Aren't I supposed to be depressed?

[amused]

Sometimes a Great Notion and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, both by Ken Kesey.

[orpheus]

"Im Abendrot" ("At Sunset") from Richard Strauss's Four Last Songs.

When I hear it I cannot help but be aware of the circumstances. Strauss composed it in 1948, at age 84. And it is so clearly an elegy for the destruction of so much of Europe in the war. Strauss knew he would never live to see everything he loved rebuilt. He also knew that after such a wound, the world would never be the same.

The music is so beautiful, and conveys such an immense sense of loss. I find it profound and disturbing. And the video for this performance is perfect, IMO.

The text:

(poem by Joseph von Eichendorff)

Wir sind durch Not und Freude
gegangen Hand in Hand;
vom Wandern ruhen wir
nun überm stillen Land.

Rings sich die Täler neigen,
es dunkelt schon die Luft.
Zwei Lerchen nur noch steigen
nachträumend in den Duft.

Tritt her und laß sie schwirren,
bald ist es Schlafenszeit.
Daß wir uns nicht verirren
in dieser Einsamkeit.

O weiter, stiller Friede!
So tief im Abendrot.
Wie sind wir wandermüde--
Ist dies etwa der Tod?


We have gone through sorrow and joy
hand in hand;
Now we can rest from our wandering
above the quiet land.

Around us, the valleys bow;
the air is growing darker.
Just two skylarks soar upwards
dreamily into the fragrant air.

Come close to me, and let them flutter.
Soon it will be time for sleep.
Let us not lose our way
in this solitude.

O vast, tranquil peace,
so deep at sunset!
How weary we are of wandering---
Is this perhaps death?

[Animavore]

There is a joy in stories and reading and the theatrical arts that exists over and above any mood of the particular story.

I tend to read mostly non-fiction, so I don't have a very broad base to select from. But I cry at movies a lot. Breaking The Waves left me in tears at the end, and would likely fit here if it were a book.



As noted, I'm not well read, so I have little to pick from. Dostoyevsky's Crime And Punishment affected me greatly, and continues to do so. There was also a science fiction novel — perhaps it was Lucifer's Hammer — in which the Earth was being pummeled by massive bodies from space, disrupting oceans and continents, and all the survivors could do upon witnessing another one make landfall was wait for death to come to them. The helplessness experienced there resonated strongly with me.

Funny-- I was just thinking of Breaking the Waves as a film example of the feelings I had about Geek Love-- a strange, smart story, told with sensitivity and real craftsmanship, but... I never need to see that movie again.

Actually, I feel that way about most of Lars Von Trier's work-- excellent, but I don't know how often I want to watch sweet, borderline psychotic women destroyed by men and sex.

Oh hells no. Breaking the Waves was complete trash, and I love Von Triers, but that movie was a cruel joke and the artsy-audience is the butt of the joke. Triers is laughing right now.

[rasetsu]

[hadespussercats]

You think I'm being elitist?

I just find those movies hard to take, emotionally. It's not like I think I'm too good for them.

[this-tea-is-cloudy]

I love Geek Love. It's one of my favourite books.



I've never met anyone else who reddit before

My neighbor actually recently recommended it to me. I'm going to have to ask if I can borrow her copy now. C:

[Azathoth]

The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.

[rasetsu]

Eh, Chronicles is awesome, but I don't know about depressing....

[Azathoth]

You telling me the start of the second chronicles where you find out everything is fucked up and poisoned didn't make you just a little bit sad?