Opstandig Hoogbegaafd

by Abel Abelson

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Description
From the Inside Flap
In deze intieme getuigenis over een leven op zoek naar liefde neemt Abel Abelson je mee naar zijn universum: dat van een hoog sensitieve hoogbegaafde. In een directe stijl zonder franjes of omwegen vertelt Abel zijn leven: hoe het was, hoe het is, hoe het kan zijn. Over zijn ouders van wie echt begrip te veel gevraagd is. Over hiërarchische hellen en spirituele zelfmoordpogingen die, gelukkig, mislukken. Over met lede ogen aanzien hoe een wereld die in brand staat, geblust wordt met petroleum. Over liefdesrelaties die, hoe hij ook probeert, gedoemd zijn te mislukken. Maar ook: over die ene relatie die, wat hij ook doet, alleen maar kan lukken. Ze bestaat. Dit boek is een ontmoeting. Geen zoveelste recept voor zelfrealisatie, geen twintig truken uit de hoge hoed om met hoogbegaafdheid of hooggevoeligheid "om te gaan". Herinneringen, ideeën, avonturen, flash backs en flash forwards tussen kindertijd en heden, realiteit en fictie wisselen elkaar af en vormen samen een pakkend relaas. Over al wat mis kan gaan voor een hoog sensitieve hoogbegaafde, maar ook: over het licht aan het eind van de tunnel. Over liefde die echt liefde is. En over leven dat echt leven is.

205 pages, Paperback

First published October 4, 2014

About the author

At forty years of age, Abel Abelson was tested and found intellectually gifted. In his works, he shares his views, emotions and experiences before, during and after this turning point in his life.

Reviews

[Stef Smulders · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honest and clearly written but too general and repetitive for my taste. On the last pages the author says he could have given many more examples of events in his life that determined or deformed his behavior. So why didn’t he? Rather than speaking in metaphors I would have preferred him to give concrete examples of those situations.

[Chrichrilecture · Rating 1 out of 5]

Le journal
Un journal au jour le jour sans grand intérêt qui n’apporte pas grand-chose aux lecteurs sur les surdoués, de plus l’auteur se lamente trop sur son sort. Je ne pensais pas qu’un surdoué pouvait faire autant de fautes de français et d’orthographes

[Donny George · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very honest, straightforward and person account of coming to terms with giftedness as an adult and coming to understand life in retrospect through that new lens.

I could very much relate and found his book really unique in that aspect. I have tried to read every book on giftedness available and there isn't one as personal as this one.

My only criticisms are that the line between personal biography and its relation to giftedness is often blurry, so some of it seems unnecessary. I feel like the book could have used some more editing. Also, though most of it feels true to my experience of giftedness, I still would have liked some more scientific research referenced as corroboration and additional information.

Personally, I always knew I was "gifted" throughout my life, but took it for granted and didn't really know what it meant and how it would affect my life, until I really started to research it in my 40's and realized the profound impact it has had on my development. More importantly, it's helped me informed how I will move forward with my life and this knowledge has improved my life already. If you're in a similar situation, you will appreciate this book, in knowing you are not alone.

Even those who can relate directly, might appreciate this book too, because knowing ourselves only has meaning in relation to knowing others.

[Ines · Rating 5 out of 5]

Astonishing & heartbreaking.

This story, this life of 'otherness' resonates with and touches me profoundly.

Thank you, Abel, for describing so essentially the pain and self torture of the lie of the necessity of 'conformity'.

You are not alone.

[Mikhail S · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing accounting of just one man's life, but in the end I think one walks away feeling slightly less alone, slightly more able to make sense of their 'otherness', whether that be intellectual giftedness or other characteristics that don't coincide with convenient social judgements. The way Abel is able to recount the long-lasting impacts of childhood experiences, coming to understand love, climate anxiety, and facing the ultimate question of being human (suicide), it is all retold in a non-linear fashion that ties everything together to imagine what life can be, life as more than preserving what already has been. This feels especially personal in that I have been thinking about writing something resembling this format for a long time. Of course that would lean much more into the future and not my relatively few lived experiences, but the ways in which we understand our lives as various stories is what makes them meaningful and worth living, more than mere bundles of experience.

[Hypatia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part explanation of what gifted people experience psychologically, part personal spiritual biography, it's an interesting but uneven book that couldn't seem to find a way to end.

[Fox · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was very honest, but it was too negative for me.