The first book of its kind", . . . Or Not to Be" offers rare insights into the lives--and deaths--of such luminaries as Vincent Van Gogh, Sylvia Plath, Diane Arbus, Jim Jones, Anne Sexton, Hermann Goering, Kurt Cobain, and Yukio Mishima, via their last letters and suicide notes.
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. . . Or Not to Be is described, by its own editor, as "pornography." It's also oddly fascinating, a collection of suicide notes by the famous, including Kurt Cobain, Vincent Van Gogh, Diane Arbus, Sylvia Plath, and Virginia Woolf. Also included are poignant last words from the utterly obscure, including an anonymous Siberian who duly noted that "the snow will cover my footsteps," and a man who wrote "Bow wow and good-bye, Pepper," to his dog. Of particular interest in the collection are suicide notes by Dorothy Parker, who survived, and Ken Kesey, who was pulling a prank on the feds. Etkind also offers much factual material in the annotations to the many selections.
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting,
By
This review is from: ...Or Not to Be: A Collection of Suicide Notes (Paperback)
The suicide notes themselves as well as the similarities between them were quite interesting. The author's comments about the the narrow vision experienced by the suicicidal, while perhaps being psychologically accurate showed a complete lack of understandign of the emotional experiences of the depressed. His tone implied that he felt those who committed suicide were not intelligent enough to see any other way out of their situations. The author himself doesn't seem to have any idea about what it is like to feel so completely lost and desperate. The commentary was also rather repetitive and didn't seem to offer much insight other than the fact that suicidal people see no other way to end their suffering.
31 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
"Or Not to Be" a.k.a. "Suicide is for Idiots" by Mark Etkind,
By ritchie (USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: ...Or Not to Be: A Collection of Suicide Notes (Paperback)
If you are interested in a book of suicide notes, you obviously have your reasons. And this is one of the few books that deals with such a controversial subject in such a blunt manner. But don't let the title fool you; this is not merely a collection of suicide notes. It's heavily peppered with Mr. Etkind's opinionated, self-righteous preaching.
This wears on the reader's nerves quickly. At times Etkind ridicules suicide notes for being inadequate or incoherent. I quote (from page 1): "If someone could think clearly enough to leave a cogent note, that person would probably be able to recognize that suicide was a bad idea." I'm sure we would all love to be spared the sophomoric, non-scientific statements and instead be allowed to form our own opinions based on what the book advertises: "a collection of suicide notes" (not "Etkind's beliefs on suicide"). Perhaps this book is ideal for someone who is desperately trying to escape the guilt of a loved one's suicide. It paints all suicidal people as confused, selfish souls who are 100% to blame for their tragic ends. How convenient that philosophy is for those left living. My technical criticism of the book is this: the book is fragmented and insufficient. Full names are rarely given, thus preventing the reader from researching matters further. The suicide notes are frequently abbreviated or condensed. In the "Acknowledgements" section, we learn that Etkind merely snipped and pasted from other books. So what we have here is the Cliff's Notes version, interesting if you have an hour to kill on the subway or in a doctor's office but little more than that. Whatever you do, don't pay $53 for this 114-page paperback book. I found it for $10, and even that is a stretch.
25 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I don't read.,
This review is from: ...Or Not to Be: A Collection of Suicide Notes (Paperback)
I rarely read anything. But this book was read in 5 days. It is so interesting and captivating to a manic-depressive as myself. To really look into the final words of people who saw no hope. The downfall was the editorial comments of author Mark Etkind. I enjoyed looking into the poetic/artistic meaning behing the words. He took everything at face value and with a grain of salt. It can become quite anoying. Other than that, it is a great book for anyone with an infatuation with death, and the romance of suicide.
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