Reading to Stay Alive: Tolstoy, Hopkins and the Dilemma of Existence

158 Pages·2022·1.232 MB·English

by  Chris Dowrick

Reading to Stay Alive
Published online by Cambridge University Press
Published online by Cambridge University Press
Reading to Stay Alive:
Tolstoy, Hopkins and
the Dilemma of Existence
Christopher Dowrick
Published online by Cambridge University Press
Anthem Press
An imprint of Wimbledon Publishing Company
www.anthempress.com
This edition first published in UK and USA 2022
by ANTHEM PRESS
75–76 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8HA, UK
or PO Box 9779, London SW19 7ZG, UK
and
244 Madison Ave #116, New York, NY 10016, USA
Copyright © Christopher Dowrick 2022
The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above,
no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means
(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise),
without the prior written permission of both the copyright
owner and the above publisher of this book.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested.
ISBN-13: 978-1-78527-891-4 (Hbk)
ISBN-10: 1-78527-891-6 (Hbk)
This title is also available as an e-book.
Published online by Cambridge University Press
Books are possibilities. They are escape routes. They give you options when you have none.
Each one can be a home for an uprooted mind.
Matt Haig, Reasons to Stay Alive (London: Canongate, 2015), 242
Published online by Cambridge University Press
In memory of Amanda Mitchell-Haynes
Published online by Cambridge University Press
CONTENTS
Figures ix
Acknowledgements x
1. Staying Alive? 1
Five Stories 1
Suicidal Ideas and Actions 4
Caring for People with Suicidal Thoughts 6
Acknowledge the Deeply Unconsolable 8
Themes of This Book 14
Perspectives 15
Notes 16
2. Thwarted Belongingness 19
Anomie and Alienation 19
Melancholia and Thanatos 21
Social Roots of Suicide 23
Belonging and Burden 25
Defeat and Entrapment 27
Sense of Safety 30
Suicide as a Communicative Act 32
Informing Literary Reading 32
Notes 33
3. Escape from Them All and from Myself 37
It’s All So Unimportant 38
So as Not to Be Ashamed 40
You Will Regret This 45
The Zest Is Gone 47
He Acted and Lived Unfalteringly and Definitely 51
Serving the Universe 54
Notes 57
Published online by Cambridge University Press
viii READING TO STAY ALIVE
4. Not Choose Not to Be 61
Simple and Beautiful Oneness 62
A Continually Jaded and Harassed Mind 64
My Lament Is Cries Countless 66
It Brings a Closeness 70
Can Something, Hope 73
Leave Comfort Root-Room 76
Plough Down Sillion Shine 79
Notes 81
5. Points of Transformation 85
An Everyday Temptation 86
A Denial of Experience 88
Prate Not to Me of Suicide 91
The Artist Must Play 93
I Can’t Wrap This Up 96
What Good Is Done? 99
And Then We Shall Dwell Together 102
Points of Transformation 106
Notes 107
6. Creating Raisons d’etre 111
A Vain, Fruitless, and Self-Contradictory Effort 112
Intentional Entity 116
Desire Is the Very Essence of Man 118
Vastly More Intersubjectivity 122
The Struggle Towards the Heights 124
Continually Completely New? 126
Notes 128
7. Staying Alive 131
Sunt Lacrimae Rerum 132
Back to Black 136
Final Reflections 138
Notes 139
Index 141
Published online by Cambridge University Press
FIGURES
1.1 The P4 screener 7
2.1 Interpersonal theory of suicide model 25
2.2 Integrated motivational-volitional model of suicidal behaviour 28
2.3 Sense of safety: whole person domains 31
Published online by Cambridge University Press
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Phil Davis inspired me to write this book. Megan Greiving, Jebaslin
Hephzibah and Sreejith Govindan ensured its completion.
Amongst the many people – family and friends, patients, academics,
clinicians – who have kindly offered me their advice, comment, criticism and
guidance, or allowed me to refer to their personal narratives, I specifically
wish to thank Andrew Bennett, Josie Billington, Colette Brannan, Simon
Capewell, Amy Chandler, Anna and Clare Dowrick, Stefan Hjørleifsson,
Leigh Holmes, Mandy Johnstone, Bryony, Richard and Star Kendall, Daniel
Lawrence, Anne MacFarlane, Susan Martin, Carl May, David Misselbrook,
Faraz Mughal, Rory O’Connor, Mary and Tomas O’Reilly-deBrún, Teresa
Pearson, Stephen Poole, Joanne Reeve, Peter Riley, Emmert Roberts,
Malcolm and Rachel Savage, William Wootten and Emily Yue.
I am grateful to Dougal Jeffries for his constructive review of the full
manuscript.
Permissions
Extract from ‘Study to Deserve Death’ from Collected Poems and Drawings of
Stevie Smith, ed. William May. Copyright © Faber & Faber. Reproduced by
permission of Faber & Faber, 74-77 Great Russell Street, London WC1B
3DA, UK.
Extract from ‘The Cost of Seriousness’ from Collected Poems by Peter
Porter. Copyright © The Estate of Peter Porter. Reproduced by permission
of the Estate c/o Rogers, Coleridge & White Ltd., 20 Powis Mews, London
W11 1JN, UK.
Published online by Cambridge University Press