Down Below | 
pickI'm unsure how to review this slim text that charts Carrington's confinement in a mental institution after her much older lover, Max Ernst, was taken captive by the Nazis. A Surrealist memoir of madness is best experienced by reading it. I found a strange power in her hallucinatory, dreamy images & philosophy, & also hope in her words when contrasted with the brutality of her treatment that mirrored the rise of fascism outside. Vivid & original.
Suet624 Wow! This sounds intimidating and fascinating. Of course I need it on my TBR. 4y
batsy @Suet624 I'm afraid to recommend it to anyone 😆 It is a VERY Marmite book. 4y
Suet624 Thanks for the heads-up. ❤️ 4y
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Megabooks Max Ernst the artist? I‘m related to him by marriage. (My cousin is married to his grandson.) 4y
Liz_M Lovely cover and excellent review! 4y
BarbaraBB Sounds interesting! Your story too @Megabooks! 4y
batsy @Megabooks Yes! That is very cool indeed! 4y
batsy @Liz_M Thank you! That's her own artwork; I love it, too. I keep stopping every so often to look at it. 4y
batsy @BarbaraBB It is, and sad and infuriating too, the way she was institutionalised. 4y
vivastory @Megabooks That's AMAZING!! I went through an obsession with surrealist artists and writers in my 20s & Ernst was always a favorite 💙 4y
vivastory Fantastic review, Suba! I'm thrilled that NYRB is rescuing the writings of such an important figure. Will definitely be rereading this one soon. 4y
batsy @vivastory Thank you! I can see how some might read it & find it impossible, but there was a kind of logic underpinning her visions. It held an odd kind of power. 4y
saresmoore I‘m a bit nervous to read more of her work because, so far, it seems to be revealing my own surrealist leanings/tenuous grasp of reality—object relations as squiggles and blotches, rather than tidy golden strings. But, here we are; I‘m obviously going to read it. 🙂🙃 4y
Suet624 After diving further into The Hearing Trumpet this book has now become a must read for me. I‘m completely fascinated by her. 4y
batsy @saresmoore Oh, I hear you ? My reaction reading this was, "Yeah, OK I totally get what she means, actually" and this being a Surrealist memoir of a a breakdown, well. 4y
RohitSawant So intrigued by this. Terrific review! 4y
batsy @Suet624 I'm excited to start The Hearing Trumpet! Which I should do pretty soon 🙈 4y
batsy @rohit-sawant Thank you! This was strange, hallucinatory, totally its own thing ✨ 4y
Bookwomble She was committed to the mental institution following rape trauma, because being traumatised by rape is, apparently, a mental disorder 😡 4y
batsy @Bookwomble I was a bit confused about the exact reason she was committed, because this book is adapted from oral history and there are gaps. But yes, that is truly awful. The rape and the ongoing trauma after in the "treatment" at the institution. Horrific. 4y
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