"He was the best of our generation," says one fellow author and friend
Yes, a true statement, I was shocked by his suicide....
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The literary world is in grief for David Foster Wallace, an author of seemingly unstoppable curiosity, imagination and ambition who apparently killed himself last week. Readers are seeking out his work, including his 1,000-page novel “Infinite Jest” and the essay collection “Consider the Lobster.”
Wallace, who wrote with an explosive, ironic, but deeply serious passion about subjects ranging from tennis and politics to mathematics and cruise ships, was found dead by his wife in his home Friday night, according to the Claremont, Calif., police department. The 46-year-old author apparently hanged himself.
“He was the best of our generation, and his death is a loss beyond describing,” Richard Powers, winner of the National Book Award in 2006 for the novel “The Echo Maker,” told The Associated Press on Sunday.
- Re: Authors grieve over Wallace’s apparent suicideposted on 09/15/2008
Infinite Jest (1996) is a novel written by David Foster Wallace. The lengthy and complex work takes place in a semi-parodic future version of North America. The novel touches on the topics of tennis; substance addiction and recovery programs; depression; child abuse; family relationships; advertising and popular entertainment; film theory; and Quebec separatism.
Time Magazine included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005.
- Re: Authors grieve over Wallace’s apparent suicideposted on 09/15/2008
I first thought it was the Wallace in CBS's 60 minutes. Mike Wallace had very bad depression too, and he have been fought with it for years. Now, it seems he is quite successful. - posted on 09/16/2008
美国作家华莱士于家中自杀身亡 年仅46岁
东方早报
美国著名作家大卫·福斯特·华莱士(David Foster Wallace)上周五在加州家中自杀身亡,年仅46岁。华莱士被公认为当代美国最有才华的新生代作家,叙述和文字都充满实验色彩。不论是洋洋洒洒的千页巨著,还是仅有一段的短篇小说,华莱士总能带给读者莫可名状的阅读体验。
9月12日晚,华莱士的妻子返回位于 Claremont 的家中,发现这位小说家已自缢身亡,自杀的原因目前尚未查明。 因为抑郁症,华莱士从去年开始服用大量抗抑郁药物。作为一名在写作上勇于试验的非传统作家,他的作品尚无法为普通读者接受。但他的死讯一经传开,他的旧作却立刻畅销开来。周日晚,华莱士处女作《系统的笤帚》位列亚马孙网上书店畅销榜20位,《无尽的玩笑》则停留在75位。
1962年,大卫·福斯特·华莱士出生于纽约州的以色佳市,父母均为伊利诺伊州的大学教授。大学期间,华莱士攻读数理逻辑和语义学,后入哈佛大学从事研究,但中途放弃。大卫·福斯特·华莱士以两部长篇小说饮誉文坛:一部是他的处女作《系统的笤帚》(1987),另一部是《无尽的玩笑》(1996)。大卫·福斯特·华莱士不着边际、插科打诨的讥嘲笔调、深湛的学识、抽象的思辨为美国后现代派小说带来又一次革新。
写于24岁时的《系统的笤帚》是华莱士代表作,书名受到维特格斯坦《逻辑哲学论》启发,小说内容、结构布局和碎片式叙事都与维特格斯坦的语言游戏理论形成呼应,这种写作的乐趣给读者带来了阅读的乐趣。华莱士在小说上的创新实验令人耳目一新,初涉文坛便备受文艺评论家的赞赏。《无尽的玩笑》更是在2005年被《时代》周刊评选为1923年以来世界百部最佳英语长篇小说之一,小说共1079页,其中注释就长达100多页。而他的几部短篇小说集,题材更是包罗万象,电影、政治、朋克、总统候选人麦凯恩、电影人大卫·林奇、卡夫卡等都融在他笔下。透过这些光怪陆离却近在咫尺的故事,华莱士表达了对大众文化扭曲人们生活、支配人们意识的担忧以及内心的孤独和绝望。(石剑峰)
- Re: Authors grieve over Wallace’s apparent suicideposted on 09/16/2008
哪位资深,医生,聪明人给讲讲为什么作家,诗人,演员好象特容易忧郁,自杀?数学家也用脑过度,好象只听说离婚没自杀的?那位有beautiful mind,好象也没要死 - posted on 09/16/2008
日本数学家 Yutaka Taniyama 由于忧郁症自杀。以他的名字命名的猜想 Taniyama-Shimura conjecture 是后来 Andrew Wiles 证明费尔马大定理的重要启发。
下面抄一段 google, 讲他自杀的事,好像也有一段情在其中。
On November 17, 1958, Taniyama committed suicide. He left a note explaining how far he had gotten with his teaching duties, and apologizing to his colleagues for the trouble he was causing them. His mystifying suicide note read:
Until yesterday I had no definite intention of killing myself. But more than a few must have noticed that lately I have been tired both physically and mentally. As to the cause of my suicide, I don't quite understand it myself, but it is not the result of a particular incident, nor of a specific matter. Merely may I say, I am in the frame of mind that I lost confidence in my future. There may be someone to whom my suicide will be troubling or a blow to a certain degree. I sincerely hope that this incident will cast no dark shadow over the future of that person. At any rate, I cannot deny that this is a kind of betrayal, but please excuse it as my last act in my own way, as I have been doing my own way all my life.
