Books about suicide
October 28, 2024 8:06 AM Subscribe
What books grapple seriously with the subject of suicide? I’m probably looking for non-fiction but fiction might work if suicide is thoroughly explored and isn’t just a plot point.
Michael Pedersen's Boy Friends is about male friendships. The central theme is his friendship with Scott Hutchison, the leader of the band Frightened Rabbit, who took his own life in 2018. It's non-fiction, but Pedersen's a poet, so it's far from a dry analysis.
posted by scruss at 8:28 AM on October 28 [1 favorite]
posted by scruss at 8:28 AM on October 28 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Jean Améry's On Suicide: A Discourse on Voluntary Death.
posted by misteraitch at 8:28 AM on October 28
posted by misteraitch at 8:28 AM on October 28
The Myth Of Sisyphus is required reading on this topic.
posted by flabdablet at 8:31 AM on October 28 [7 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 8:31 AM on October 28 [7 favorites]
A Sorrow Beyond Dreams by Peter Handke was very important to me when I was recovering from the suicide of a relative. (Handke turned out to be a jerk, but this is an early work.)
posted by frumiousb at 9:07 AM on October 28
posted by frumiousb at 9:07 AM on October 28
The Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy's entry on Suicide is written by Michael Cholbi, who's written and edited several synoptic / overview works on the topic, including a 2011 book called Suicide: The Philosophical Dimensions (Broadview Press). A new collection of readings, The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Suicide (OUP), is due out shortly, edited by Cholbi and Paolo Stellino.
posted by Joeruckus at 9:26 AM on October 28
posted by Joeruckus at 9:26 AM on October 28
Darkness Visible by William Styron. Beautifully written, highly recommended. Also available as an audio book read by the author.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 9:43 AM on October 28 [5 favorites]
posted by Winnie the Proust at 9:43 AM on October 28 [5 favorites]
Why People Die by Suicide by Thomas Joiner.
Evidence-based research presented for the general public, but also beautifully written by someone whose father died from suicide and then went on to be a researcher on the topic.
posted by EllaEm at 9:59 AM on October 28 [2 favorites]
Evidence-based research presented for the general public, but also beautifully written by someone whose father died from suicide and then went on to be a researcher on the topic.
posted by EllaEm at 9:59 AM on October 28 [2 favorites]
it's fiction, yet significant in brave new world [enotes]
posted by HearHere at 10:15 AM on October 28
posted by HearHere at 10:15 AM on October 28
The long-form article How Not to Commit Suicide by Art Kleiner in CoEvolution Quarterly Summer 1981 vol 30: 89-109 gets into logistical details. The next two articles in the index look to be relevant.
posted by BobTheScientist at 10:56 AM on October 28 [1 favorite]
posted by BobTheScientist at 10:56 AM on October 28 [1 favorite]
Suicide by Édouard Levé
It is definitely not a book to read if you already feel suicidal, however, or give to a person with suicidal ideation. The author committed suicide 10 days after he delivered the manuscript to his editor. Nevertheless, he is an excellent writer.
posted by 15L06 at 11:02 AM on October 28
It is definitely not a book to read if you already feel suicidal, however, or give to a person with suicidal ideation. The author committed suicide 10 days after he delivered the manuscript to his editor. Nevertheless, he is an excellent writer.
posted by 15L06 at 11:02 AM on October 28
Andrew Solomon’s The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression.
It’s been decade since i’ve read it but believe there’s a chapter on suicide if not many other references.
posted by jerome powell buys his sweatbands in bulk only at 11:10 AM on October 28 [1 favorite]
It’s been decade since i’ve read it but believe there’s a chapter on suicide if not many other references.
posted by jerome powell buys his sweatbands in bulk only at 11:10 AM on October 28 [1 favorite]
Clancy Martin’s recent How Not To Kill Yourself: A Portrait of the Suicidal Mind.
posted by SomethinsWrong at 12:06 PM on October 28
posted by SomethinsWrong at 12:06 PM on October 28
Daddy Blackbird is a memoir of the effect of suicide on those left behind and also goes into the social and psychological considerations.
posted by TheCassiniDivision at 2:34 PM on October 28
posted by TheCassiniDivision at 2:34 PM on October 28
I remember being moved by Kay Redfield Jamison’s Night Falls Fast. She speaks from personal experience and as a psychologist.
posted by lloquat at 5:50 PM on October 28 [1 favorite]
posted by lloquat at 5:50 PM on October 28 [1 favorite]
The Savage God: A Study of Suicide by poet and novelist Al Alvarez is very good but, of course, harrowing.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 11:40 PM on October 28
posted by thatwhichfalls at 11:40 PM on October 28
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Miriam Toews' All My Puny Sorrows is one of the most moving books I've ever read, and suicide is the central theme, examined in depth.
posted by dis_integration at 8:16 AM on October 28 [6 favorites]