Playing and Reality
Playing and Reality Books
Product Description
For the revolutionary psychologist D.W. Winnicott, a creative approach to the world is what makes life worth living. But what are the origins of creativity and how can we develop it – whether within ourselves or in others? Not only does Playing and Reality address these questions, it also tackles many more that surround the fundamental come forth of the individual self and its relationship with the outside world. In this landmark book of twentieth-century psychology he shows the reader how, through the attentive nurturing of creativity from the earliest years, every individual has the opportunity to delight in a rich and rewarding cultural life. Today, as the ‘hothousing’ and testing of children starts at an ever-younger age, Winnicott’s classic text is a more urgent and topical read than ever before.
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Winnicott’s book was trying for me to get through. With the exception of his case studies, which were to some extent entertaining, it’s nothing but monotonous intellectual chat. The title sounds fascinating, but the content was not helpful to me in the least. There is nothing in this book that would help a typical person to raise an emotionally healthy child. Winnicott is writing for a very select group of people: other psychoanalysts.
Nowadays, the majority of people in our society consider Freud to be a joke. Even as Winnicott does not agree with Freud about everything, he’s Freudian enough for me to have distress taking him sincerely. His work seems ancient and outdated.
Winnicott writes his theory in a way which makes it sound complex and vital. In actuality, it is extremely simple and may possibly be summed up in a few sentences. I’m not going to say anything else about this book because it is not even worth thought about or remembering.
Rating: 2 / 5
I’ll start off by saying I agree with D. Miles – this can be trying reading at times. I’m not a psychoanalyst but I am a linguist so complicated language is something I am used to dealing with. I still find myself working hard when reading Playing & Reality. If you’re willing to place in the effort, you’ll find some fascinating thoughts and fascinating case studies that illustrate them. Franz Metcalf, in his review, has done an brilliant job of explaining Winnicott’s importance.
Rating: 5 / 5
First of all, this book is written for psychoanalysts. One of the other reviewers clearly despised it and summarily dismissed it as “not even worth thought about.” For someone not used to reading dense psychological text, this book would be tough to follow. Honestly, Winnicott is hard to follow even if you are used to reading dense psychological text. He’s not particularly concise and often uses certain terms without explaining them. For example, he speaks about the infant’s need to “ruin” the transitional object, but also to see the object survive the destruction. I interpret that to mean something about learning object immovability, but he’s never clear.
Having said that, I really like this book. It’s a collection of essays and speeches and so isn’t meant to be a absolutely coherent argument from start to end. The chapters I like the best are where he develops his theory of play and creativity. In small, infants learn to distinguish themselves from their environment by having a “potential space” where it is safe to explore and play. Being able to be creative is how human beings learn their right, authentic self. And this is especially vital for a developing infant.
Winnicott contributed a significant quantity to the field of object-relations therapy. I really dig his work, and his theory of the significance of play in the work of analysis not only makes sense to me, but also adds a level of fun and creativity. His written work is dense, and most of it was published in journals, so it can be hard to sift through. But I like this book the best (“Human Nature” is second). The concept of learning your right, authentic self through play and exploration is a pretty liberating thought even as an adult, and Winnicott provides some solid developmental theory here to back that up. If you’re studying Winnicott or object-relations, this is a fantastic book to read.
Rating: 4 / 5
I am sorry to be so blunt about this, but previous reviewers Sierra and whomi do not appear to have really grasped Winnicott’s work in this book (Sierra really has no clue at all). I have to answer at some part. But better to just read the book.
Winnicott (henceforward DWW) makes–in an enormous leap away from Freud–a thought of the complex and gorgeous relationship of the infant and primary caregiver. In fact he speaks of the “mother infant dyad,” rather than two separate persons during the first few months of life. From this union, if all goes well, the child gradual emerges and develops a sense of self through a administer of disillusionment by the mother, in doses the infant can withstand.
As this occurs, the child symbolizes the lost union with the mother in what DWW calls “transitional objects” and starts, with the comfort of these objects, to start to play in what DWW calls the “potential space.” We might call it the realm of culture, of like, and of religion. Only with successful caregiving does the child have a opportunity to fully develop as a person, and DWW shows, in loving detail and case histories, how this happens through the devotion of the mother.
This is why DWW’s work is vital not merely to psychoanalysts, but to every person on this earth. His work has influenced two generations of therapists, theorists, and educators and, indirectly, every one of us. Further, his work has increasingly been supported by developmental insights gained from attachment theory and other experimental and verifiable studies.
I don’t normally write reviews on amazon.com, but I may possibly not let foolish misreadings by other reviewers stand unchallenged. Sierra’s attitude is not only condescending, it is bone idle. Enough said. As for whomi, I appreciate the plotting there, but DWW *does* allow for gradual disillusionment through experience of the external world. If whomi missed it that does not mean it is not there. As for using Derrida to read DWW, I presume that is helpful. Go to it, if you like. But let’s not forget that the work of Lacan is mind-boggling without DWW, and the work of Derrida mind-boggling without Lacan.
DWW indisputably and deservedly stands as one of the most influential psychological thinkers of the 20th century. Further, his use of language is simple and yet everlastingly provocative, finding new depth and meaning in the simplest of words.
Please consider reading DWW and judge for yourself.
Franz Metcalf
Rating: 5 / 5