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163rd out of 179 books
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138 voters
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Knots
by
R.D. Laing
A series of dialogue-scenarios, which can be read as poems or plays, describing the "knots" and impasses in various kinds of human relationships.
Paperback, 96 pages
Published
April 12th 1972
by Vintage
(first published 1970)
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Scot Quaranda
added it
All in all
Each man in all men
All me in each man
All being in each being
Each being in all being
All in each
Each in all
All distinctions are mind, by mind, in mind, of mind
No distinctions no mind to distinguish
In "Knots," author R.D. Laing portrays the innumerable webs we weave in our mind that tangle and fray and continue on and on and on and on until what was at the root likely a simple misunderstanding or words unspoken becomes something so deep seeded that we are unable to untie them an...more
Each man in all men
All me in each man
All being in each being
Each being in all being
All in each
Each in all
All distinctions are mind, by mind, in mind, of mind
No distinctions no mind to distinguish
In "Knots," author R.D. Laing portrays the innumerable webs we weave in our mind that tangle and fray and continue on and on and on and on until what was at the root likely a simple misunderstanding or words unspoken becomes something so deep seeded that we are unable to untie them an...more
Anna
added it
I love this book. I read it off the shelf when I was young. I was enthralled. It is more of a nostalgic thing now. But it is still fun. Massagingly therapeutic to work through the puzzles. I mark it here in an almost humorous way. But at a certain stage, it is interesting. Foodly for the early separator. To the already-separated, it will be banal. Don't ask me what I mean by separated - I made it up! Actually to the already superseded and already cured, it could be embarrassing to witn...more
Logic homework for cognitive therapists?
"Knots" is a collection of "poems"(?) which resemble circuitous dialogues or logical progressions..
You begin with a thought, which reflexively leads to another, and so on- ultimately producing a tangled mess of paradoxical neurotic beliefs, a knot (added to this are your thoughts about what another person is thinking, and what they think you are thinking, so on).
These knots lead to constricted action and dilemmas in in...more
"Knots" is a collection of "poems"(?) which resemble circuitous dialogues or logical progressions..
You begin with a thought, which reflexively leads to another, and so on- ultimately producing a tangled mess of paradoxical neurotic beliefs, a knot (added to this are your thoughts about what another person is thinking, and what they think you are thinking, so on).
These knots lead to constricted action and dilemmas in in...more
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An odd book and one that took me several years of self-exploration to really "get". "Knots" is a guidebook to the patterns that play out in relationships between people. It doesn't offer solutions, or even advice on how not to play the game(s). What it does offer is a decent map of how the cycles can play out, what parts we sometimes play. Sometimes just being able to look from the outside and see what the pattern is can allow us to pick it apart or even to opt out. It's...more
Erik Graff
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
a psychological roundtable
Recommended to Erik by:
R.D. Laing's books
Shelves:
psychology
R.D. Laing is primarily known as a psychiatrist specializing in the study of schizophrenia which he maintained, and attempted to prove, was more a result of environmental than of genetic factors. The ethical consequence of this claim, if true, would be that so-called schizophrenics could change their own conditions.
Having read his seminal works on the psychoses, I was happy to find another, more popular, book by him remaindered at a local bookstore. It proved to be, for me, a disap...more
Having read his seminal works on the psychoses, I was happy to find another, more popular, book by him remaindered at a local bookstore. It proved to be, for me, a disap...more
Poetry written by a psychologist. 'Nough said. But I honestly have no idea who R.D. Laing is. I just found this book for a buck at a thrift store. I opened the book, read a few pages, it looked interesting enough. However...
One trick pony. Might have worked at 30 pages, but not 90. Here's a poem from the book:
Jack is afraid Jill is like his mother
Jill is afraid Jack is like her mother
Jack is afraid
Jill thinks he is like her mother
and that Ji...more
One trick pony. Might have worked at 30 pages, but not 90. Here's a poem from the book:
Jack is afraid Jill is like his mother
Jill is afraid Jack is like her mother
Jack is afraid
Jill thinks he is like her mother
and that Ji...more
Even though overall it is a mediocre book, Knots is definitely worth looking through. The book is filled with some brilliant insights into circular reasoning, along with some self-conscious, purposefully baffling poetics. Take it with a grain of salt, but not so much that you miss the brilliance of some of these riddles. Criticism aside, I would highly recommend reading Knots because the book’s insights are so unique. And it’s really short.
