418:, the pilgrimage route across Spain, as a way "to walk away" from her madness. She is unfit from being ill, and decides to come off her medication, to the horror of her friends. The walk is a struggle; on the second or third day, she collapses on the path. Griffiths is "lonely but always surrounded by people: it was the worst of both worlds." She weeps at the reception desk in a hostel. "I've been very ill, I said. Very up and down? she asked. It must have been written all over my face." As she is wished "Buen Camino" (lit. "Good Path", i.e. "Safe Journey!"), she notes that the Camino is "both footpath and metaphor for one's life." Griffiths comes home, and "In homecoming, my body, too, was happy."
368:
427:
213:
463:, John Burnside made it his Book of the Year, writing: "Jay Griffiths is one of the most perceptive and lyrical writers working today; she also brings deep learning and immense moral courage to , an elegant and inspiring study of a condition shared by many who feel obliged to conceal their pain. A triumph in every sense, this is a book that gives us all an uncompromised and hard-earned sense of hope.
285:, sharply increased awareness "certainly an aspect of artistic sensitivity", and compares the experience to flight—followed by "payback time". Griffiths tells how she felt, using metaphors, anecdotes, descriptive passages, narrative of how her doctor patiently helped her: "He listened, deeply." She writes of how she "wanted to breathe in the inspired air of
486:
is an education in the history, mythology and poetics of madness, in all its wildness and glaring neon. Griffiths is a high-wire writer who performs the difficult trick of taking you into the depths of her madness while managing to remain a completely reliable guide. Griffiths's subtle point is that
208:
In the book, Griffiths explores both intellectually and subjectively a year-long episode of manic depression that she experienced, something that she found at once terrifying and attractive, based on the notes she kept at the time. The book consists of 181 pages of prose, followed, under the heading
453:
called the book "A visceral account of the turmoil experienced within a manic-depressive breakdown." The reviewer observed that
Griffiths used her notebooks, "very precious to me ... footprints of my thoughts, tracks of journeys, curiosity-paths and desire-lines", to make sense of her experience.
446:
as "a glimpse of madness from inside the eye of the storm." She explains the book's title as "the 18th-century word she prefers to capture the precise combination of mania and melancholy in a mixed-state bipolar episode ... a condition steeped in metaphorical significance." She quotes
Griffiths:
261:
Griffiths then reflects on the reasons for writing such a book: "because manic depression seduces, like mountains do, and kills, as they do. Because, too, it is survivable with skilful help." She examines the words people have used for "this crazed state", describing the
33:
487:
in madness we live inside metaphors that offer a parallel understanding of what is real that is no less valid than any other, only less tenable. Griffiths is an exciting and original thinker and her writing simply shimmers. ... This is self-exposure of a higher order."
482:. She praises Griffiths for the "difficult trick of taking you into the depths of her madness ("I could feel my mind on a slant, every day more off-kilter, every night sleeping less") while managing to remain a completely reliable guide." She writes that "
258:, "god of writers and – surely – god of manic depression (that most mercurial of illnesses)". Griffiths describes going for medical treatment, realizing she is unable even to recall her telephone number, seeing the depths of her madness.
114:
that lasted a year. In the book, she uses her training as a writer to make notes, and tells the story of the condition both from the inside and in terms of literary understanding: with
379:
Griffiths tells, too, how "in the dark days of
January ... I became feverish to write the poetry of this madness." She feels she is bargaining with Mercury: keep the dose of
878:
383:
low and "I'll give you poems." She examines the relationship between poetry and madness: both cure and risk. She looks at the madness of poets, from
254:
that predispose to the condition); long-term stress; a trigger, in her case a "mild" sexual assault. She feels her mind "slip", noting the hand of
246:
She begins by telling how the episode began, injuring her ankle with the result that she was unable to go running, "seeking the self-medication of
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273:, "god of war and wisdom, shamanism and poetry." Griffiths describes the history of medical responses to the condition. She notes that
129:
The book has been praised by critics for its bravery, and for its ability to connect personal experience to a shareable understanding.
269:, meaning mad or frenzied, with older meanings of spiritual arousal, poet, connected to the Old English for song and the name
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496:, Horatio Clare wrote that "Griffiths's ferocious, exploratory intellect makes her book shine... Her verses recall
510:... Griffiths finds a delicate mode - funny, honest, iridescent with scholarship... rare lucidity and honesty make
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126:, music, and poetry pressed into service to give the reader a picture of the events as she perceived them.
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340:. Griffiths notes that many of Shakespeare's characters, too, have mania, depression, or both:
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411:, and narrates her brush with suicide, the help of her friends, and seeing people's 'wings'.
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250:". Griffiths briefly enumerates the causes—genetic vulnerability (having a combination of
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She examines the mythical figures associated with the condition, starting with
Mercury-
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1025:"I felt like an amiable sheep, straitjacketed on the inside"
958:"Books of the year: the NS team on their favourites of 2016"
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375:(thick red line) across Spain in an attempt to cure herself.
