
Cyril Connolly and the literature of depression - lermontov
http://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/on-melancholy-essay-brian-dillon-cyril-connolly/
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narrator
It seems to me that before Prozac and such there was a more robust
"depression" culture. People tried to make meaning out of their persistent
sorrow and anxiety. Maybe that's for the better that that's somewhat of a
relic of the past, but I would like to be convinced otherwise.

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Animats
That was a 1950s thing. "Death of a Salesman", "Krapp's Last Tape", "Waiting
for Godot", and most of Harold Pinter's works. They're either about
depression, or after you watch them, you'll be depressed.

Tom Lehrer on this, in the 1960s: _" The characters in these books and plays
and so on spend hours bemoaning the fact that they can't communicate. I feel
that if a person can't communicate, the very least he can do is to shut up."_

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amelius
> I feel that if a person can't communicate, the very least he can do is to
> shut up.

For most people it requires some practice.

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simplify
Practice, or mentally inhibited. Either way Lehrer's response is a selfish and
horrid thing to say, as it attacks those who are already unable to defend
themselves (can't communicate).

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logfromblammo
I can't read "Cyril Connolly" without it coming out as "semi-carnally".

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Animats
This is what the slush pile from the New Yorker must read like.