Incredibly insightful, if somewhat mind boggling at times.
Pick it up and flick through it and it may appear deceptively simple, or even misleadingly crazy (which in some ways you could say it is).
Take with a pinch of salt I would say. Accept or reject the ideas presented (or a bit of both), and either way you'll come out of it with something important.
Pick it up and flick through it and it may appear deceptively simple, or even misleadingly crazy (which in some ways you could say it is).
Take with a pinch of salt I would say. Accept or reject the ideas presented (or a bit of both), and either way you'll come out of it with something important.
Found this among my old books. I first read it in the 70s, after Gentle Giant put some of it to music on one of their albums. My English teacher thought is was "doggerel". After having been through some 'knots' in relationships myself, it now seems a bit like John Cleese's Families and how to survive them. And it rhymes now and then.
This is a brilliant book of psychological 'think' poetry from the 1970's. While it is a small book of only about 79 pages, some of the emotions exposed and R.D. Laing's ironic revelation of human nature will take you from laughter to sober reflection. I read it back in the 70's and it is worthy of a review now some forty odd years later.
This was amazing the first time I read it, and sometimes I read it just to confuse myself. It kind of makes sense in a strange way and otherwise it just enchants me. I'm not even entirely sure why.
It's the ultimate book for people trapped in their own heads.
It's the ultimate book for people trapped in their own heads.
I learned that R. D. Laing is one strange fellow. I love his earlier books but this one is a little hard to wrap my head around. I intend to keep at it however.
Pure madness.
Philip Glass of poetry.
This was my introduction to R.D. Laing, who has written several amazing books.
Philip Glass of poetry.
This was my introduction to R.D. Laing, who has written several amazing books.
An absolutely striking deconstruction of relationship dynamics through poetry.
Only book you need!
If you can read this book and understand it through to the end, you will be able to understand anything, most of all yourself. Simple phrases become almost indecipherable knots, woven back and forth and inside out. Pick it up and read a few pages. You'll want to throw it across the room, but keep at it. I've been trying to understand since '73. It gets a little easier to comprehend each time and, as I grow older, a little easier to retrieve. I can't throw as hard or as far as I used to.
This is structurally very interesting. I thought it dragged at moments, but then, that's what existence does, I guess.
Knots is half poetry, half psychology. In a series of poems varying in length, Laing lays out the excruciatingly illogical thought patterns that we all go through in as simple a manner as possible, almost like paradoxical equations. Of course, some of these thought patterns are still thoroughly complicated and confusing, and so this book requires a lot of concentration in order to understand it. It will frustrate you, but it's worth the effort.
excellent prose
AMAZING!
Opening chunk:
“They are playing a game. They are playing at not
playing a game. If I show them I see they are, I
shall break the rules and they will punish me.
I must play their game, of not seeing I see the game.”
It's pretty much all like that.
“They are playing a game. They are playing at not
playing a game. If I show them I see they are, I
shall break the rules and they will punish me.
I must play their game, of not seeing I see the game.”
It's pretty much all like that.
all the enemies of the human spirit are in this book because they are in your head. the author playfully and accurately illustrates how absurd and irrational our thoughts are.
It says currently reading because I'm basically always reading this book. It is incredible, intelligent, and brief.
Goofy blend of neo-Freudian flakiness and 1960s psychedelia. Some of the "puzzles" are actually pretty fun.
Inventive use of poetry form to illustrate thinking patterns. Something everyone can relate with. Well done.
"how dare you have fun when christ died on the cross for you! was he having fun?"
this is basically the Goetia rooted in psychology for a modern audience
Also the problem of translation (which sometimes missed the point).
Although he looks crazy, this is one of the smartest and most direct authors to ever write on the subject of human interaction.
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Ronald David Laing was a Scottish psychiatrist who wrote extensively on mental illness – in particular, the subjective experience of psychosis. Laing's views on the causes and treatment of serious mental dysfunction, greatly influenced by existential philosophy, ran counter to the psychiatric orthodoxy of the day by taking the expressed feelings of the individual patient or client as valid descrip...more
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