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Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness By William Styron ( Vintage )
Release Date: 1992-01-08
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List Price: $11.95
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Product Description
A work of great personal courage and a literary tour de force, this bestseller is Styron's true account of his descent into a crippling and almost suicidal depression. Styron is perhaps the first writer to convey the full terror of depression's psychic landscape, as well as the illuminating path to recovery.
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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.
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 Disappointing
It would be lovely to believe that depression can be cured as it was for him. That all it takes is hanging in there long enough, and eventually it will go away. I can appreciate that this author feels that having gone thru what he did, that he knows what he is talking about, but sadly he doesn't. I don't know if his depression was a result of alcoholism. The way he writes, I don't think so, I think that the alcoholism was a result of the depression. I also don't think you are ever "cured" from depression -- it will always linger in the back of your mind, waiting.....
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Taking A Scalpel To Depression ( scottc23 )
I'll admit it - the first few times I tried reading Darkness Visible was a disaster. That long, overdrawn anecdote about his trip to Paris was as dry as and enjoyable as sucking on cardboard. Then, I made (or skipped) it to chapter two. Bingo. From there Styron starts talking about Camus, Hoffman and Levi, all of whom had an impact on his life. From there, I started getting some perspective.
Styron can write, that's a fact. And the guy employs more interesting adjectives than Microsoft does workers. But that is a plus and a minus. Sometimes the writing takes too long to hit a point. Other times, his verbiage is dead on and leaves you breathless. To his credit, he is aware as anyone that heavy depression lies beyond words. It's an experience and not one anybody should have to endure. As well, I don't think I've ever seen a better investigation of a man looking at his every emotion under a microscope. Reading up on medication, consuming the DSM-IV like a doctor; he understood his depression more than most psychiatrists can dream to.
After I completed the book, I read it again and it got better. His description of depression will illuminate the sensory feeling of it for the depressed. If you have suffered from depression, I guarantee, you will find yourself here. For the layman, for those who don't know this cruel disease, it will offer, as best words can, a blow by blow account of how it feels day by day, hour by hour.
I do recommend this book. Not as a study but a first hand account. If you want statistics and such, there are plenty of books out there to mull over. Depression, by its nature, can be profoundly confusing and nearly impossible to put into any cognitive thought or words. This is how it feels beneath the dreary emptiness, the inability to smile or make toast. This is the blueprint. If you've endured depression or are, this may offer you some insight to your condition. If you've escaped the black cloud of melancholia but you want to know, this is a good place to start.
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Darkness Visible
This insightful book views suicide from the side of one who has suffered from a desire for self destruction. For the survivors of a suicide it is difficult to answer so many questions following the event, this book begins to answer questions of the thought process leading up to suicide.
Another excellant book to consider reading on the subject is "No Time to Say Goodbye, Surviving the Suicide of a Loved One" by Carla Fine. It draws from the experiences of many who have been through it and offers counsel.
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 Thanks is not enough
I can't thank William Styron enough for this book. Suffering from depression myself, I had days in which I was counting breaths just to make it through the day. This book got me through another day in the darkest of places.
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If you suffer from depression read this book
This is the best book I have ever read on depression. I have read and re read it several times. The fact that Styron is such a good writer is what makes this so informative. And as someone else pointed out the fact that the book is small and short helps also. It is beautifully written. I always recommend it to anyone suffering from depression. I am sad to say I recently read somewhere that near the end of his life Styron's depression returned. He had not been cured of his depression. It just lifted for a time. I like that he explains how drugs did not help him but made his depression worse. By getting off the drugs he began to get better on his own. Everyone is different but not everybody needs drugs. I also recently read that depression is anger turned inward. Knowing that I suggest getting a punching bag and hanging it in the back yeard and hitting it hard everyday.
Seriously I got a great deal of comfort from A DARKNESS VISIBLE. It is worth noting that Styron's depression hit him after he quit drinking alcohol after a lifetime of abusing alcohol.
Seems to me that doctors should always recommend this book to their patients suffering from depression. The book offers hope to those afflicted by depression.
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