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Suggestions for a melancholic

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downthrough

New Member
I've been clinically depressed for quite some time now. Over time, I've learned to embrace it and seek out art that reflects how I feel. I really enjoyed The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and want to find some similar reads...Any suggestions? Thanks..
 
Oh, lots of things. Parental abuse as a child, abandonment of family and friends, loss of love. Just that feeling of loss and meaninglessness. Medication and therapy haven't helped. I suppose reading sad books and listening to sad music are my only real outlet. Thanks for your interest.
 
downthrough said:
I've been clinically depressed for quite some time now. Over time, I've learned to embrace it and seek out art that reflects how I feel. I really enjoyed The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and want to find some similar reads...Any suggestions? Thanks..
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i got the book, the bell jar today. and what makes it even more like a coincidence is that i have recently fell in this trap as well. but i like what you have said, "embrace it", which i guess might be better than flee or escape from it. a good side of being melancholy or sad or depressed is that you can think/sink deeper and deeper. :rolleyes:

Take care, downthrough! :)
 
downthrough said:
Oh, lots of things. Parental abuse as a child, abandonment of family and friends, loss of love. Just that feeling of loss and meaninglessness. Medication and therapy haven't helped. I suppose reading sad books and listening to sad music are my only real outlet. Thanks for your interest.
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I understand, my friend. I don't know what to say though. I hope you find some peace.
 
watercrystal said:
i got the book, the bell jar today. and what makes it even more like a coincidence is that i have recently fell in this trap as well. but i like what you have said, "embrace it", which i guess might be better than flee or escape from it. a good side of being melancholy or sad or depressed is that you can think/sink deeper and deeper. :rolleyes:

Take care, downthrough! :)
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Yeah, it definitely is a strange state of mind. As sad as you are, it's a point in life in which you can think clearly and learn more about yourself. I'm sorry to hear that you've fallen into the same trap, but welcome. I think we should be friends, maybe share some experiences. I really hope you enjoy The Bell Jar as much as i did. It sure is deep. I'm glad that I found this forum.
 
bobbyburns said:
I understand, my friend. I don't know what to say though. I hope you find some peace.
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Thank you :) Words of encouragement are always appreciated. You're so very kind. It's so good to be here.
 
downthrough said:
Over time, I've learned to embrace it and seek out art that reflects how I feel.
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I ain't no Doctor - unless you count my relation to Dr. Dre - but, if I was you, I would try not to wallow in a bout of self-pity, no matter how pertinent it may be...you need to set yourself some goals, start doing some regular exercise, talk to someone and get over it...reading more and more about depressing situations will only cause the paralytic chains of depression to tighten around your life...

Get yourself out and about, rather than stuck at home with only a book for company...Life can be hard, but **** that shit and go and have some fun...
 
downthrough said:
Yeah, it definitely is a strange state of mind. As sad as you are, it's a point in life in which you can think clearly and learn more about yourself. I'm sorry to hear that you've fallen into the same trap, but welcome. I think we should be friends, maybe share some experiences. I really hope you enjoy The Bell Jar as much as i did. It sure is deep. I'm glad that I found this forum.
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welcome to the bookforum, downthrough! :D
 
bobbyburns said:
downthrough, what kind of music do you listen to?
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I'm into a lot of indie, shoegaze, slowcore and sadcore. Some artists I like are American Music Club, Low, Red House Painters, GY!BE, Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine...etc...
 
bobbyburns said:
your wisdom is exceeded only by your charm, ou be.
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You're right! I am one charming mutha-fucker! Thanks for the compliment, Gooseballs...

Are 'slowcore' and 'sadcore' really legitimate genres of music?!?!?!?!
 
Hi downthrough :)

Welcome to the forum!

Sorry to hear that you are not feeling good. If you ever just want somebody to listen then you can email me at the address you find in my profile :)

Small advice for you. I think feeling that way can become addictive. I know you might think that's kinda a stupid thing to say but I have seen it. If you have no other emotions there and that's the only thing you can feel then you can become addicted to it. Also, you can because it's very easy and very tempting to stay down when it's so difficult to get up and face things. Please don't think that I am saying you are doing that, because I am not :) I am just saying so you can see the danger that might come to you.

