lives the little child they once were. This may explain the unusually strong and deep reactions Alice Miller’s books have evoked in so many readers from different countries. The Drama of the Gifted Child and the Search for the True Self is the original title of the book, which was published in Germany.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Today's responsible parents strive to raise children with healthy egos. But for a lot of adults, the word "ego" carries the negative connotation of "narcissism." Traditionally, the "good" child learned self-control, self-denial and placed parental needs and wishes first. If those needs were abusive to the child, there was no choice but to block the hurtful behavior in order to hold onto adults who were loved and needed. Miller recognized the link between certain emotional problems in adulthood and repressed childhood anguish. Her ideas in this pioneering study are a must-read for anyone seeking truth about the roots of suffering in childhood. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (July 4, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465062873
• ISBN-13: 978-0465062874
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #256,517 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

120 of 122 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What "gifted" means to Alice Miller, October 5, 2002

By 

S. Goodheart (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prisoners Of Childhood-reissue (Hardcover)

Just so readers won't be misled by one of these reviews, (one wonders if the reviewer even read the book) please understand what Alice Miller means by "gifted" in her own words: "When I used the word 'gifted' in the title, I had in mind neither children who receive high grades in school nor children talented in a special way. I simply meant all of us who have survived an abusive childhood thanks to an ability to adapt even to unspeakable cruelty by becoming numb...Without this 'gift' offered us by nature, we would not have survived." The reviewer who says "we will ever know exactly what makes gifted people gifted" and "that's the fun of it" clearly the foggiest idea about what Alice Miller means when she uses the word "gifted," which makes his or her review ridiculously irrelevant. There's nothing "fun" about being "gifted' in the sense that Alice Miller is writing about! As for this incredible book, no one has written more clearly or insightfully about child abuse than Alice Miller and if anyone knows about what makes children "gifted" (in her special use of the term), it's Alice Miller. People who review books should at least read the book they review, and should at the very least, if they have read it, understand what the writer has written. If you have been abused, whether overtly or by the poisonous pedagogy of our various societies, this book is healing balm to your soul. Read it and may it help you stand up for yourself and be healed.

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the version to read, in my opinion, September 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Prisoners Of Childhood-reissue (Hardcover)

This is the translation of the original text of this book; the currently available paperback is a version that Miller rewrote during the mid-90's to conform with her current views. Miller broke with psychoanalysis after her first 3 books (Drama of the Gifted Child, For Your Own Good, Thou Shalt Not Be Aware) and her first post-psychoanalytic book was Banished Knowledge. Later, after a few more books, she went back and rewrote Drama of the Gifted Child. Although I think Miller's move away from psychoanalytic categories was a good one, and I loved Banished Knowledge, I feel that this version of Drama of the Gifted Child is better than the newly rewritten one, and I regret that this version is only available now in hard cover. My recommendation is to read this version, either via purchase or through a library (which may have the old version in the now-out-of-print paperback) and then read Banished Knowledge to see where she went. But if you do read this book, just be prepared not to speak to your mother for a while, as you may not want to. (BTW, For Your Own Good is also excellent, although I personally found Thou Shalt Not Be Aware a bit tough to get through).

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Possibly the most exciting book I've ever read, December 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Prisoners Of Childhood-reissue (Hardcover)

Miller concicely depicts the damage done by child abuse. I find myself coming out of the pages to meet myself. If the book were any stronger it would have to be sold by prescription.