Memoirs of My Nervous Illness

by Daniel Paul Schreber

Other authorsIda Macalpine, Richard A. Hunter, Rosemary Dinnage (Introduction)

Paperback, 2000

Status

Available

Call number

616.8970092

Genres

Collection

Your library

Publication

NYRB Classics (2000), Paperback, 488 pages

Description

Translated by Ida McAlpine and Richard A. Hunter Introduced by Rosemary Dinnage In 1884 Daniel Paul Schreber suffered the first of a series of mental breakdowns that would lead to his permanent confinement in an insane asylum. He accused his doctors of 'soul murder' and composed this memoir to tell the public about his treatment and plea for his release. One of the most revealing dispatches ever received from the far side of madness, Memoirs of My Nervous Illness made an extraordinary impression on Jung and was the subject of a controversial case history by Freud. It has continued to be an inspiration to writers like Walter Benjamin and Elias Canetti.

User reviews

LibraryThing member amerynth

Daniel Paul Schreber's "Memoirs of My Nervous Illness" is pretty fascinating. It is by no means an easy read, but I found it worthwhile and interesting.

Schreber, a well-respected judge, had a nervous breakdown, which has all the hallmarks of schizophrenia. "Memoirs" follows his time in the asylum

and he vividly describes his hallucinations and delusions. He believes God talks to him and "nerves" or souls continually enter his body in an attempt to turn him into a woman. He is clearly logical and intelligent and "Memoirs" is his (ultimately successful) attempt to reason himself out of commitment to the asylum and back home to his wife.

This book is a strange addition to the 1,001 list since it really isn't a novel, but it was certainly worth reading.

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LibraryThing member dagseoul

I am reading this for the third time. Radically certain of his delusions, Schreber writes his story and quite aptly develops his theory of a "nerve language."

Amazing stuff. For added entertainment, read all the nonsense written about the book in the Amazon.Com reviews section. Classic Comedy.

LibraryThing member tungsten_peerts

An astounding book. I don't know what I expected, but I certainly didn't expect to learn viscerally what being psychotic FEELS LIKE. It's an amazing account, which I am so glad I read.

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