According to Jamison, Lowell’s life consisted of “sane” periods interrupted by a series of awkward, and sometimes violent, episodes, all excused by his mental illness. Most readers will be sympathetic to her efforts to “normalize” bipolar disease, but will also bewildered by her insistence that Lowell demonstrated character and courage. In fact, Jamison undercuts her own case by supplying overwhelming detail about periods of highly manic behavior and providing almost no detail about periods of less manic behavior.Lowell's violence seems to have always been directed toward women. Too bad he never picked on the wrong guy and got the shit beat out of him. Might have done him a world of good.
Monday, August 14, 2017
Unsuccessfully …
… Sanitizing Robert Lowell. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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Frank, I'm almost willing to cut you some slack because of your illness. Almost. But publicly advocating 'beating the shit out' of someone (dead or alive) is not a message I want my sons and grandsons to absorb. Don't we have enough of that shit in the US and abroad right now?
ReplyDeleteWilfrid Sheed writes in a couple of places of Lowell's remarkable vanity. He also quotes his father's judgment that Lowell never forgave Jean Stafford for becoming famous before he did.
ReplyDeleteAs for Frank's words, I think it forgivable to wish that a wife-beater would step up a few weight classes and discover what it is be on the receiving end of the blows.
In case Lee didn't notice, Frank was making a joke. And a pretty good one at that, if you know anything about Lowell's life.
ReplyDeleteYes, cguerin, I didn't notice that Frank was joking. Certainly, if that is the case, I apologise for my mistake.
ReplyDeleteGeorge, we will not agree: violence breeds more violence -- often beginning in childhood. Simplistic, but in the main, true. There are other ways.