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289:... Music, neutralizing the power of the siren song".
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by Jay
Griffiths; Mad Girl by Bryony Gordon – review"
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594:
140:
is a
British writer. She read English Literature at
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506:, the best book on madness I knew before I'd read
414:In the final part, Griffiths narrates walking the
16:2016 book by Jay Griffiths on her manic depression
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162:. As a journalist, she has published columns in
917:: A Diary of Manic Depression by Jay Griffiths"
434:, mood switches between mania and melancholy.
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364:; and wonders if he experienced it himself.
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110:describing her experience of an episode of
224:in Guthrie McClintic's 1933 production of
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514:a gripping book, and an important one."
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25:Tristimania: A Diary of Manic Depression
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238:characters, and their connection to
956:Burnside, John (22 November 2016).
877:Merritt, Stephanie (27 June 2016).
13:
198:Kith: The Riddle of the Childscape
14:
1101:
150:and contributed to programmes on
209:"Artist-Assassin", by 22 poems.
188:Pip Pip: A Sideways Look at Time
186:. Her non-fiction books include
1055:(Paperback ed.). Penguin.
1023:Clare, Horatio (23 July 2016).
1016:
989:
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545:
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442:, Stephanie Merritt describes
1:
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1085:Books about bipolar disorder
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10:
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535:"The Tips of Your Fingers"
193:Wild: An Elemental Journey
144:. She has written for the
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533:(January–February 2010).
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1004:. No. 13 June 2016
998:"Metaphors for madness"
203:
1080:2016 non-fiction books
553:"Author Jay Griffiths"
435:
376:
243:
147:London Review of Books
37:Cover of first edition
1090:Hamish Hamilton books
429:
397:Gerard Manley Hopkins
371:Griffiths walked the
370:
215:
300:gods" and "the only
216:Griffiths discusses
795:, pp. 125–155.
591:, pp. 187–219.
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996:Benjamin, Marina.
747:, pp. 98–101.
436:
416:Camino de Santiago
377:
373:Camino de Santiago
244:
106:is a 2016 book by
23:
1062:978-0-241-97204-5
663:, pp. 40–41.
639:, pp. 18–19.
476:Christopher Smart
142:Oxford University
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432:bipolar disorder
389:Gerard de Nerval
240:manic depression
227:Romeo and Juliet
220:(here played by
112:manic depression
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944:Griffiths 2017
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925:. 14 June 2016
922:Kirkus Reviews
901:
869:
867:, p. 185.
865:Griffiths 2017
857:
855:, p. 171.
853:Griffiths 2017
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843:, p. 168.
841:Griffiths 2017
833:
831:, p. 166.
829:Griffiths 2017
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817:Griffiths 2017
809:
807:, p. 159.
805:Griffiths 2017
797:
793:Griffiths 2017
785:
783:, p. 125.
781:Griffiths 2017
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771:, p. 122.
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531:Griffiths, Jay
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480:Samuel Beckett
451:Kirkus Reviews
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381:antipsychotics
332:'s characters
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281:can appear as
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888:The Guardian
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466:Also in the
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222:Orson Welles
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165:The Guardian
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20:
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1053:Tristimania
915:Tristimania
881:Tristimania
512:Tristimania
508:Tristimania
484:Tristimania
472:Shakespeare
444:Tristimania
330:Shakespeare
283:hyperacusis
264:Old English
232:Shakespeare
156:BBC Radio 4
152:BBC Radio 3
103:Tristimania
66:Non-fiction
1074:Categories
518:References
401:John Clare
248:endorphins
230:), one of
422:Reception
409:Coleridge
405:Kit Smart
362:Cleopatra
338:Autolycus
298:Trickster
275:hypomania
236:Trickster
124:mythology
116:etymology
73:Publisher
1051:(2017).
969:17 April
929:17 April
894:17 April
562:17 April
440:Observer
334:Mercutio
306:pantheon
218:Mercutio
200:(2013).
190:(1999),
158:and the
120:metaphor
57:Insanity
1042:Sources
490:In the
457:In the
438:In the
385:Orpheus
342:Antonio
304:in the
256:Mercury
133:Context
90: (
53:Subject
1059:
1008:7 June
350:Hamlet
346:Jaques
328:, and
314:Coyote
302:shaman
294:Hermes
180:, and
43:Author
1028:(PDF)
539:Orion
503:Ariel
393:Keats
358:Timon
326:Thoth
322:Raven
318:Zorba
279:mania
252:genes
177:Orion
63:Genre
1057:ISBN
1010:2017
971:2020
931:2020
896:2020
564:2020
354:Lear
336:and
310:Puck
287:Bach
277:and
271:Odin
204:Book
183:Aeon
92:2016
88:2016
500:'s
430:In
387:to
267:wĹŤd
234:'s
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1000:.
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898:.
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566:.
541:.
242:.
94:)
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