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A review by misophorism
Savage God: A Study of Suicide by A. Alvarez
5.0
This is a once-in-a-lifetime read. A strikingly well-researched and empathetic view of suicide and its history without modern dispositions on the fatal choice. You will find no empty platitudes on the importance of thinking positive, no gibberish on how the universe reacts to your positive energy, no illusions on how God above abhors the act. In fact, Al Álvarez does not condemn suicide at all. Likely because he, too, has felt that final urge pulling him to the void. That inexorable urge for the bitter end won him over. As it did with me. But in the case of both of us, the gloom of death stayed its hand.
The Savage God goes through the history of the many ways suicide has been viewed, from the Stoics and Augustine to Dadaists and Romanticists. The book does not shy away from condemning nonsense when it comes across it. It is not wholly objective—that is not a fault. It is very much necessary. That is not to say that The Savage God is pro-suicide; it is not. But it is "anti-anti-suicide", in a way. The Savage God is beautifully written, staunchly personal, and it embraces the meaninglessness of life; consequently, it embraces the dead-end of death. Suicide exists between.
The book is mostly progressive for its brutal and honest view of suicide at the time, but it does falter in that regard. As it was written nearly 50 years ago, it is dated. It idolizes Freud, whose theories are mostly disproven (but not unimportant, of course) and spends a great deal of time doing so. Of course, Álvarez could not have known, and it doesn't take much away from his analysis of self-destruction on a more personal scale. In other words, the study of suicide in psychiatry and cognition is, to the modern reader, not entirely accurate. In addition, it contains periodic casual sexism and outdated racist terminology at times. These two things can mar the experience here and there and it's important to criticize work with those qualities. Yet, with these points and The Savage God's age in mind, it is still a thorough, heartfelt, and raw study of an act that many have taken—Álvarez and I included—and many will take.
At points, The Savage God becomes crushingly bleak. This is necessary, as the act is bleak. It is a rejection of all that would make you suffer as well as a rejection of all that would make you happy. It is choosing to end existence; how terrifying a thing, to shed the one thing you have always known, to betray one's own body and join the dead in their thoughtlessness. Álvarez addresses suicide for what it is: rejection.
To paraphrase a quote contained in the book; we have no conception of the acute anguish and dolor that leads one to take their life. Well, through his sharp analysis of suicide's history, gripping and poignant prose, intricate weaving of philosophy and art, and personal experience with the deed, I can attest from experience that Al Álvarez comes close.
9.4/10.
The Savage God goes through the history of the many ways suicide has been viewed, from the Stoics and Augustine to Dadaists and Romanticists. The book does not shy away from condemning nonsense when it comes across it. It is not wholly objective—that is not a fault. It is very much necessary. That is not to say that The Savage God is pro-suicide; it is not. But it is "anti-anti-suicide", in a way. The Savage God is beautifully written, staunchly personal, and it embraces the meaninglessness of life; consequently, it embraces the dead-end of death. Suicide exists between.
The book is mostly progressive for its brutal and honest view of suicide at the time, but it does falter in that regard. As it was written nearly 50 years ago, it is dated. It idolizes Freud, whose theories are mostly disproven (but not unimportant, of course) and spends a great deal of time doing so. Of course, Álvarez could not have known, and it doesn't take much away from his analysis of self-destruction on a more personal scale. In other words, the study of suicide in psychiatry and cognition is, to the modern reader, not entirely accurate. In addition, it contains periodic casual sexism and outdated racist terminology at times. These two things can mar the experience here and there and it's important to criticize work with those qualities. Yet, with these points and The Savage God's age in mind, it is still a thorough, heartfelt, and raw study of an act that many have taken—Álvarez and I included—and many will take.
At points, The Savage God becomes crushingly bleak. This is necessary, as the act is bleak. It is a rejection of all that would make you suffer as well as a rejection of all that would make you happy. It is choosing to end existence; how terrifying a thing, to shed the one thing you have always known, to betray one's own body and join the dead in their thoughtlessness. Álvarez addresses suicide for what it is: rejection.
To paraphrase a quote contained in the book; we have no conception of the acute anguish and dolor that leads one to take their life. Well, through his sharp analysis of suicide's history, gripping and poignant prose, intricate weaving of philosophy and art, and personal experience with the deed, I can attest from experience that Al Álvarez comes close.
9.4/10.