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The Captive Mind Paperback – International Edition, August 11, 1990

by Czeslaw Milosz (Author)

4.6 393 ratings

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The best known prose work by the winner of the 1980 Nobel Prize for Literature examines the moral and intellectual conflicts faced by men and women living under totalitarianism of the left or right.

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Print length

272 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Vintage
Publication date

August 11, 1990
Dimensions

5.15 x 0.6 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

0679728562
ISBN-13

978-0679728566
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Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

A central text in the modern effort to understand totalitarianism. --The New York Times Book Review

"As timely today as when it was written."--Jerzy Kosinski

From the Inside Flap

The best known prose work by the winner of the 1980 Nobel Prize for Literature examines the moral and intellectual conflicts faced by men and women living under totalitarianism of the left or right.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage; Reissue edition (August 11, 1990)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0679728562
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0679728566
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.15 x 0.6 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #270,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #164 in Fascism (Books)
- #285 in European Politics Books
- #340 in Communism & Socialism (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.6 393 ratings

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Czeslaw Milosz

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4.6 out of 5

393 global ratings

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Raymond F. Donahue

The most important book of the century

Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2021

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Reading this a second time for clarity, I found so much of what is happening today in America. But I discovered this a long time ago and was looking for answers. I knew America was heading toward Socialism but everyone I talked with about this shut me down. It's as if this is what they wanted. I couldn't believe it.
I am angry and will not forgive, those in large cities like Chicago, who are submitting to this tyranny for the sake of security. It's unforgiveable by those who have fought to preserve freedom for these fools. Probing this book, I will discuss Ethical Ketman, the ethics of this new faith. "Admissions to this order is not unlike entrance to a religious order.....the higher one stands in the Party hierarchy, the more attentively one's private life is supervised. Love of money, drunkenness, a confused love life will prevent a party member from holding important offices. Hence the upper brackets of the Party are filled with ascetics devoted to a single cause of Revolution. As for certain human tools, deprived of real influence but useful because of their names, even if they belong to the Party one tolerates or sometimes encourages their weaknesses, for they constitute a guarantee of obedience. If it were feasible to lodge all the citizens in cells and release them only for work or political meetings, that would be undoubtedly most desirable.
I found this very interesting now that Covid has wrecked our lives and how these democrats want to restrict our rights in every way. I don't even feel like I can write this review without being kicked off this site. Well....Milosz goes on to say " The "new man" is conditioned to acknowledge the good of the whole as the sole norm of his behavior. He thinks and acts like others; is modest, industrious, and is satisfied with what the State gives him; he spends his private life at home, and passes all the rest of his time amidst his companions at work or a play, observing them carefully and reporting their actions and opinions to authorities. Informing was and is known in many civilizations, but the New Faith declares it a cardinal virtue of the good citizen.
This seems to be very close to what is happening before our very eyes. To me it seems the Democrat Socialists have used Covid as the opportunity to push for total totalitarian control over us. This is what we feared would happen one day but now we seem to welcome it.

66 people found this helpful

A handbook on the use of Fear to Capture and Imprison the Human Mind

Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2022

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This book, written in 1950 in Poland under the thumb of Soviet Communism, is a penetrating account of the methods used to capture and hold Human minds, in what eventually became eager participation in their own oppression. Silence would no longer be good enough. Those who intend to survive and thrive would have to be among the more convincing in their pretended love of their glorious ruler. The great value in having a personal and focused account of the actual workings of this game of winning through convincing lies, is not just in exposing the methods of totalitarian Communism, but in offering an understandable model that can be extended into the interpretation of any modern system of imposed order that is based on the uses of fear and deception to achieve the desired results, for those of any ideology, that wishes to rule over the rest of the social group; from individual relationships up to nation states, religions, and economic systems.

Fear and deception can be successful at any organizational level if the goal is that of control. When this becomes known and understood, it becomes clear that the only effective resistance involves courage and the application of truth. When a reader holds this book in their hands, they are in contact with an opportunity to become better acquainted with a clear expression of courage and honesty.

My point is simply that it does not matter what is both feared and untrue. The fear might be of death. Or it might be of humiliation. The untruth is that there is nothing of positive value in death or humiliation.

