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October 4, 2005

Melancholy Genius

I
f you are any or all of (a) a fan of Abraham Lincoln, (b) a person who suffers or has suffered from depression, or (c) a person who loves someone in category (b), you will certainly love Joshua Wolf Shenk's article "Lincoln's Great Depression" in last month's Atlantic. It's a fascinating addition to the literature on Lincoln, and a wonderfully sensitive and humane account of Lincoln's (and, to a great extent, I suspect, Shenk's) experience of depression.

Posted by Eric at October 4, 2005 10:13 PM

Comments

I'd be depressed, too, if I missed a golden opportunity to rid ourselves of the South. :)

Posted by: K at October 5, 2005 1:20 PM

The Atlantic page is locked behind a "subscribers only" wall, but the extended excerpt on HNN, yields this gem:

With Lincoln we have a man whose depression spurred him, painfully, to examine the core of his soul; whose hard work to stay alive helped him develop crucial skills and capacities, even as his depression lingered hauntingly; and whose inimitable character took great strength from the piercing insights of depression, the creative responses to it, and a spirit of humble determination forged over decades of deep suffering and earnest longing.

Wonderful. Thank you for recommending this. I haven't read the whole article yet, but I already feel confident in seconding your recommendation.

Posted by: Beth at October 5, 2005 5:27 PM