Nerve Language by Brian Henderson
52 Books In 52 Weeks: #5 of 52
In the late 19th century, Daniel Paul Schreber was a respected judge in Leipzig when the onset of a psychosis landed him in a German asylum, where he remained until he died in 1911. He chronicled his condition in the book Memoirs of My Nervous Illness, which became influential in psychology, having even been analyzed (though never interviewed) by Sigmund Freud.
The title of Brian Henderson’s book, Nerve Language, refers to the method, Schreber explained, that God used to communicate to him. As such, Henderson creates vivid poems of harrowing drama in a profoundly moving portrait of insanity, as the internal struggle within Schreber becomes a battle for comfort in a shattered identity. This struggle sets a potentially cold and austere work ablaze with humanity and passion, as we are meant to question ourselves about our own conformity affects our inspiration and raison d’être.
It is for books like this one which I wanted to get to reading again.
Book: Nerve Language
Publisher: Pedlar Press
Next: The Fionavar Tapestry: The Summer Tree
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