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shirishmus's review
At times difficult to get through due to extensive and sometimes repetetive descriptions, I ended up with lots of information on lives I didn't know much about. After finishing I'm left wondering whether I really wanted to know more about those lives.
As a kind-of-self-proclaimed hypochondriac I was drawn to this book for some consolation. Reading about people struggeling with (amongst other things) fear for their health, wouldn't that be nice? Well...no, not really. Although maybe yes, it gave me a feeling of not being alone (even though the people in the book are dead), it also made me feel that they had good reasons for their anxieties/struggles so that they almost 'deserved' their behaviour. And with 'deserved' I'm referring to leading quite secluded lives (which they seemed to create for themselves or maybe were forced into because of their fears and circumstances), and for me I sometimes wish for just that. I realise this is a bit of a messed up thing to take from this book. It's like it inspired me in a way I shouldn't get inspired by. This is a bit much of a sidenote for myself. Sorry.
Brian Dillon seems to have done extensive research and manages to portrait the characters almost from within. He gives us an insight into the how and why of the anxieties of some famous people covering a couple hundreds years of thoughts and research on hypochondria and/or mental illness. Not in a complete from a-to-b manner, but applied where appropriate. I had a hard time letting go of our modern ideas of hypochondria and going along with the different notions of it through time.
Not sure how to end this review which might be more appropriate for my diary.
As a kind-of-self-proclaimed hypochondriac I was drawn to this book for some consolation. Reading about people struggeling with (amongst other things) fear for their health, wouldn't that be nice? Well...no, not really. Although maybe yes, it gave me a feeling of not being alone (even though the people in the book are dead), it also made me feel that they had good reasons for their anxieties/struggles so that they almost 'deserved' their behaviour. And with 'deserved' I'm referring to leading quite secluded lives (which they seemed to create for themselves or maybe were forced into because of their fears and circumstances), and for me I sometimes wish for just that. I realise this is a bit of a messed up thing to take from this book. It's like it inspired me in a way I shouldn't get inspired by. This is a bit much of a sidenote for myself. Sorry.
Brian Dillon seems to have done extensive research and manages to portrait the characters almost from within. He gives us an insight into the how and why of the anxieties of some famous people covering a couple hundreds years of thoughts and research on hypochondria and/or mental illness. Not in a complete from a-to-b manner, but applied where appropriate. I had a hard time letting go of our modern ideas of hypochondria and going along with the different notions of it through time.
Not sure how to end this review which might be more appropriate for my diary.
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