Although his note is mostly enigmatic it does mention tiredness and a loss of confidence in his future. Taniyama's ideas had been criticized as unsubstantiated and his behavior had occasionally been deemed peculiar. Goro Shimura mentioned that he suffered from depression. Taniyama also mentioned in the note his concern that some might be harmed by his suicide and his hope that the act would not cast "a dark shadow over that person."
About a month later, Misako Suzuki, the woman whom he was planning to marry, also committed suicide, leaving a note reading: "We promised each other that no matter where we went, we would never be separated. Now that he is gone, I must go too in order to join him."
After Taniyama's death, Goro Shimura stated that:
He was always kind to his colleagues, especially to his juniors, and he genuinely cared about their welfare. He was the moral support of many of those who came into mathematical contact with him, including of course myself. Probably he was never conscious of this role he was playing. But I feel his noble generosity in this respect even more strongly now than when he was alive. And yet nobody was able to give him any support when he desperately needed it. Reflecting on this, I am overwhelmed by the bitterest grief.
- Re: Authors grieve over Wallace’s apparent suicideposted on 09/16/2008
对了,还有图灵。不过他妈妈说不是自杀。
干脆又查了一下 google, 这里有自杀的数学家。波耳兹曼也名列其中。
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Mathematicians_who_committed_suicide - Re: Authors grieve over Wallace’s apparent suicideposted on 09/16/2008
gz wrote:
but please excuse it as my last act in my own way, as I have been doing my own way all my life.
人对自己很少能有完全的control,自杀可以算对自己命运比较完全的control了吧,只此一回,想来也不错。哎,可惜下不了手,算了,还是留给命运吧。 - Re: Authors grieve over Wallace’s apparent suicideposted on 09/16/2008
谢关中。快速结论一个:自杀面前,机会均等。走了。:)
gz wrote:
对了,还有图灵。不过他妈妈说不是自杀。
干脆又查了一下 google, 这里有自杀的数学家。波耳兹曼也名列其中。
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Mathematicians_who_committed_suicide - Re: Authors grieve over Wallace’s apparent suicideposted on 09/16/2008
浮生,你 quote 我的话可得小心,听起来好像我要自杀似的!:-)
浮生 wrote:
gz wrote:人对自己很少能有完全的control,自杀可以算对自己命运比较完全的control了吧,只此一回,想来也不错。哎,可惜下不了手,算了,还是留给命运吧。
but please excuse it as my last act in my own way, as I have been doing my own way all my life. - Re: Authors grieve over Wallace’s apparent suicideposted on 09/16/2008
gz wrote:
浮生,你 quote 我的话可得小心,听起来好像我要自杀似的!:-)
哦,这个我不担心,全人类都要自杀了,你也不会:) - posted on 09/17/2008
作家演员的确属于自杀高危人群,可能因为想像和情绪太丰富了,尤其是包含很多无序破碎的东西。数学家工程师的多思因为有严格秩序约束,所以不会out of control.
如果想得多行动得少,生活容易陷入困境而精神欲求太旺盛。
我个人感觉人总有发泄不光的精神能量,哪怕和文艺无关的人。比如一些家庭、公司烦恼、人际纠葛,其实都算。因为纠葛终归来自个人的思量、想像,矛盾也往往因为情绪而激化。
有人讲如果人专注于某好事情(体育文艺科学都算),可以避免活得蝇营狗苟。这个词太难听了,我prefer中性的说法,是疏导精神能量。当然专注到牛角尖也会出新问题,不过毕竟只有少数人才会那么专注。 - posted on 09/17/2008
是的是的,大多数的精神能量都在平常浪费掉了。说起来是时间不够,精力有限,其
实内耗真是严重啊。以前我总希望自己更聪明,精力更旺盛,现在发现都不用,只
要尽量减少无谓的精神能量的浪费就行了。
mahuiyuan wrote:
我个人感觉人总有发泄不光的精神能量,哪怕和文艺无关的人。比如一些家庭、公司烦恼、人际纠葛,其实都算。因为纠葛终归来自个人的思量、想像,矛盾也往往因为情绪而激化。
有人讲如果人专注于某好事情(体育文艺科学都算),可以避免活得蝇营狗苟。这个词太难听了,我prefer中性的说法,是疏导精神能量。当然专注到牛角尖也会出新问题,不过毕竟只有少数人才会那么专注。 - Re: Authors grieve over Wallace’s apparent suicideposted on 09/17/2008
Wallace had been on antidepressants for many years. A few months ago his doctor took him off the drugs but he got worse. Then he was put back on but it was too late to save him from getting even worse and the eventual tragic outcome.
Whether it is 无序破碎的东西 or 精神能量, everything eventually boils down to some chemistry at each tiny neuron in the brain, and some little chemical can determine your life or death. What a chilly thought!
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