No Voice is Ever Wholly Lost

Psychologist Kaplan (Female Perversions) provides much food for thought in this analysis of the emotional impact of loss, which relies heavily on Freudian psychoanalytic theory. Loss among parents and children, which may occur through death or emotional detachment, Kaplan posits, interrupts a dialogue that the survivors must resurrect to sustain their own lives. To support her argument, the author uses examples of survivors who have coped positively and negatively with loss. Sigmund Freud's grandson Ernest was shattered by his mother's death and subsequently became a behavior problem. According to Kaplan, Ernest made himself unlovable to maintain the connection with his dead parent. After artist Suse Lowenstein's son died in a plane crash, she continued her dialogue with him by sculpting figures of mourning parents. Kaplan also discusses artist Rene Magritte's paintings in relation to his mother's suicide and to the experiences of Holocaust survivors and those of their children. Psychotherapy Book Club selection. (Apr.)