Darkness Visible : A Memoir of Madness

Rating:
Summary: The best discription of madness I've read.
Review: As a chronically depresses person, I find it very difficult to explain how the mental pain feels. Most books about depression are written by doctors and are very clinical in nature. DARKNESS VISIBLE is a first hand tale of the pains of depression. I wish I could express the feeling as William Styron has.

Rating:
Summary: Narcissism to the tenth power.
Review: It's been said already in other reviews, but Styron clearly romanticizes his depression and applies a kind of artistic elitism to depression that exlcudes those who don't live a so-called "creative" life. (Styron regularly appears on television with other "artists" and Mike Wallace, the journalist, a kind of unspoken code: this is about "creative types.") This is a very small book with very little to offer. He talks a lot about his alcoholism but fails to connect his many years of drinking with his depression. Of course, it is known that alcohol is a depressant and, like other drugs, kills brain cells and diminishes the brain, in general. There's a part of Styron at work that embraces his depression. He identifies with it and, I believe, his writing this slight essay was his way of keeping it. I found the book redundant, slow, at times unclear, and offering, quite frankly, nothing of value.

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Summary: Masterful description of the horror of clinical depression.
Review: Having experienced clinical depression more than once in my life, I am absolutely in amazement at how accurately Styron describes the experience. In describing something that even he admits is almost beyond the descriptive power of words, he's done a masterful job. This book should be required reading for anyone who has a friend or loved one suffering from depression, and has never themself been able to understand what it's all about. Finally, people who have never experienced this horror can get at least a glimpse of what it is like from a truly gifted writer.

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Summary: A Help in times of shadows....
Review: For a man, especially an author out of the Southern Tradition, to come clean about his personal conflicts, his struggles to purge the daemonic elements within his psyche, and to create a viable work of semi-autobiography I find this book to be honest, straightforward, and full of exemplum for all who have faced the dark realms of despression.

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Summary: Understanding the darkness!
Review: Styron describes depression through his eyes and we walk into the visible darkness. Depression is very difficult to describe in words, but he certainly did a good job in doing so;...that it even reminded me of my own experiences. Is that good or bad? Well, it's terrible to be reminded of your own experiences, but I chose to read the book to understand more Depression and other points of views of solving the problem. This book doesn't go into depth about solving depression, but it does give good insight on the symptoms (although each person may experience it differently, but there are similarities).

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Summary: I can relate to some symptoms but that's about it.......
Review: One thing that i am fairly certain about after reading this book is that the causes, symptoms and experiences of depression are an individual thing . Sure there are some similarities in the symptoms, but I am not going to marvel at this book because I saw a tiny piece of myself in there. I also think that depression was perhaps romanticised a bit here as something that only happens to artists or highly creative people. This doesn't help me (an accountant) or millions of other average Joe's out there in the 'burbs struggling with depression. I understand fully that the Author is only drawing on his own experiences here and as an artist himself it is obviously something that assists him in understanding his own illness but to critically acclaim this book as something that is a must read for people with depression is simply not true. One thing that surprises me is that the Author speaks of his abuse of alcohol for years, his sudden intolerance and abstinence and the thinking that the onset of his deep depression was a result of his security blanket (alcohol) being taken away. What about the impact of all those years of drinking ? What effect has this had on his brain ? Could this be the cause of the scrambling of his mind ? I am starting to believe that alcohol is one of the major catalysts for my experiences with depression ( I am not an alcoholic). Perhaps those of us who do suffer are just that bit closer to the edge than all of those "normal" people out there and maybe alcohol can push us over ??????

Rating:
Summary: The best book on depression I have ever read
Review: after reading this book I could not believe how accurately the author described the symptoms of depression that affected him over a certain period of his life,and which has affected me for a number of years.A very honest book on the subject,and a must read

Rating:
Summary: A Mercutio Madness
Review: I suffer from depression, and I certainly don't mean to belittle Mr. Styron's painful experience with the illness. But I read his portrayal of that experience with the same kind of horror that one might feel when a family member gets drunk and ruins a party. "Say, isn't that your brother over there?" "Who him? No!" I felt Styron was pompous in the rendering of his suffering, eager to use his illness to prove his depth, his brilliance, and his place with great writers. A Mercutio madness, to be sure, and, finally, an empty memoir.

Rating:
Summary: From a depressive's perspective: Superficial
Review: OK, Styron covered the important themes of depression: confusion, insomnia, desperation... but he didn't really let out much of his own torture of dealing with this disease. This book was highly touted to me, and perhaps that was why it was a disappointment. I preferred _Undercurrents_ as a testimony to being in the throes of depression.

Rating:
Summary: Fell short of expectations
Review: William Styron is a fine writer, but this book is flawed as a memoir of his depression. While he is capable of poetically articulating the experience of someone in the throes of this illness (perhaps for some, this is reason enough to read Darkness Visible), he seems more concerned with placing himself in the exclusive company of literary giants who have ultimately commited suicide. Details of his recovery are scrappy and presented cursorily and efforts to ridicule practitioners of certain forms of therapy are a diversion and diminish the work as a whole.