Reddit reviews Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness

Yeah I got first wind of this when reading Lincoln's Melancholy and there are some very personal (but not sexual) letters between Lincoln and Speed. To be fair it was very common for lawyers on the same circuit to share accommodation, so that shouldn't be taken as evidence, but some people point to Lincoln's extremely close friendship to Speed (his depression would recur when Speed was away, etc) and relative "detachment" from women, and think there could be more there. Be wary if you go reading into it because there's some letters/diaries out there that are definite hoaxes.


edit to add: Here is an example of one of the letters, unfortunately I can't find the one I'm thinking of where Lincoln expresses depression from missing Speed. You'll see that it indicates a very close relationship (where Lincoln straight up asks Speed if he regrets getting married) but not necessarily romantic. That said, it's clear they confided intimately in each other.

I know most people will recommend that susan cain book, "Quiet" if you asked about something to be uplifting about introvertedness. However I would recommend the book Lincoln's Melancoly, by Joshua Shenk. It's a book which explores the personality/depression of Abraham Lincoln, and made me feel a lot better about being alone and following my own introvert tendencies. Plus you get to learn a fair amount about one of the great leaders of the US.


Here's the amazon page which probably has the ISBN if you want to find it at your local library.
http://www.amazon.com/Lincolns-Melancholy-Depression-Challenged-President/dp/0618773444

Sounds like a good read, but the author of this article seemed to be over-hyping it a bit. She implies that the author of the book is covering new ground by implying that depression can be beneficial. But honestly that sounds like a rehashing of what a lot of different people have already been saying for years. Thomas Moore's Dark Nights of the Soul discusses this, Lincoln's Melancholy is similar, and to really go far back even the apostle Paul of the Bible said "I take pleasure in infirmities" because of the growth and wisdom that the hardship forces out of us.

I read Beyond the Deep and Blind Descent over the summer. Both are about supercave exploration, which it turns out is the most terrifying thing on earth. Both are in the same genre as Into Thin Air, another horribly scary book about things I will never ever do. I'd recommend reading Blind Descent first because it's the more general book, while Into the Deep is about one specific exploration. Both are absolutely mandatory reading if you're planning on seeing that new James Cameron movie that comes out in February.

On the history front, April 1865 by Jay Winik is a superb analysis of the last month of the Civil War. Lincoln's Melancholy by Joshua Wolf Shenk is a great analysis of Lincoln's lifelong battle with depression. And Ecological Imperialism by Alfred Crosby is one of the most interesting history books I've read in a long time. This may be a good follow-up to Guns, Germs, and Steel if you're interested in environmental history.

abraham lincoln was clinically depressive. not exactly a "failed" human...

reading assignment