"Already a sensation in England," notes the publisher, and no
wonder. Advocating the natural way to raise children, this book
insists on the importance of 24-hour physical contact between
mother and child, from birth until the child takes the initiative
for independent movement, and "instinct-reinforcement" thereafter.
This "continuum," an evolutionary adaptation, supplies the crucial
sensory experiences which lead to neurosis-free adulthood, an end
to anxieties. Uh-oh. Liedloff, who spent several years among the
Yequana Indians of Venezuela, is offering their way of bringing up
baby as the norm from which we civilized folk have somehow
(unspecified) been diverted. No matter that adult Yequanas spend
their days fetching water and grating manioc, whereas increasing
numbers of young mothers work: those that have a choice will gladly
delay careers indefinitely and those who must work can find
grandmothers or other eager caretakers to carry baby around while
scrubbing and cooking. ("It would help immeasurably if we could see
baby care as a nonactivity.") Liedloff maintains that the feeling
of bliss which comes from this constant contact (including a shared
bed) is what heroin addicts and others (criminals, homosexuals,
alcoholics, gamblers) have missed; fortunately, "There is reason to
believe that the missing experience can be supplied to children and
adults at any stage." Despite a handful of pertinent, original
observations, this anti-intellectual argument - like most panaceas
- is full of speculations and half-truths, bearing little
resemblance to the realities most of us know, and the suggestions
for research are feeble. Liedloff (apparently childless) found "the
missing center of things" in her "beloved jungle," a reenactment of
a childhood epiphany; here, ironically, she seems out of touch.
(Kirkus Reviews)
Jean Liedloff, an American writer, spent two and a half years in
the South American jungle living with Stone Age Indians. The
experience demolished her Western preconceptions of how we should
live and led her to a radically different view of what human nature
really is. She offers a new understanding of how we have lost much
of our natural well-being and shows us practical ways to regain it
for our children and for ourselves.
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