tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1250385344919759529.post6243343716695791491..comments2013-03-23T20:53:56.239-07:00Comments on Butterfly in the Typewriter: Suicide as PsychacheCory MacLauchlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08623305701390710051noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1250385344919759529.post-86511699151862025112009-06-28T11:57:45.544-07:002009-06-28T11:57:45.544-07:00Thank you for your insight and willingness to shar...Thank you for your insight and willingness to share your experience with this most difficult topic. You reaffirm the need for a delicate approach in discussing Mr. Toole's suicide. You make a very interesting proposal that COD could be read as his final testimony. Surely, he did not intend it that way. But in the absence of the actual note, many readers are on a search to find answers within his novel--answers about his life, his philosophy, and his death. <br /><br />Thank you for your compliments. I welcome you to share your thoughts as this project progresses.Cory MacLauchlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08623305701390710051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1250385344919759529.post-73351945472131464602009-06-24T08:42:01.001-07:002009-06-24T08:42:01.001-07:00I've come here from my blog via your link. My...I've come here from my blog via your link. My own husband killed himself at the age of thirty eight, after many attempts during our thirteen years together. He had a diagnosed mental illness, but ultimately I don't believe this is why he died. I feel some people are born with a tenderness, a fragility that under normal circumstances in a healthy family could blossom into vibrant and artistic personality. Unfortunately, these fragile people are many times born into situations that destroy rather than nurture and are boxed in by culture, social expectations and oppression. This is just my perspective but I suspect Mr. Toole was a fragile being. His mother's unhealthy role in his life coupled with his inability to cope with the rejection of those outside his realm of experience (Simon and Shuster) were probably like an avalanche of pain and turmoil from which he could not escape. I feel John Kennedy Toole did leave a suicide note, A Confederacy Of Dunces. I feel the answer to your questions are in there. Thanks for visiting my blog Cory, you are an impressive writer and I wish you every success with your book. John Kennedy Toole was a genius and a new generation needs to read his work.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1250385344919759529.post-46975985853715336162009-06-23T17:34:39.205-07:002009-06-23T17:34:39.205-07:00Thanks for your comment sussah. You offer insight...Thanks for your comment sussah. You offer insight into our sordid attempts to "diagnose" and objectify our most perplexing issues in society.Cory MacLauchlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08623305701390710051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1250385344919759529.post-1855394345246275772009-06-13T13:53:56.073-07:002009-06-13T13:53:56.073-07:00In our culture we’re most comfortable with cause a...In our culture we’re most comfortable with cause and effect, assessing and controlling everything. We have issues with the mysterious. But those of us who have been unfortunate enough to have dealt with successful or unsuccessful suicide attempts of loved ones will appreciate your sensitivity in considering the circumstances of John Kennedy Toole’s death. When we hear about elaborate public suicides, such as the Virginia Tech massacre or other school shootings, people always react by trying to pinpoint what went wrong, exactly what was it that frustrated or alienated the individual. Then, in America, we throw together counseling sessions and light a lot of candles, put up metal detectors, test massive text-messaging systems, etc. Those things we can control, but we’re not so good at preventing the next suicide. The problem is that there is no logical explanation, and we don’t know what to do. So I entirely agree with you that the frustrating conditions of Toole’s life were not responsible for his suicide. I feel that, as you say, there is no simple cause, such as a publisher’s rejection, an irritating mother, sexual issues … in my opinion, he was confident of his literary worth, was half of the relationship with his mother, and “kept his own counsel”, I think Joel Fletcher has written, about sexual preference. The intolerable pain was something that is and was mysterious. Viewing the end of his life with compassion and sympathy is certainly the best thing we can do.Susanna Powershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12171292385713491199noreply@blogger.com