Fiction, Poetry, Relating to Mental Health

[William Park]

Hi, I'm going to be recommending a few books I've read recently ... or not so recently ... so, I'll be back ...

William

 

[William Park]

so, just going to mention 2 that i've read in the past month to start off with ... BRIEFING FOR A DESCENT INTO HELL by the recently departed Doris Lessing, and WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN by Lionel Shriver ... i will come back with reactions shortly, but by all means make responses as and when you feel, and tell me what you think about anything i say, or just go right ahead and make your own points.

By the way ~ if people tell me they haven't the 'time' to read fiction or poetry or interesting non-fiction books outside of their studies or work commitments, then i personally would conclude those people do not have a love of books.  We make time for the things that we love, however busy we profess to be, or indeed genuinely are; if we're lucky, we give that time to our children (I wouldn't, again personally, dream of having children myself), our holidays (again, if we're lucky), our pets, our absorbing hobbies, etc. etc.   The same principle applies to giving ourselves the time to connect with the deepest part of our being, through contemplation and meditation for instance.  If we can't or won't give ourselves that valuable time either, then things are significantly out of balance, in my opinion.

[Jill Anderson]

Hi Will.  There was an interesting article about the death of the novel, by Will Self, in the Guardian last weekend. Did you see it? 

[William Park]

no, i'll definitely check this out thanks; i like Will Self, i saw him a few years ago in Manchester wiping the floor with heavyweights (in the literary sense) like Martin Amis ... he was so much wittier than the rest of them

[Jill Anderson]

How Novels can help us understand mental health, by Nathan Filer.