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Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness (Paperback)

by William Styron (Author) "IN PARIS ON A CHILLY EVENING LATE IN OCTOBER OF 1985 I first became fully aware that the struggle with the disorder in my mind-a..." (more)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (90 customer reviews)
List Price: CDN$ 14.95
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Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness + An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness + Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide
Total List Price: CDN$ 52.90
Price For All Three: CDN$ 38.61

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  • This item: Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness by William Styron

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Product Description

From Amazon.com

In 1985 William Styron fell victim to a crippling and almost suicidal depression, the same illness that took the lives of Randall Jarrell, Primo Levi and Virginia Woolf. That Styron survived his descent into madness is something of a miracle. That he manages to convey its tortuous progression and his eventual recovery with such candor and precision makes Darkness Visible a rare feat of literature, a book that will arouse a shock of recognition even in those readers who have been spared the suffering it describes.


From Publishers Weekly

A meditation on Styron's ( Sophie's Choice ) serious depression at the age of 60, this essay evokes with detachment and dignity the months-long turmoil whose symptoms included the novelist's "dank joylessness," insomnia, physical aversion to alcohol (previously "an invaluable senior partner of my intellect") and his persistent "fantasies of self-destruction" leading to psychiatric treatment and hospitalization. The book's virtues--considerable--are twofold. First, it is a pitiless and chastened record of a nearly fatal human trial far commoner than assumed--and then a literary discourse on the ways and means of our cultural discontents, observed in the figures of poet Randall Jarrell, activist Abbie Hoffman, writer Albert Camus and others. Written by one whose book-learning proves a match for his misery, the memoir travels fastidiously over perilous ground, receiving intimations of mortality and reckoning delicately with them. Always clarifying his demons, never succumbing to them in his prose, Styron's neat, tight narrative carries the bemusement of the worldly wise suddenly set off-course--and the hard-won wisdom therein. In abridged form, the essay first appeared in Vanity Fair.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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First Sentence
IN PARIS ON A CHILLY EVENING LATE IN OCTOBER OF 1985 I first became fully aware that the struggle with the disorder in my mind-a struggle which had engaged me for several months-might have a fatal outcome. Read the first page
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Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness
77% buy the item featured on this page:
Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness 4.3 out of 5 stars (90)
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An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness
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CDN$ 12.37
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Customer Reviews

90 Reviews
5 star:
 (54)
4 star:
 (22)
3 star:
 (7)
2 star:
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1 star:
 (4)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (90 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Bullseye !, April 15 2004
By A Customer
This is the best description of what it is like to suffer depression I have ever read. I was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder, and related to SO many of the authors problems. I was in a hospital for 3 weeks, outpatient for 4 1/2 and am still on partial disability. My wife is now reading the book so she can get at least some idea of what this is like. This really hit home,and I feel it is a must read for every sufferer of depression, and just as importantly, the key people in their lives.
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3.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 A Famous Author's Personal Battle with Depression, Jan 21 2008
By Teddy (Richmond, BC) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   
In this short but powerful memoir, William Styron, the author of "Sophie's Choice", tells of his personal battle with clinical depression.

Suffering from depression myself and working in the mental health field, I can honestly say he captured this debilitating illness very well indeed. I have tried to explain to my friends how I felt going through depression at my lowest, low. It's like sinking to the bottom of a well with no lifeline to hold on to, gasping for air.

There were so many things in this book that I could relate to first hand! People who have been lucky enough not to suffer from depression don't usually realize how debilitating it is. Symptoms are not just psychological, but there are many physical aspects as well. Styron explains this in a way that everyone, suffers and non-suffers can understand.

I still have some smaller bouts of depression at times, but it's more like treading water at the top of the well, thank goodness. Some of my experiences with the professionals were similar to his, but my ultimate recovery was a bit different. I was not hospitalized and my recovery took a lot longer.

This book is a bit dated. As I said above, I work in the mental health field. I can tell you that the hospitals that I have worked with, don't have the budget to do many of the programs that Styron had the fortune to experience, such as a lot of art therapy. It's a shame, because these would be beneficial!

Though this book is a little dated now, I recommend it for those that have suffered from depression and those who want to know more about what it is really like.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Too visible, Aug 14 2004
By A Customer
By now, most that are Styron fans know of his battle with depression. Couple this with his excellent writings about difficult subjects (think SOPHIE'S CHOICE) and you've got one heck of an interesting portrait of a writer and a man. I found DARKNESS VISIBLE to be spellbinding and frankly, I couldn't put it down. Would also recommend two other books: A BRILLIANT MADNESS and THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD for those interested in creativity and abuse or mental illness.
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 		 Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Short and Bittersweet Essay By a Survivor
Having wrestled with various mental health issues myself, I found Bill Styron's essay quite interesting. I recommend this book to anyone.
Published on Jul 6 2004 by Boyd Davis

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic and Well Written
This is a fantastic and well written moemoir about the life of someone dealing with depression, the reasons behind the depression and the inspirational journey through the... Read more
Published on Jun 25 2004

4.0 out of 5 stars Short and honestly descriptive account
Since I have suffered from depression, I can relate to this book in many ways. For me, it is uplifting in ways to hear an accout of another who has suffered in similar ways and to... Read more
Published on Jun 17 2004 by Ryan Whiteside

3.0 out of 5 stars moving essay on suicidal depression
If you have never experienced depression - or have not learned what tools there are to cope with it - this is as good a place as any to begin to find out about it. Read more
Published on Nov 26 2003 by Robert J. Crawford

4.0 out of 5 stars Into the dark
In this slim volume, William Styron documents his descent into near-suicidal depression and his eventual recovery to something near normalcy. Read more
Published on Sep 7 2003 by blissengine

5.0 out of 5 stars A ticket to travel
to the depths of the most dark part of the human spirit.
As in La Divina Comedia, you can feel like Dante, guided by the most bright mind and the more sensitive spirit in our... Read more
Published on Jun 24 2003 by GEORGINA GRECO

2.0 out of 5 stars Not what I was expecting
I was very disappointed in this book. It was not at all what I was anticipating. Not that is necessarily a bad book, but it was not what I had in mind. Read more
Published on April 27 2003 by Alicia Cathers

5.0 out of 5 stars A Soul Laid Open
Amazing what kind of strength William Styron had to muster to open his life up enough to write about such a personal illness... Read more
Published on April 20 2003 by Jennifer Pezzo

4.0 out of 5 stars Darkness described
If you seek a book on depression, you are probably looking for clinical texts written by people in the health professions. Read more
Published on Mar 23 2003 by Pumpkin King

4.0 out of 5 stars Darkness Visible
The book I read is called Darkness Visible by William Styron. The book is a compelling story about a man who, in 1985, gets a crippling disease. Read more
Published on Mar 17 2003 by K Hall

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