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Edgar Allan Poe's life was a mess. But his work was in his command

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Re: Edgar Allan Poe's life was a mess. But his work was in his command

#51

Post by acabal »

defrost wrote: post #50
robin_reala wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Classic paintings: everything used on Standard Ebooks productions is old enough to be in the US public domain. The artists are in the colophons if you want to find out more.

Nice work, thanks to you and your fellow editors. Is there a back story to the Gormenghast collection not being available: https://standardebooks.org/collections/gormenghast The comment given was: This book was published in 1946, and will therefore enter the U.S. public domain in 17 years on January 1, 2042. however it seemed odd that apparently the work was done to prep it and notice appears elsewhere * that materia…

Some placeholders like this one exist because they are part of other collections for which we have more items. So when the reader is viewing the other collection, they can see which items we have and which we don't.

Re: Edgar Allan Poe's life was a mess. But his work was in his command

#52

Post by Fricken »

er4hn wrote: post #34
haswell wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those aren’t necessarily in conflict with each other, though. As an often-depressed creative person, I find that depression is absolutely the enemy of creativity, but my creativity is often fueled by the same things that cause my depression. Meeting my creative goals is often about managing the depression. But without the depression, my creative output would likely be very different.

Taken further - Art can be created as a response to seeing or experiencing suffering, but it is important to manage your own response to suffering. In On Writing, Stephen King has this lovely quote about his journey to get off of drugs: “The idea that the creative endeavor and mind-altering substances are entwined is one of the great pop-intellectual myths of our time. ... Substance abusing writers are just substance…

Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" was a groundbreaking novel and wouldn't have been so if it weren't for LSD. Of Course, that was Kesey's first and only criticaly acclaimed novel and he has said later in life that too much acid screwed him up, I certainly wouldn't argue it's sustainable over a career. LSD also changed pop music in a pretty major way.

Re: Edgar Allan Poe's life was a mess. But his work was in his command

#53

Post by zabzonk »

Fricken wrote: post #52
er4hn wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Taken further - Art can be created as a response to seeing or experiencing suffering, but it is important to manage your own response to suffering. In On Writing, Stephen King has this lovely quote about his journey to get off of drugs: “The idea that the creative endeavor and mind-altering substances are entwined is one of the great pop-intellectual myths of our time. ... Substance abusing writers are just substance…

Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" was a groundbreaking novel and wouldn't have been so if it weren't for LSD. Of Course, that was Kesey's first and only criticaly acclaimed novel and he has said later in life that too much acid screwed him up, I certainly wouldn't argue it's sustainable over a career. LSD also changed pop music in a pretty major way.

A lot of people liked "Sometimes A Great Notion". I personally prefer it to "Cuckoo". It doesn't read like something written by someone whacked out on acid.

Re: Edgar Allan Poe's life was a mess. But his work was in his command

#54

Post by IncreasePosts »

doctorhandshake wrote: post #14
Mistletoe wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder what he would choose if he knew? A comfortable long life and happiness or to be remembered forever?

I don’t remember where I read it but I heard David Lynch recounting a conversation with his doctor in which he asked if being prescribed antidepressants could interfere with his creativity. The doctor said he couldn’t rule it out, so Lynch decided he’d rather deal with the symptoms of depression.

I chatted with Christopher hitchens about a month before he was diagnosed with the cancer that took him out, and he was adamant that cigarettes and whisky were vital to his writing process. He said he could consider cutting out liquor, but the cigarettes had to stay if he was going to be productive at all.

Re: Edgar Allan Poe's life was a mess. But his work was in his command

#55

Post by bobsmooth »

moomin wrote: post #33

From Epic Rap Battles of History: Masque of the Red Death? Barely blood curdling. Pit and the Pendulum? Not even unnerving. Perving on your first cousin when she's thirteen years old? Now that's disturbing!

It's important to remember that ERB is comedy and not actual history. Poe loved his cousin like a daughter.

Re: Edgar Allan Poe's life was a mess. But his work was in his command

#56

Post by rendall »

doctorhandshake wrote: post #14
Mistletoe wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder what he would choose if he knew? A comfortable long life and happiness or to be remembered forever?

I don’t remember where I read it but I heard David Lynch recounting a conversation with his doctor in which he asked if being prescribed antidepressants could interfere with his creativity. The doctor said he couldn’t rule it out, so Lynch decided he’d rather deal with the symptoms of depression.

> Lynch decided he’d rather deal with the symptoms of depression

... through meditation.

Re: Edgar Allan Poe's life was a mess. But his work was in his command

#59

Post by timonofathens »

robin_reala wrote: post #4

I produced CC0 ebook compilations of Poe’s short fiction and poetry for Standard Ebooks if anyone is interested in diving deeper into his writing: https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/edgar-allan-poe (I’d also recommend Leonid Andreyev’s short fiction; he’s often referred to as Russia’s Poe: https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/leonid-andreyev/short-fict... )

If you prefer a physical book, I can recommend: http://www.everymanslibrary.co.uk/classics-author.aspx?lette...

(Not affiliated, I just really like Everyman's Library)

Re: Edgar Allan Poe's life was a mess. But his work was in his command

#60

Post by muzani »

DeathArrow wrote: post #57

Many lives of talented poets and artists were a mess. Many died young. I still don't know whether living a life of misery leads to artistic mastery or not.

I feel like the main problem is it pays terribly. Most of the best ones were basically broke. But movie stars and pop stars are the opposite. They live in mansions and end up dying young anyway.

Maybe great art just requires being deep in flow to the point you neglect everything around you.

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