Susanne Antonetta

...Antonetta states outright that she sees the gifts as well as the challenges of mental illness and I respect that. But the examples she gives of bipolar artists is mostly a list of the damned.

The painter van Gogh was bipolar, as were Virginia Woolf, Georgia O’Keefe, Sylvia Plath, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Gioacchino Rossini and hundreds of other artists.

“Spring and Fall, to a Young Child” is one of my favorite poems and it contains the line from poetry I quote most often in my life: “It is the blight man was born for, It is Margaret you mourn for.” But would you really have wanted to have lived Hopkins’ life, with his manias that caused him to dehydrate himself to the point of illness, the deep unipolar horrors that he faced most of his short life? Would you really have wanted to live the lives of either Plath or Woolf, with the anorexia, the suicide attempts, the rages, the final desperations? It is a subjective point, to be sure, that such suffering is worth the art it creates, but who really would have wanted to be Sylvia Plath, alone, terrified, angry and willing to die, tucking towels under the door and opening windows in the childrens’ room so they wouldn’t inhale the gas? I am reluctant to grace mental illness with any sort of sanctity because while we get to enjoy the fruit borne from madness, the lives of those whose minds burned them out are often nothing any of us would want. Yes, I wish there was a cure for all mental illness and I know the best most of us can do is cope however we decide to cope, but I am uneasy as hell as seeing the bright side to any of this. “Yay, we got some poems before Plath gassed herself!” is not the way I want to look at this possible form of natural selection. That the world benefited from the sufferings of Ernest Hemingway, Anne Sexton, Abbie Hoffman and Edgar Allan Poe is, for many of us, a cold comfort when we realize we know how much misery they felt. You can read my entire review here: http://ireadeverything.com/a-mind-apart-by-susanne-antonetta/… (lisätietoja)

Susanne Antonetta explores the lives and abilities of those who are considered by society to be different. The thought processes of those with multiple personality and bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, autism, and various other neurological conditions can be mystifying to those on the outside, including family and friends. Suffering from manic depression for many years, Antonetta utilizes her own experiences to paint a detailed and often personal portrait of the beautiful contributions made by these individuals, and the potential consequences of eradicating such conditions.

Advancements in technology are presenting man with many options that were at one time unthinkable. Today, with genetic manipulation and engineering the eradication of many of these disorders must be considered carefully. Diversity is necessary for society to thrive and continue to grow. Many creative, inventive and forward thinking individuals suffered from mental illness... Georgia O'Keefe, Van Gogh, Churchill, and their contributions to society are immeasurable. Had such genetic manipulation been available our society would never have known the beauty of some of the world's most sought after art.

Antonetta makes a strong and impressive argument that although technological advancements may make it possible to rid ourselves of undesirable traits today, doing so could prove disastrous in the future. While an important and complex issue, the book often appears unorganized and confusing, making it a very difficult read, even for the most interested reader.… (lisätietoja)