I might be supposed NOT to be preaching so openly. I ask your pardon because, "The Captive Mind," is a book that preaches its pointedly secular, humanistic, cause without apology. Which is no reason for those of other persuasions to set it aside. The human mind, wherever it may spring from, is the object of study here. And the insights on offer are profound for anyone who cares about such.

12 people found this helpful

An Intriguing Read

Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2017

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This book is an amalgam of a memoir and a satire artistically blended with a few fictionalized examples to describe the malleability of human mind vulnerable to unsolicited forces of the political order. The gist of this book is best summarized by the quotes below.

"Let us admit that man is no more than an instrument in an orchestra directed by the muse of History. It is only in this context that the notes he produces have any significance. Otherwise even his most brilliant solos become simply a highbrow's of diversions."

"All the concepts men live by are a product of the historic formation in which they find themselves. Fluidity and constant change are the characteristics of phenomena. And man is so plastic a being that one can even conceive of the day when a thoroughly self-respecting citizen will crawl about on all fours, sporting a tail of brightly colored feathers as a sign of conformity to the order he lives in"

The author presents this fragility of human existence (and their mind) with a collection of fictionalized stories of four men who succumb to the forces of changing political landscape, more or less consciously becoming victims of a historic situation.

The book, although written in 20th century around the context of WWII is still relevant today to enrich one's understanding of multiple facets of existing world order.

63 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2021

Verified Purchase

Delivered quickly and in good shape as promised!
As with any widely read and historical, critical text, I will avoid my personal opinion but will offer a couple notes. The copy is acceptable, that is over time it may not wear well but it is a softback. Paper low end, printing overall fine but very light on some pages meaning QC in the printing process less than perfect. The book gives an excellent glimpse from the authors, post WWII socialist perspective and very much relevant for today's readers.

3 people found this helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Roger Schmidt

A thoughtful study that is becoming increasingly relevant

Reviewed in Canada on January 10, 2021

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A classic book from the last century worth exploring to understand how social restructuring affects very well-intentioned people. Milosz’s, The Captive Mind, is a Pulitzer Prize wining character study of how the process of capitulation works on four young minds in post war Poland. It has become surprisingly current in our world when a high percentage of Americans now admit to self censoring their ideas and thoughts.

2 people found this helpful

Cat Turner

Important text.

Reviewed in France on June 12, 2022

Verified Purchase

Still relevant today. Fascinating read.

shufti

Why so many of us lose our minds to political cults

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 14, 2022

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Czesław Miłosz explains how socialist realism ate into the minds of Eastern European writers and artists after WW2. Cancel culture is today’s version of this. The process of self-censorship being the same.

The subjugation of the independent mind, gradually succumbing, submitting and finally surrendering to the accepted lines of doctrine. It seems we take God away and an “ ‘ism ” rushes -in to fill the void.

The state cult becomes a creed, a religious doctrine. Providing the stage for a demigod like Hitler or Stalin. Fundamentally you see yourself as an instrument of the state where previously you saw yourself, however reluctantly, as a servant of God’s truth; or at least of a higher, more noble truth.

For many people, the state’s crude truths are sufficient for their needs; even if it means their own self-destruction. Resisting state orthodoxy makes you an “obstacle to progress”, and therefore part of a ‘problem’ which, in time, will require a ‘solution’. People who don’t take vaccines, for example.

Be honest. Certain people should be got rid of somehow. Like bad smells, germs or evil spirits. So the community can be cleansed & purified. This idea is as useful today as it was in nazi Germany, Mao's china and Stalin’s Russia. The “Good Old Days” !!

If you are still able to think for yourself this book will help you understand why so many others are literally losing their minds to modern cults - they are in fact just going back too the good old days.

7 people found this helpful

Anas

This is the product review not the book's content

Reviewed in India on September 24, 2017

Verified Purchase

Print quality is awful, as you'd expect from penguin bootlegged version.

Dennis

A warning from a witness to the wars against humanity.

Reviewed in Australia on November 30, 2020

Verified Purchase

Written by a person who saw the wasteland of the wars against individual human beings.This is a must read .

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