Status
Available
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Collection
Publication
New York : Picador, 2004.
Description
This is an account of feral children - those brought up with no human contact, sometimes raised by wild animals, unable to speak or perform many of the functions we consider human. The cases discussed include those of Kamala and Amala, twin girls reputed to have been brought up by wolves in India in the 1920s; Genie, a girl kept in a single room in New York; a boy raised in a hen house in Northern Ireland; and a boy found among wild dogs in Moscow.
User reviews
LibraryThing member wealhtheowwylfing
This book is ostensibly about feral children throughout the ages. In reality, Newton is so enthralled with the philosophical and psychological possibilities of the *idea* of humans raised outside of society that he only talks about four children. Even when he is supposedly telling these
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disenfranchised children's tales, he spends most of his pages on disecting the writers who wrote about them. Seriously, there are entire chapters about Swift and Defoe's family and life--and only a few pages on a "wild boy". Very frustrating! Show Less
LibraryThing member LibraryCin
2.5 stars
The title of this book is misleading. The author doesn’t focus all that much on the “feral” children. He discusses philosophy (what distinguishes human from animal?), linguistics, Greek mythology, wild children in literature (Tarzan, Mowgli), the people who worked with, “saved”,
It could have been a much better book if he’d simply focused on the children, themselves. It was pretty dry, at times. The last story was the most interesting for me: Genie was severely abused by her father (tied up for 13 years with no human contact), and I even happened to be interested in the language acquisition part of it after she got out. Unfortunately, most of the other stories lost my interest pretty quickly once the basics of the child’s story was told and the author moved on to academic issues stemming from that child. The last story and the kids’ stories, themselves are what “pushed” this up the extra ½ star.
The title of this book is misleading. The author doesn’t focus all that much on the “feral” children. He discusses philosophy (what distinguishes human from animal?), linguistics, Greek mythology, wild children in literature (Tarzan, Mowgli), the people who worked with, “saved”,
Show More
experimented on, etc. the children after they were found. It could have been a much better book if he’d simply focused on the children, themselves. It was pretty dry, at times. The last story was the most interesting for me: Genie was severely abused by her father (tied up for 13 years with no human contact), and I even happened to be interested in the language acquisition part of it after she got out. Unfortunately, most of the other stories lost my interest pretty quickly once the basics of the child’s story was told and the author moved on to academic issues stemming from that child. The last story and the kids’ stories, themselves are what “pushed” this up the extra ½ star.
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Subjects
Language
Physical description
xiv, 284 p.; 21 inches
ISBN
0312423357 / 9780312423353
Local notes
FB