Secondly, im sure you know, you must seek the light. Life is bright and full of wonder and beauty and magic. Those moments maybe hidden and you might have to look for them, but they are there :)

Third and best! Stick around the book forum! If you like books then you will like it here. We are a friendly bunch and we talk about a whole range of things, so stick around. Why not go and make an introduction thread so we can all welcome you properly :)
 
There's nothing wrong with enjoying a melancholy feeling. Wallow in it if you want. Just remember that feeling melancholy, depressed, and sad is NOT more legitimate or meaningful than feeling content, peaceful, and even happy. There's a tendency in Western societies to credit negative feelings with more weight--the tortured artist is typically viewed as "deeper" than the artist who shows contentment and joy. This bias has no real legitimacy, so do let yourself out of it if it's impeding your life. Even just examining how you feel about how you feel can be interesting.

But, if you're melancholy and want to wallow, you might try Plath's poetry, the poems of Anne Sexton, Robert Lowell, the stories of Raymond Carver, Andre Dubus, J.S. Salinger (not Catcher in the Rye, the other ones). I love the novellas of Banana Yoshimoto, a young Japanese writer who explores her feelings really well and shows a lot of insight into Japanese cultural expectations about emotions, especially among Tokyo kids in their 20s.

Woody Allen's movies have a lot of insight into willful angst. Try Manhattan or Annie Hall or Hannah and Her Sisters. Love always saves him from existential despair, and he's funniest when he's in the throes of some private agony.

If you want a novel, Sieze the Day by Saul Bellow could be good. Also, The Shipping News, whose protagonist Quoyle finds a place where his strange outlook is understood. Play It As It Lays and Slouching Toward Bethlehem, both by Joan Didion, are great, meditative books from a melancholy point of view.

Another thing you might lilke to do is to get at your own melancholia by writing through it. If you studiously avoid cliches, you will probably find some satisfaction there.
 
I find Hemingway's work more depressing than otherwise. I'm sure other people might disagree with me, though.

Welcome!
 
Welcome downthrough.

I guess I'm a little confused, because I considered The Bell Jar to be a descent into madness, rather than simple melancholy or a discussion of depression. I studied Sylvia Plath quite extensively in my teens. She considered the book to be her journey into, and acceptance of, her madness. Through her poetry, she tried to release the demons in her mind, but ended up failing.

Out of curiosity, are you seeking meditative books that "emulate" your state of mind, or books designed to help you sink lower into the wallow (or raise you up out of the wallow?) Depression is a difficult state of mind, because it feeds on itself.

If drugs and therapy haven't worked for you, then perhaps it's time to find something to put the demons of your past behind you. Have you tried forgiving yourself? I know it seems a difficult concept, because things have been done TO you, not BY you. But the forgiveness comes from accepting that you could not have prevented the actions with a child's strength, that your child's mind could not conceive a solution at the time and your inability to stop the abuse is not a crime. Another way to think of it is -- if you had been convicted by a court of law for what was done TO you, how long would your sentence have been? Five years in prison? Ten? If you were abused as a child, and are now an adult, your sentence is long over. You've paid for whatever crimes your mind believed you committed.

I wish you peace and, someday, happiness.

Cathy
 
downthrough said:
I'm into a lot of indie, shoegaze, slowcore and sadcore. Some artists I like are American Music Club, Low, Red House Painters, GY!BE, Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine...etc...
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you have pretty good taste in music. personally, I think MBV kicks ass, especially loveless. I used to lie in my room and listen to that album over and over. kevin shields kind of reminds me of a softer, more mellow thurston moore, from sonic youth. they're both art-rock though, which I love. anyway, I was looking at your list last night, and went out to best buy this morning and picked up two slowdive cds. just for a day and souvlaki, which I think are the only two they recorded; though, I might be wrong. they're excellent. I especially like the first two tracks off souvlaki: 'alison' and 'machine gun'. I could listen to those all day and never get bored. according to the liner notes, brian eno (whom I greatly respect) produced the album.

I haven't heard any of the other bands on your list, except for godspeed you! black emperor. if you're big into post-rock, check out a silver mt. zion memorial orchestra. it's composed of several members from gy!be. a lot of local record shops carry their albums, especially downtown, but if you can't find any of them, I'll burn a cd for you or send you the files so you can burn yourself a copy.
 
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