The politics of experience ; and, the bird of paradise

Is there anywhere seen such a thing as a normal man? Modern society clamps a straitjacket of conformity on every child that's born. In the process man’s potentialities are devastated and the terms sanity and madness become ambiguous. The schizophrenic may simply be someone who has been unable to suppress his normal instincts and conform to an abnormal society. The whole question of ‘normality’ is raised in this new book by Dr. Laing, the author of The Divided Self. In the fog of psychological ambiguities, as he sees it, we cannot rely on the navigators, just because the theories of experts about alienation too often manifest the very faults they describe. The author's argument leads him to explore the psychological weapons of constriction, deprivation, splitting and projection; and he does not hesitate to call on science, rhetoric, poetry, and polemic to support his points. If he leaves us with little more than the bitter taste of truth in this modern dilemma, at least he believes that 'as there are survivors, there is still hope'. In 'The Politics of Experience' and the visionary 'Bird of Paradise', R.D. Laing shows how the straitjacket of conformity imposed on us all leads to intense feelings of alienation and a tragic waste of human potential. He throws into question the notion of normality, examines schizophrenia and psychotherapy, transcendence and 'us and them' thinking, and illustrates his ideas with a remarkable case history of a ten-day psychosis. 'We are bemused and crazed creatures,' Laing suggests. This outline of 'a thoroughly self-conscious and self-critical human account of man' represents a major attempt to understand our deepest dilemmas and sketch in solutions.'Everyone in contemporary psychiatry owes something to R.D. Laing' Anthony Clare, the Guardian. Shows how the straitjacket of conformity imposed on us leads to feelings of alienation and a waste of human potential. This title examines schizophrenia and psychotherapy, transcendence and 'us and them' thinking, and illustrates ideas with a case history of a ten-day psychosis.