Soul Murder Revisited: Thoughts about Therapy, Hate, Love, and Memory [Hardcover]

Dr. Leonard Shengold M.D. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 10, 1999

A reflection on the circumstances of child abuse, and on the consequences of this abuse. There are examples from literature and from clinical material.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In this mixture of clinical and literary studies, psychoanalyst Shengold (Soul Murder, Fawcett, 1991) returns to the subject of destructive parenting. He is less concerned with whether abuse actually happens than with its impact when it is only, or mainly, imagined and how to treat patients in either category. Chapters on Swinburne, Proust, and Elizabeth Bishop and discussion of Oedipus, Kipling, ring symbolism, and narcissism will interest readers who enjoy applications of psychoanalysis to literature. Clinicians will find useful ideas for victims of actual or virtual abuse. But Shengold will not win many converts to his pessimistic Freudian stance?he asserts the centrality of murder as a motivational force and speaks of "the inexorability of our own and our parents' burdens of evil." He alienates the unconverted further with the assertion that those who reject Freud are not strong enough to face the painful truth. Some good ideas mired in presumption posing as science, suitable for a sophisticated psychoanalytic audience.?E. James Lieberman, George Washington Univ. Sch. of Medicine, Washington, DC
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

If the last book you read on psychology was written by Freud or Jung, you ought to check in with Shengold, one of the unsung pioneers. -- Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times Book Review

Product Details

• Hardcover: 328 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; 1ST edition (April 10, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300075944
• ISBN-13: 978-0300075946
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #460,607 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compassionate yet unsentimental, April 7, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Soul Murder Revisited: Thoughts about Therapy, Hate, Love, and Memory (Paperback)

Shengold's book is really important -- he explores the inner lives of child abuse victims without sentimentalizing them, proscribing their recovery from trauma, or denying their complex aggressive responses to the abuse.

This serves to make the victim of abuse feel like a real human being, whose less adaptive and even bizarre sides are included rather than avoided or explained away by simple theory. Shengold's writing, while at times needing elaboration and more specific case histories, is beautiful, clear, complex, at times dazzling. The final chapter is a masterpiece of healing and hope. An important work.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent information on a very important topic, September 20, 2002

By 

Diana M. Rodriguez (Alexandria, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soul Murder Revisited: Thoughts about Therapy, Hate, Love, and Memory (Hardcover)

I found this book well-written and extremely useful, but it is not a very easy book to understand if you have not studied psychology.
Some of the terminology and concepts are quite sophisticated and it is a pity that Shengold was not able to express his brilliance in a more user-friendly manner.
I think is book is excellent for the serious student of psycholoy, abuse and psychotherapy. I fear that for those who are not familiar with terms and concepts, this book could be a difficult read.

4.0 out of 5 stars More "Soul murder" - revisited if you will., July 6, 2010

By 

C. Roy Argall "Leadership Coach" (New York NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Soul Murder Revisited: Thoughts about Therapy, Hate, Love, and Memory (Paperback)

This book adds some material to his original "Soul Murder" which was a better book. If you are only going to read one, read "Soul Murder".