A Head Full of Blue
My greatest fear when starting Gwyneth Lewis's Sunbathing in the Rain was that it might finish me. The author suffers from depression, and this harrowing account of her troubles doesn't make pretty reading. Lewis was raised in Cardiff amid the splendours of Welsh poetry and song, and she has spent huge chunks of her life feeling like a zombie. Her condition tyrannises her.
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For months on end she lies in bed "like a ghost" unable to do anything but watch kung fu movies and read women's magazines. Occasionally she gets up and irons her husband's underpants, but that's about it.
Saddest of all is that Lewis is a high-flyer. She has degrees not only from Oxford and Cambridge but also from the University of Columbia. She publishes poetry in Welsh and English, and enjoys a parallel career as a senior BBC administrator.
And yet for half her life she's like a disinterred corpse. Sometimes, I reflected happily, it's nice to be talentless. The book is a mixed grill of conflicting genres. The autobiographical sections are supplemented with scrag-ends of philosophy and funny-at-the-time newspaper cuttings.
The most vivid moments are an account of a rape attempt in New York, and Lewis's expressions of sorrow and emptiness when she realises she will never have children. Occasionally she wanders to the brink of affectation - "Poetry for me has always been my sacred place" - but most of the story is told in a thoughtful and unselfconscious voice. In addition, we're treated to a miscellany of proverbs from a clamouring throng of Alpine monks, Tibetan goatherds, fasting visionaries and Zen sampler-specialists whose names I didn't recognise.
Several chapters are devoted to guidance for other depressives.
About A Head Full of Blue
Her advice is simple and homespun, almost to the point of being self-evident. Learn from your depression, she says. Do not think too much. Another writer with mental problems is Nick Johnstone. The causes are somewhat obscure. From early childhood he suffered from what he describes as "the humming in my head, that shapeless, nameless humming". When he was 11, up went the volume. It was no longer "a single wasp trapped inside my skull, there were many wasps, bees too, all humming".
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Clearly he needed insect repellent, and at the age of 14 he discovered alcohol. He spent his teenage years bingeing on whatever came to hand. He downs a bottle of wine at around 5. Then, when he was twenty-four he was admitted into hospital. Stripped of his 'cure', Nick Johnstone painfully began the process of recovery. Although love proves to be the strongest 'cure' of all, this is a story with no tidy or happy endings.
Honest and gripping, by turns stark and lyrical, "A Head Full of Blue" powerfully evokes the often unfathomable psychology and behaviour that drives addiction, examining self-harm as a coping mechanism rather than a taboo. It is an unusual, moving and thought-provoking memoir.
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Paperback , pages. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Oct 27, Lena Nisula rated it it was amazing. I've read countless recovery memoirs but this is the first time I've read a whole one in one sitting. Jul 12, Sarah rated it really liked it. Easy read, interesting to see the perspective. I stumbled upon this book at my local bookstore, the cover caught my attention at first. A Head Full of Blue is about the life of Nick, his alcohol problem, coping with depression, girlfriends and getting addicted to all sorts of medication.
It gave me a good view about what's going on in the head of an alcohol addict. The craving for numbness and forgetting your I stumbled upon this book at my local bookstore, the cover caught my attention at first. The craving for numbness and forgetting your issues. I really liked the writing style of this book also the beautiful metaphors is a great way to explain what the character feels.
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The reason I gave this book 3 stars is because the end was a bit disappointing, you already knew what was going to happen but anyway, a good read. Mar 25, Laurie Mac rated it really liked it. A true account of this dude's battle with booze. Jesus he could put it away. Jul 11, Eleanor Black rated it liked it. A gritty and touching account of the progression and abstention from alcoholism. True to life and a damn good read. Sep 04, Chelsea rated it really liked it. This book made me sadface.
Mel Harrison rated it it was amazing Mar 21, Emma Burns rated it liked it Jul 14, Diane Swift rated it it was amazing Mar 22, Finbarr Heather rated it really liked it Mar 20, Ana Milosevic rated it really liked it Feb 21, Johanna rated it really liked it Aug 03,