For as long as I can remember, I've had a love affair with the written word. Books have taught me about foreign places and people from the past; they've taken me away from my troubles when I'm in pain; they've helped me to examine myself and to heal. They've made me laugh, cry and think. and provided me with incredible mental and emotional riches.
On this page, I seek to share with others some of those treasures which I've discovered over the years. If you haven't read any of these, maybe you'll give one a try (smile)
"Darkness Visible" is William Styron's book about his battle with clinical depression. For anyone who suffers from this debilitating illness, "darkness" is a stunning echo of the pain many of us experience. Styron allows victims of this disorder the comfort of knowing that they are not alone, despite the disease's many individual variations. The book offers up a stunning dose of both reality and hope for the sufferers of clinical depression, and presents interesting discussion of the links between many past creative personalities and their endurance of the same disease that affects so many millions today. A terrific resource for the depressive, and a helpful guide for the family and friends of such individuals. It's one of my "bibles" today, and sometimes as useful as medication, for disease is very much a disease of isolation. If you suffer from clinical depression, do yourself a favor and read this book!
"The Yellow Wallpaper," by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. This novella is a brilliant portrait of a woman's descent into madness, with subtle overtones of the repressive, societal mores inflicted on the 19th century female. This one is available online; it is a short piece which won't be much hassle to download.
"Hiroshima," by John Hersey. Fifty-three years after the start of the Atomic Age, this book still stands as one of the most powerful essays on the horror of modern war. By giving names, faces and lives to the survivors of the bomb, Hersey makes their experience more poignant and the event more terrifyingly real. This is another brief but highly intense and thought-provoking piece of work.
"A Woman's Worth," by Marianne Williamson. When we women were growing up, too few of us were taught that we were precious gifts, and as we grew we were likely discouraged from celebrating and developing our own beauty and power. This book helps me to grow those qualities, helps me to remember my goodness, reminds me of the spiritual "queen" I aim to be. This book is a keeper for every woman's bookshelf; I love it so much, I give it to new friends at Christmas time. Worth re-reading every time the "turkeys get you down," and you get down on yourself!
ANYTHING by Dean Koontz! This guy is my favorite fiction writer. His characters are human and believable, stories are fast faced and really hold my interest, and the topics, although wierd and sometimes frightening to consider, are both intriguing and milder than half the horror tales you'll hear on the evening news. Two of my favorites are "Watchers" and his newest, "Fear Nothing," two books with themes of genetic engineering gone awry. I also happen to like them because they include a couple of super-intelligent CANINE characters!!
The HORROR GENRE in general. I don't know whether it's my mindset because of my clinical depression or just a somewhat twisted nature (I am RECOVERING, not cured, okay?), but I've always enjoyed exploring those darker sides of humans' mental life. Also, oddly enough, I find many of the "terror tales" much easier to stomache than the real-life atrocities we all inflict on one another and on our Mother Earth (perhaps because I know the ones I read are untrue?). Perhaps I have this theory that if people write out evil thoughts, they expend that dark energy, and therefore will not ACT upon it. Whatever the reason, the genre fascinates me. If it intrigues you as well, I have included some sites below that should provide you with some entertaining (and free) reading. Let me know what you think of my dark places ......
P.S. Because I also happen to be a wierd contradiction of "warm fuzzies" and "dark side," I have also included at least one link that is NOT horror fiction. It may be adult or for kids, but it is RATED G, as it were. Hey, equal time to all tastes, is what I say (smiles). Enjoy!
