WHAT BOOK WOULD YOU RECOMMEND TO A FRIEND THINKING OF SUICIDE? Art Shay told me many years ago that a friend of his was suicidal, and he had recommended that the friend read THE HORSE’S MOUTH by Joyce Cary. This was perhaps the strongest recommendation I ever had for a book. THE HORSE’S MOUTH (which was made into a movie with Alec Guiness) tries to convey the way the painter Gully Jimson experiences life, the continuing joys of seeing intensely and describing the experiences. Art Shay lived his life that way, his camera always at hand, his eye always composing.
Categories
Archives
Recent Comments
- Gary Nuetzel on THE OLDEST FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE STARTS ITS 32ND SEASON. (COMMENT).
- Francesca on EATING PEAS WITH A KNIFE.
- avon wilsmore on CHEATING IN CHAMPIONSHIP BRIDGE.
- Anonymous on THE LANGUAGE WEIRDNESS INDEX.
- James Friscia on THE SECOND OLDEST FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE.
- Ken Babcock on THE SECOND OLDEST FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE.
- Lickity Splitfingers on THE SECOND OLDEST FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE.
- Ken Babcock on THE OLDEST FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE STARTS ITS 32ND SEASON. (COMMENT).
- David Quemere on THE OLDEST FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE STARTS ITS 32ND SEASON. (COMMENT).
- Nicholas Schaefer on THE SECOND OLDEST FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE.
Meta
What book would each of us recommend in such a situation? How about Walter Jackson Bate’s Life of Samuel Johnson? I don’t know how he did it, but Bate managed to convey the presence of a great soul, which is a truly life-affirming experience.
I’ve been thinking about this question and have only come up with one idea: the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. I may be totally wrong about what a person considering suicide would find comforting, but for me, the way the Ingalls family deals with hardship is so solid and sensible, it really grounds me. They are stoic and even good natured in the face of fear and want. I never thought of them as scary books because they’re so full of love and cheer and joy in the simple things.
Well, having had a suicidal friend, I think that there is virtually no book that could help, since there is such a disconnect between his/her life view and anything life-affirming. As my friend said when I suggested things like travel or reading a cheering book: “Why? So I can find out how other people’s lives are rich and full of meaning?”
With that being said, I still do have a book I wish my friend had read and understood: The Grass Harp by Truman Capote. It’s lovely, and has one of my favorite quotes. It’s better in context, but here it is:
“Son, I’d say you were going at it the wrong end first,” said the Judge, turning up his coat-collar. “How could you care about one girl? Have you ever cared about one leaf?”
Riley, listening to the wildcat with an itchy hunter’s look, snatched at the leaves blowing about us like midnight butterflies; alive, fluttering as though to escape and fly, one stayed trapped between his fingers. The Judge, too: he caught a leaf; and it was worth more in his hand than in Riley’s. Pressing it mildly against his cheek, he distantly said, “We are speaking of love. A leaf, a handful of seed–begin with these, learn a little what it is to love. First, a leaf, a fall of rain, then someone to receive what a leaf has taught you, what a fall of rain has ripened. No easy process, understand; it could take a lifetime, it has mine, and still I’ve never mastered it–I only know how true it is: that love is a chain of love, as nature is a chain of life.”
I am afraid that Molly is right. The truly despairing may be unreachable. I think the question really asks for the names of books that are life affirming. Art Shay was relieved at the time that his friend was still alive, but not a long time had passed, and I don’t know how things turned out.
I’m afraid it’s important to reach people BEFORE they get down to utter despair. The disconnect can become so solid, it makes you wonder if shock treatments, which have made a come-back, might do some good. Being struck by lightening may be radical, but it may be the only counter-force strong enough to combat that level of despair. And, then, I remember the closing of King Lear, when it’s more merciful to just let the poor broken-hearted man die.