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Necessary Losses
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Book Overview
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From grief and mourning to aging and relationships, poet and Redbook contributor Judith Viorst presents a thoughtful and researched study in this examination of love, loss, and letting go.
Drawing on psychoanalysis, literature, and personal experience, Necessary Losses is a philosophy for understanding and accepting life's inevitabilities. In Necessary Losses, Judith Viorst turns her considerable talents to a serious and far-reaching subject: how we grow and change through the losses that are a certain and necessary part of life. She argues persuasively that through the loss of our mothers' protection, the loss of the impossible expectations we bring to relationships, the loss of our younger selves, and the loss of our loved ones through separation and death, we gain deeper perspective, true maturity, and fuller wisdom about life. She has written a book that is both life affirming and life changing.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Necessary Losses
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How long does it take to read Necessary Losses?
It takes about 8 Hours and 15 minutes on average for a reader to read Necessary Losses. This is based on the average reading speed of 250 Words per minute.
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How long is Necessary Losses?
Necessary Losses is 447 pages long.
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Book Reviews (14)
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Life-changing Book
Derived From Web , May 30, 2022
I read this book fifty years later, and it opened the door to all the loss I was not allowed to feel as a child. I could read it only a little at a time, but it allowed me to find the healing I hadn 't found earlier. This is an important book at many levels. It is a . It is not an easy book, but it is transformative. I had to read a chapter at a time and then reflect on it. I grew quite a bit of loss from the time I was a very small child, and this book helped me understand the impact of that loss. One or two chapters opened very deep emotions. One weekend spent in bed sobbing after reading one. It was wonderfully insightful and helped me deal with issues that were too long buried.
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Excellent book for lives in turmoil
Derived From Web , May 30, 2022
I have owned this book before and donated it to our Church Book Library. We house the homeless in our congregation for a week every three months in a national program called Family Promise. A wonderful lady who had been a nurse, but was homeless for the week due to health problems and divorce. As she read this book, it was a revelation to her about her problems and attitudes in this troubled time in her life. She asked if she could finish our copy with her to take it. This is an extremely insightful book for either difficult times in your life or for reviewing your life and seeing it from a more mature perspective.
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An explanation of the things we lose in order to mature.
Derived From Web , May 30, 2022
I need this book for the first time many years ago, but found it again when I was going through a difficult period in my life. It explains many things we have to achieve maturity to reach maturity, and the things we lose on the way. I recommend this book to anyone who is dealing with losses in their life : impossible losses, illusions, dependences, and necessary expectations that all of us have to grow up to give up.
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Although it was written in the 80s it's still very relevant and meaningful today.
Derived From Web , May 30, 2022
It helped me to work so much of my childhood traumas and baggage out. It gave me a much needed perspective. Much of what I learned also stayed with me. I also purchased it for four other friends.
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One of the most important psychology books ever...
Derived From Web , May 30, 2022
A Bible, meaning necessary reading about life and loss, the losses of all kinds and levels... She is a brilliant writer who is also a children's writer and memoirist. Here she brings her talents together with impressive psychoanalytic training...
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Life-changing Information...
Derived From Web , May 30, 2022
This book should be read by everyone. This is the very best advice for overcoming life's challenges and letting go. The material is clearly expressed, but so profound and important. A must-read book.
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It's time to move on.
Derived From Web , May 30, 2022
Here I am in the minority. Viorst has read a lot of books over the years. When one of my social work instructors recommended this book as the best book on loss and grief he had ever read, I greatly anticipated reading it. I believe that one reason why this book failed to impress was that it is nearly 15 years old, which is indeed very old in the field of loss and grief. What may have been cutting-edge insight at the turn of the century is now common knowledge -- in part due to writers like Viorst. The discipline of loss and grief has moved light years since this book was published, and in that regard, Viorst can not be held in account in any way. Today there are many, many books available that present newer, more comprehensive information on loss and grief, and which are as well or even better than this.
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already short, could be shorter
Derived From Web , May 30, 2022
The author makes her points early and then spends the rest of the book repeating and offering examples. It is already short, but could be shorter, except then she probably wouldn t have received a book contract. Could have been a magazine article.
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Interesting subject but very negative
Derived From Web , May 30, 2022
I've really liked the subject matter, but every chapter started so positive that it was depressing until you reached the chapter's end, which was usually negative and hopeful. I do not agree with the concept that Freud's children want a sexual relationship with their mother. That is simply disconcerting and I believe the problem was Freud's warped fixation on the subject. If you ignore these references or take them with a grain of salt, the rest is very interesting and enlightening.
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Necessary Losses
Derived From Web , May 30, 2022
I would recommend this book to anyone who is in recovery, whether it is drugs or alcohol! It begins from the beginning of our life and helps us understand why we are the people we are through our losses. I am also grateful to Amazon for having used it ; I am a tight budget in recovery from alcoholism. Thanks a lot for this wonderful gift.
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